What is up with WZRB-47? (Columbia, Greenville: how much, live, auctions)

[IM42A]

WZRB-47 is the Ion affiliate in Columbia, owned by Ion as almost all of their stations are. I have a dickens of a time picking them up OTA in northeast Columbia near Sesqui Park. Some rooms of the house, I can get it (rabbit ears), others I cannot. That is weird. Indicates to me a very weak signal. They have the former WACH-57 (and even before that, years, ago, WNOK/WLTX-19) stick on Cushman Road near North Beltline. I am pretty sure they share OTA DTV channel 25 with WJZY-46 Belmont/Charlotte, but if the stations protect each other (bobtailed in each others' directions respectively), there shouldn't be enough of a WJZY signal getting into Columbia to bollix up WZRB. Are they running at low power or something? Transmitter problems?


I know what they say about everyone having opinions, but I find Ion's use of spectrum to be appalling. The three "regular" TV channels are OK, family-friendly fare, but three shopping channels? Really? How profitable could that be? How many people actually sit in front of their TVs anymore and watch linear presentations of this product or that, when they could go on Amazon and order exactly what they want within seconds? They could put one of many subchannel nets on those channels --- we lost Antenna TV when WLTX went to Decades instead --- and appeal to a much broader audience. We watch MeTV on WOLO-25.4 more than half the time, awesome channel, basically TV Land for free! The Bahakels are trying to pack yet another subchannel onto the WOLO signal, 25.8, or at least they're testing it for some reason. Ion could always put their main network on 25.8, sell WZRB's channel allocation for spectrum, and make a fortune. The spectrum is worth far more than yet another full-power TV frequency in Columbia.


And while we're discussing subchannels, wonder if there's any possibility of getting Univision on one of the stations' subchannels? Not sure how much of a market there would be for a second Spanish subchannel in Columbia, Telemundo already has WKTC-63.2, I have to think that Spanish-speakers tend to have cable or dish for a plethora of Spanish TV, but at least OTA is free, and the other alternatives aren't. I also know that many Latinos work their butts off at jobs Anglos don't want, and I'm sure many would welcome more than one free OTA channel instead of paying for cable/dish. I know I would.

[DemanoRock]

I figure the three shopping channels probably generate a lot more revenue than the side channels that just push old reruns. While most people don't even tune into OTA, the ones that do tend to trend more to much older crowd, and that demographic has always trended well on Shopping Channels.

Ever since using a DVR in the early 2000's, and now on streaming almost exclusively since 2010, I can't imagine watching 'live' tv with no pause or ability to choose programming.

Interesting there are still people watching. I think the only time we watch OTA is if the internet goes out.

[tylerSC]

I would guess WZRB has a directional pattern to protect WJZY FOX-46 Charlotte, which also broadcasts on the same RF channel 25. And directional patterns often have nulls in certain areas, and that may result in a weak or difficult to receive signal at your location. WJZY also supposedly has a directional pattern, but it is actually more omnidirectional if you look at their coverage map. I think they are supposed to have a slight null towards Columbia to protect WZRB, but it is not really noticed on the coverage contour. Their signal coverage basically equals WBTV as the strongest signal in the Charlotte market, and may actually be more powerful once they achieve full power, as they use both horizontal and vertical antennas to have an elliptical pattern. But since the repack WJZY has been at reduced power due to a technical problem with the transmitter, and there has been a delay installing a replacement part. They are still awaiting a repair to restore full power at 1000kw horizontal and 790kw vertical. And WZRB may have a less powerful signal, so interference from WJZY may remain an issue. The FCC should have granted WZRB a different channel, as the repack has overcrowded the spectrum resulting in interference. You can view the coverage maps on rabbitears website, market listings. Look under technical data and click on the channel number, in this case real channel 25, both Charlotte and Columbia listings by call sign.

[tylerSC]

I agree I enjoy the retro channels such as MeTV, Antenna TV, and Decades. My favorite is MeTV, and I never get tired of Andy Griffith. I can receive MeTV on both WCCB from Charlotte and WYFF from Greenville. In addition to WCCB, Bahakel also owns WOLO in Columbia, and the master control for WOLO is at WCCB in Charlotte.

[tylerSC]

Update: WJZY may have finally restored full power as they are now running a promo telling viewers to rescan for a more powerful signal. Unfortunately this may increase interference issues with WZRB near Columbia.

[IM42A]

Originally Posted by tylerSC

I would guess WZRB has a directional pattern to protect WJZY FOX-46 Charlotte, which also broadcasts on the same RF channel 25. And directional patterns often have nulls in certain areas, and that may result in a weak or difficult to receive signal at your location. WJZY also supposedly has a directional pattern, but it is actually more omnidirectional if you look at their coverage map. I think they are supposed to have a slight null towards Columbia to protect WZRB, but it is not really noticed on the coverage contour. Their signal coverage basically equals WBTV as the strongest signal in the Charlotte market, and may actually be more powerful once they achieve full power, as they use both horizontal and vertical antennas to have an elliptical pattern. But since the repack WJZY has been at reduced power due to a technical problem with the transmitter, and there has been a delay installing a replacement part. They are still awaiting a repair to restore full power at 1000kw horizontal and 790kw vertical. And WZRB may have a less powerful signal, so interference from WJZY may remain an issue. The FCC should have granted WZRB a different channel, as the repack has overcrowded the spectrum resulting in interference. You can view the coverage maps on rabbitears website, market listings. Look under technical data and click on the channel number, in this case real channel 25, both Charlotte and Columbia listings by call sign.

I think the FCC got entirely too happy with itself, trying to ram channels in so close to one another, and whittling down available TV spectrum to the bare bone. And don't forget that digital TV signals can be affected by propagation the same way that analog signals were. During the summer, especially, I have been able to receive Savannah, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and others, albeit only for a few hours. Down at Myrtle Beach, the effects are even more dramatic --- WLTV-12 Jacksonville would come in sometimes (with a rabbit ear!), helped by the fact that there is almost a direct water path between MB and JAX. With the FCC shoehorning everyone into 30 channels (only a handful of OTA channels 2-6 continue to exist, most antennas aren't even cut for 54-88 mHz anymore), when tropo starts again, it's going to be a hot mess. When it gets that heavy, what happens is that both signals, the distant and the local, get in a thumb war, and neither one can be received.


If I were Ion, I would just have sold the WZRB spectrum in the auctions, and tried to get the main Ion channel on another station's subchannel. Bahakel is still running a test pattern with a bouncing ball on WOLO-25.8.