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Stations Taking Their New RF Channel As Their New Virtual Channel

M

Markxxx

Does anyone know of a list or have an idea of TV stations that, when they changed over to digital, changed their RF channel number to match their virtual channel number?

For example, WLIO was on channel 35 and changed to digital channel 8 but now use a virtual channel of channel 8, instead of mapping to their old analog channel.
 
Markxxx said:
For example, WLIO was on channel 35 and changed to digital channel 8 but now use a virtual channel of channel 8, instead of mapping to their old analog channel.
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They probably did so because there's still a stigma of UHF channel number stations being of lesser quality than VHF channel number stations. And moving their virtual channel number to the VHF range gets them closer to their competition, for channel-flippers.
 
WLXI, which airs mostly Christian programming in Greensboro NC, was on analog Channel 61. Why they would change to 43 I don't know. They kept the call letters which of course mean 61.
 
KVIQ in Eureka CA was on virtual (originally analog) 6, but several years ago they moved it to 17, matching their RF.

In 2003, Atlanta's WUPA temporarily moved from virtual 69 to 43, matching their RF while keeping a simulcast on 69. They dropped virtual 43 in 2008, presumably under FCC orders. Next month, WUPA's RF will move to 36 (the new digital spectrum ceiling).
 
Nobody here in Hartford/New Haven that I'm aware of. I think the only station in New England which may have done this was the old channel 50 in Derry, NH. For years they were WNDS-TV channel 50. I think they later identified as channel 18 or whatever. I swear I saw a billboard which said as such along I-95 in southeastern New Hampshire once.

Stations still identifying with their legacy channels in Hartford/New Haven:

WFSB-TV (CBS) channel 3 Hartford
WTNH-TV (ABC) channel 8 New Haven
WCCT-TV (CW) channel 20 Waterbury
WTIC-TV (FOX) channel 61 Hartford [although they were called FOX Connecticut or FOX-CT for a time]

WCTX-TV (MY) channel 59 of New Haven calls themselves "MY TV-9", mostly due to their cable position. My television would still show them as "59-1" when I last picked them up over the air in southern Hartford County, CT. These days, they're actually a subchannel of sister station WTNH-TV. (Secret channel 8-3?)
 
kevtronics said:
They probably did so because there's still a stigma of UHF channel number stations being of lesser quality than VHF channel number stations. And moving their virtual channel number to the VHF range gets them closer to their competition, for channel-flippers.
Click to expand...


I really doubt viewers who watch over the air have that stigma... most viewers probably don't even know the difference in uhf vs vhf.. they just know what channel its on, want it to work and don't know why it doesn't when there are signal issues
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
I really doubt viewers who watch over the air have that stigma... most viewers probably don't even know the difference in uhf vs vhf.. they just know what channel its on, want it to work and don't know why it doesn't when there are signal issues
Click to expand...

I'm willing to bet that if the CBS stations in Atlanta, Detroit, and Milwaukee had been allowed to change their PSIP channel to something between 2 and 13, they would have done so in a heartbeat.
 
Would KTTW Sioux Falls count? Fox 17 pre-2009, Fox 7 post-2009.
 
WGFL High Springs - Gainesville - Ocala was on Channel 53. It signed off its analog signal in 2008 and went on digital channel 28. Once complete, it stayed on 28 instead of going back to 53.
 
WGNM in Macon GA was on 64. Their RF is (and has been) 45; they moved their virtual to 45 in 2008 after shutting off their analog. Their RF will move to 33 next spring.

Footnote on WGFL: their RF will move to 29 next spring.
 
landtuna said:
In today's digital world it is just the opposite.
Click to expand...

Which, of course, is why, in Phoenix, KTVK's PSIP is Channel 24 and KPHO's is Channel 17.

Actually, it's more why they're not. If a station was originally VHF, it absolutely matters to keep that lower-numbered channel.
 
anotherguy said:
WYJJ-LD in Jackson, TN has changed from channel 27 to 34 in the repack and is apparently using that as their channel number now.
Click to expand...
According to RabbitEars.info, WYJJ-LD is still using 27 as virtual.
 
KeithE4 said:
Which, of course, is why, in Phoenix, KTVK's PSIP is Channel 24 and KPHO's is Channel 17.

Actually, it's more why they're not. If a station was originally VHF, it absolutely matters to keep that lower-numbered channel.
Click to expand...

I think you’re confusing PSIP with RF. PSIP (which stands for Program and System Information Protocol) is the virtual channel number (that is, the channel number you see displayed on your TV or digital-to-analog converter box; which, in the case of the two Phoenix stations you mentioned, are their respective former analog channels 3 and 5). RF (radio frequency) is the physical channel number (that is, the channel number on which the station actually broadcasts; which, using those same two stations as examples, are channels 24 and 17, respectively).

Anyway, back on topic.

One California example I know of, aside from the aforementioned KVIQ: KAIL, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Fresno-Visalia market, was on UHF channel 53 in the analog era. When the station transitioned to digital on VHF channel 7, it also started mapping to that channel. According to DirecTV’s local channels lookup tool, the satellite TV provider still carries it on 53. (Can any DirecTV subscribers in that market who post here confirm or deny this?)
 
Mastaclocksetta said:
I think you’re confusing PSIP with RF. PSIP (which stands for Program and System Information Protocol) is the virtual channel number (that is, the channel number you see displayed on your TV or digital-to-analog converter box; which, in the case of the two Phoenix stations you mentioned, are their respective former analog channels 3 and 5). RF (radio frequency) is the physical channel number (that is, the channel number on which the station actually broadcasts; which, using those same two stations as examples, are channels 24 and 17, respectively).
Click to expand...

I'm not in any way confused. I was being sarcastic, and fellow Phoenix-area resident Landtuna knew what I was talking about.
 
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