Power Usage in the Post-Transition Era
By Trip Ericson on Tuesday, December 7 2010, 12:03 - Opinion - Permalink
I received an e-mail from a regular reader and source for RabbitEars, and he asked me to make a post here to seek the input of those who may know the answer to his question.
He wants to know how much difference in power usage came along with the transition. A 5000 kW analog station was licensed for peak power versus a 1000 kW digital station licensed for average power, so he wonders just how much difference in bill there might actually be.
Given the discrepancies in VHF power levels overall, what about VHF stations? I would imagine stations like KTTV may actually have increased bills post-transition.
It's not fair to compare a low-VHF analog to UHF digital, but given the difference in antenna efficiencies and similarities of the TPO between the two, could the power bills be similar?
I put it to you, readers of RabbitEars. Do you have any insight into these questions?
Comments
A lot of things to consider. The type of transmitter will make a difference. On UHF, is it solid-state, inductive output tube, or maybe even a klystron. UHF solid state is usually not as efficient as tube type transmitters. On VHF a lot of analog stations were already solid state before the digital switch. If they kept their original channel, comparison should be easy.
Full-service VHF stations saw their power bill go up when they went to UHF in the 1000 kW range.
If anyone has info about the Nashville or Louisville markets
it would be good for comparison.
100000 that one hundred thousand dolars a month
how do I know? Im an accountant with broadcasting company in nyc.