Discuss DTV: SatelliteGuys Forum DTV USA Forum AVS Forum Digital Home Forum

   RabbitEars.Info   
Sitemap
  

Friday, September 29 2017

Entrepreneur Turns to Kickstarter To Launch No-Nonsense News Channel

Friend of the site Eric Wotila is attempting to launch a 24/7 hybrid local-national news subchannel network, based out of his WMNN-LD 24/7 local news station in Cadillac, MI. He’s using the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to get the network off the ground, and is looking for backers to contribute a few dollars each toward making the project a reality. Funding is all-or-nothing, so if he doesn’t reach his fund-raising goal, no backers will be charged for their pledges. Along side this press release, he separately sent me an e-mail about it. I've received his permission to publish a few choice quotes:

"My goal is to launch a 24/7 national news channel that gets back to the headlines. No opinion. No shouting heads. Just a good, old-fashioned news wheel format: Give us 15 minutes, we’ll tell you what’s going on around the world, not analyze or voice our opinions. I’ve heard more and more over the past year or two that people are sick and tired of their existing options for 24-hour news, and I truly hope to provide a news broadcast that informs, rather than agitates.

"LNN will be the only 24/7 news channel without opinion-based talk shows, and it will also be the only such channel available both for free on antenna and via internet platforms such as mobile apps, Roku and Apple TV. In addition, the network is designed from the ground up with localization in mind, allowing many stations that currently lack the resources for local news to add local programming as well as national news to their lineup."

While I feel uncomfortable endorsing his project, given my position, I did want to republish his press release here. I feel comfortable doing this much, as it will appear in many other locations as well.

See the full press release by clicking "Read more" below.

Continue reading...

Thursday, February 9 2017

What We Know - Incentive Auction Results

With the quiet period for broadcasters lifted, we now know more about what some stations did in the auction. Below, I will attempt to track their public statements. I intend to update this post on a rolling basis with newest information at the top.

Continue reading...

Thursday, January 28 2016

What We Know About the Incentive Auction

(Updated 2/8/16 with an article about Chattanooga.)
(Updated 2/24/16 with more on Puerto Rico.)
(Updated 3/25/16 with WNYE.)

As many of you know, the FCC's Incentive Auction application window closed on Tuesday, January 12. This means that stations are now under a "quiet period" during which they cannot discuss bids or bidding strategy. This also means that almost any information that is going to be made public before the process is complete is probably already public now. As a service to those who are interested, I've attempted to compile as much information as I can find about who is in and who is out.

Please note that while I am officially an FCC employee, I have no access to any inside information on this subject, and even if I did, I could not share it. All data below was compiled entirely in my personal time and capacity, is in no way intended to reflect the views of the FCC or any of its Commissioners. It is either based on public information which is linked, or is strictly my own speculation based on years of industry-watching.

Now, to the educational part.

Continue reading...

Friday, October 16 2015

Comet TV Launch Markets

Last night, the Comet TV website was updated with affiliate information for launch. Unfortunately, there were a number of issues with the dataset, not least of which is that the zip codes do not line up with the affiliates in question. I spent a long time last night picking through it, and have come up with a table that seems to make sense of it, but there are still some lingering questions. Particularly, is Tribune also launching Comet TV, and in places where the new affiliate seems to be replacing Retro, This, Grit, or Get, is that actually happening, and if so, when?

Continue reading...

Monday, June 9 2014

Live Well Network Goes Away in January

I won't miss it, personally. ABC to Discontinue Live Well Network.

Monday, June 2 2014

Incentive Auction FAQ

I've read a number of posts and comments on message boards and mailing lists over the past several months, and I continue to read a lot of misinformation about what the incentive auction is and how it works. In the interest of educating those who don't know the facts of how this process will work, I've written an FAQ which attempts to be as unbiased as possible, which you can read by clicking the link below.

Continue reading...

HDHomeRun 4 Series Devices on Woot! Today for 40% Off

The HDHomeRun 4 series devices, including the new model which transcodes to MPEG-4 and another model I was unfamiliar with that will record to a hard drive, are today's item of the day over on Woot! Check it out here.

Monday, January 27 2014

GetTV Getting Ready to Go

I'm hearing that GetTV is starting to appear in more markets. I just spotted PSIP for it on WFDC here in Washington, on 14-3 rather than 14-2. I'm hearing it's up in some form or another on 68-3 in New York, 61-3 in Cleveland, 43-2 or 43-3 in Orlando, and 49-2 or 49-3 in Dallas. Anyone else seeing anything?

Thursday, January 16 2014

ION in 720i?

I got an e-mail from Jason at SiliconDust asking if my local ION station was broadcasting in 720i, as opposed to 720p. I've seen erroneous read-outs say 720i before from others, but never first-hand. Well, I checked both here in Alexandria and at my parents' house and, sure enough, ION was showing up as being in 720i on both WPXW and WPXR--but only during programming. When I looked again during commercials, it reported 720p.

Is anyone else seeing this on your local ION station?

Full disclaimer: SiliconDust is advertises their excellent products on RabbitEars.Info.

Friday, August 9 2013

More on QVC and ION

Updated 8/28/13 to reflect additional confirmations.

A few short notes about QVC and ION.

1. Yesterday afternoon, we got a comment in the earlier blog post on the subject from an engineer at QVC about their ION feed. He's seeking comments on the feed. Feel free to leave your comments in this post or the earlier one.

2. I've managed to confirm the presence of QVC on some ION stations, its non-presence on others, and there are then a bunch where I have no information at all. I should be able to independently verify WWPX, WLPX, WUPX, and WIPX during a road trip planned for late September, but I still have a long list, which can be seen below. If you can confirm any of the unconfirmed markets, please let me know.

Continue reading...

- page 1 of 4