Mexicans Concur with Some Palm Springs Stations' DTV Plans

At long last, after years of waiting, the Mexican government recently concurred with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's approval of digital TV plans for the two full-power Palm Springs television stations.

To put it in simpler terms, about 40 TV stations located within 200 Km of the U.S. border must first apply for U.S. permission to build out their final digital TV facilities. All these stations are now operating analog programming on their original over-the-air channel and a second, "borrowed' digital channel. On February 17th, they must return either the original analog channel or the "borrowed" channel. The FCC has auctioned off the spectrum, mostly to large national cell phone providers. Some of the current television spectrum will be given to law enforcement, fire safety, and emergency first responders.

While the FCC has approved these station's plans for the transition, the Mexican government must agree to them. This is because of a long-standing agreement between the two countries, designed to keep them from separately approving TV and radio facilities which interfere with stations in the others' country.

Concurrence is difficult to get, if for no other reason than the Mexican government has layers of bureaucracy which often change with the shifting winds of Mexican politics.

But rather than complain about the Mexican concurrence process, I'm just happy that we finally can plan to increase the power of our DTV facility. We will be able to double the power of KESQ-DT, which will slightly increase our coverage area, but should give people who try to receive our DTV with an indoor antenna a much better chance of getting a signal. In KESQ-DT's case, we must give up our "borrowed" DTV channel because it's channel 52....and that channel has been auctioned off across the country. So we are switching our analog channel to digital on February 18th, 2009. The process should be transparent to viewers. Our plan is to re-channel our existing DTV transmitter that night. We are installing a new antenna at our site on Edom Hill this autumn.

KMIR also received concurrence for their plan. It's my understanding (without talking to anyone there) that they are going to keep their existing DTV channel, which is over-the-air channel 47. That means that their "old" analog channel 36 has been or will be auctioned off to spectrum bidders.

KPSP (CBS) is a low power TV station operating on over-the-air channel 38, and I have heard, without confirmation, that they have not received Mexican conccurrence for any sort of digital facility at all. (See below regarding low power TV digital concurrence)

None of these changes will mean that you have to re-tune your digital TV sets. Digital TV uses a system called "virtual channels" which will tell your DTV set that even though it's tuned to a different frequency, KESQ-DT will still be channel 42 (over the air) and KMIR-DT will be channel 36 over-the-air (a virtual channel, even though their "actual" channel is 47.)

We actually carry five signals on KESQ-DT, although they appear to the viewer to be five, different stations. We duplicate the analog signals of our ABC, Fox, Telemundo, and CW stations, plus our digital weather channel, the First Alert Weather Channel. So with our souped-up digital facility, you should have an easier time than ever getting them if you are using an over-the-air antenna.

All the other TV stations in Palm Springs are low power stations, which are subject to a completely different set of transition regulations. About a year ago the FCC agreed to "loan" a second digital channel to each low power station in the country, if one was available. Once again, because of their proximity to the Mexican border, each one of these plans required Mexican concurrence after the U.S. approved them. So far the concurrence process has been sketchy because the Mexicans are applying their own rules to what gets approved and what doesn't. If you've ever been to Mexico, you know what I mean. Without a carefully written agreement, enforced by the Mexican courts, getting any kind of government approval often depends upon who's in power this week, who you know, who you're related to, and sometimes who you pay.

So far we have received concurrence to build a digital companion to KUNA-TV and KCWQ-TV, our Telemundo and CW affiliates. We have not received concurrence for a companion for KDFX-CA, our Fox affiliate, nor for K27DS, which is our translator serving the High Desert. The plans are technically not a problem, but with Mexico, you never know. Absent a new, detailed, and most important written agreement between the U.S. and Mexico the concurrence process will continue to be fraught with uncertainty.

Latest Information on Palm Springs Local Stations on DirecTV and Echostar

Both Echostar and DirecTV are now carrying the Palm Springs local stations. Echostar charges $5.00 extra for the service, while DirecTV offers it for free. There are no local HD signals on satellite right now because neither provider has the necessary bandwidth. However, on February 17, 2009, KESQ and KMIR will have to cease analog transmissions. The other Palm Springs network affiliated stations are all low power TV stations which can remain analog if they choose. Without digressing too much, I will speculate that both Echostar and DirecTV will pick up the digital signals of KESQ and KMIR. However, HDTV requires more bandwidth so they will likely offer our digital signals in SDTV. That means "standard defnition." The picture quality is not as sharp as HDTV, but it's much sharper than analog television. The satellite carriers aren't allowed to make changes to our programming, so if we offer only wide-screen programs then you will see them in wide screen on your TV. Not a problem if you have a wide screen set. But if it's a 4 X 3 set then you will see black bars across the top and bottom of the screen (letter box) and the picture will be smaller. The local cable system carries KESQ and KDFX in both wide screen and 4 X 3 sizes.

We have had few complaints about Echostar, although from time to time, during wind storms. I think all the local station signals deteriorate due to sand in the air and the receive antennas on their facility (located in Palm Springs) moving around. DirecTV gets KESQ, KDFX, KUNA, and KESQ via a wired feed because their local receive facility is located in our studios. They have off-air receiving antennas installed on our microwave tower to get the other Palm Springs stations. I do occasionally get a complaint about the quality of DirecTV's signals. Sometimes it's about the sound being out of sync with the picture and sometimes it's pixellation. These are common digital transmission problems which are outside of our ability to do anything. About all we can do (and we do this!) is to complain to DirecTV which is very responsive. They have a very new, high-tech installation in Palm Springs and I think they are still de-bugging it.

Satellite Waivers....fact and fiction

The Desert Sun seems to be going out of its way to publish letters from unhappy viewers who say they can't get a "waiver" so they can watch out-of-town network affiliates.

I don't know where the fiction originated that somehow people were entitled to "waivers" which literally means a stations "waives" its legal right to provide network service to a viewer. We have processed requests for thousands of waivers from people who were glibly told by satellite companies and unscrupulous independent contractors who sell and install satellite dishes that they could get out of town stations easily simply by asking for a "waiver."

Federal law states that the only satellite subscribers legally entitled to receive distant network service are the ones who are in so-called "white areas." This is an area where the subscriber can't receive an over-the-air signal with an outdoor antenna. There is only one "white area" in the Coachella Valley. That's the La Quinta cove area which is behind the Santa Rosa mountains. Subscribers in that area AUTOMATICALLY get distant network service. The satellite company uses very powerful computer models to determine who can't get a signal and they are seldom wrong.

I have to laugh when somebody tells me that "got a waiver from the Fox affiliate" so why can't they get one from our ABC affiliate? We operate both stations and we process waiver requests for both networks. Needless to say, the lie doesn't work.

The local CBS affiliate is a low power TV station with a very weak signal. In their case viewers all over the Valley are legally entitled to receive CBS from an out-of-town station because they really CAN'T get an over the air signal. No waiver is required.

Fortunately, all this discussion is becoming moot. Dish Network and DirecTV now offer local stations to their subscribers. Virtually all local satellite subscribers now have the option of receiving the local affiliates. Those people who have been legitimately receiving distant signals are given the choice of keeping their distant service or switching to the local stations. Once that happens the subscriber will not be able to go back to the distant station.

We still get waiver requests, no doubt from people who somehow have been led to believe they can get both local and distant stations. We deny them because the law doesn't allow it.

Got other questions? Post them here and I'll answer them.

Bob

Treasure Your First Amendment

The recent Independence Day holiday reminds me of how important our First Amendment rights are to us. We all take for granted our right to say whatever we think without fear of retribution. The founding fathers saw first hand what happened to people who spoke against the government: imprisonment, loss of property, harassment. It's amazing that the principal of free speech, the very first of the 10 amendments which make up the Bill of Rights of our Constitution, applies just as much today as it did in the 1700's. Yet we face a never-ending assault on the First Amendment by well-meaning and sometimes not-so-well-meaning people who want to legislate the way we think. How many of you know what the 10 amendments are that make up the original Bill of Rights? Now's the time to get familiar. Remember, we we don't know what our rights are, we can't preserve them. Many people fought and died to secure those rights for us over the years. We should honor their memories.

Welcome to my Blog

We're always trying to find ways to improve our web site, KESQ.COM. People are curious about the TV and Radio Broadcasting business, so I will try to provide some insight and perhaps post a musing or two on this blog.

FYI I have been in the business for a long time. How long? When I started there were two TV stations in my home town and no FM radios. AM radio was king of the air waves. Television was black and white. Top 40 was the radio format of the day, and Lawrence Welk was till on TV. We also had some real gems like a Saturday evening Polka show. The musicians painted out some of their front teeth. I can't figure out why, but it's stuck in my mind decades later. My local TV station delayed network programs by projecting the picture on a TV screen and filming the show in black and white. Then they developed the film and played it back later. Yes, when I started only the big market stations had something called "video tape!"

My how the business has changed, and so have I. Along the way I became a disc jockey, a TV news reporter, anchor, television network producer, news director, and finally a General manager. I thought about leaving the business once and went back to school to learn to be a computer programmer. That wasn't much fun so I stayed in broadcasting. Little did I know that someday all that computer training would apply to my chosen career: broadcasting. You see we are about one year away from becoming an all-digital medium. Almost everything we do now invovles a computer. Now I don't claim to know how to program computers any more but I do understand how digital things work. That is a necessary career survival skill in the 21st Century.

Well, that's enough for now. I recall a radio commercial I heard once in my home town. It was done by a local lady who ran a grocery store and did her own commercials. She used to say at the end of the spot "Keep listening. I may sing next time."

Bob Allen