KSCE Files to Return Analog 38 to Air
By Trip Ericson on Monday, May 3 2010, 00:48 - News - Permalink
From the "The Stupidity Hurts" department this week, we have KSCE in El Paso, who wants to light up their analog 38 signal once again. See the documentation here.
Basically, they are arguing that lots of analog sets still exist in the market and that the drug war in Mexico is reason enough to warrant lighting up their analog signal to... broadcast religion. However, what the station is failing to note is that full-service analog transmission is now banned by federal law. If the FCC was to approve such a filing, it would be in direct violation of the law to do so.
Unless I'm completely missing something here, or they petition to have federal law changed, I forsee this one is going straight in the bin.
Comments
On the face it may seem stupid, but given that they are on the Mexican border what they are saying kinda makes sense. Remember that Mexico has lots of poor people who can't afford new HDTVs, and there isn't a converter box program in Mexico either. Mexico also isn't going digital for quite some time either.
I guess what they could do if they really wanted to broadcast analog is pack up and move to Mexico? Because if they claim they're serving a Mexican audience that would be the logical thing to do.
Federal law prohibits full-service television stations from operating in analog, no matter what other circumstances there are. Recall that there was a bill regarding stations within 50 miles of the border and it never passed, so there is no legal way for the full-service KSCE license to operate in analog.
Yes, I know that Trip. I don't think it will happen either. But their rationale for asking for it has to be the Mexican audience. I'm sure they know it will fail too, but they can then throw their hands in the air and say "not our fault, the FCC denied us."
Maybe they need to ask Mexico instead. If the transmitter site is moved 10 miles south, Mexico clears it and the FCC clears the cross border issue, they could transmit in analog for a while - maybe forever at the rate that Mexico moves. There are already other mexican statations that serve Elpaso, why not another?
I think that if they are trying to inform Americans who cross the Mexico Borders should be informed about the drug wars and violence, but I would think about it in a sense that they move the transmitter near Mexico and leave it at that after the FCC approves the cross borders.