- WCSH - Channel 6
- WMTW - Channel 8
- WGME - Channel 13
- WPXT - Channel 51
- WPME - Channel 35
- MPBN - Channel 26 (in my area)
- FOX 23
- Maine Associate of Broadcasters
- Kevin Martin, Chairman of the FCC
It seems the the Portland Maine market of broadcast television stations is having quite a difficult time communicating with the public on several levels. As some of you may already know, I write a blog for which I get the most hits when I write articles regarding HDTV, especially in the Portland viewing area. From time to time I have contacted each of the television stations listed above and some of you may remember me. If so, I hope it is a good memory :)
WCSH six broadcasts Weather Plus on channel 6-2 which is a good channel, I suppose, and it seems to be pretty stable. The weather station is what is says; it is nothing more, nothing less.
WMTW - broadcasts live Doppler Radar, 24 hours a day with a running narrative of older News Broadcasts from earlier that day or the previous day depending on when you watch. I don’t find this helpful at all. It is quite ridiculous to watch live Doppler radar that reminds me of the “yule log channel” at Christmas time where there is a close up of a fireplace, broadcast out to consumers to bring them that warm and fuzzy feeling during the holidays. Also, is there any real reason why shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, which are recording in full HDTV, are not broadcast to us here in Maine in HDTV?
WGME - It seems like the Standard Definition broadcast, which is on channel 13-2 is sometimes available over the the air, and sometimes not. It used to be there all the time, then disappeared. It suddenly re-appeared today for a short time. According to my research 13-2 is supposed to be a music channel called The Tube, but I am not receiving The Tube on that channel and I am assuming it is not being broadcast, otherwise, I would be picking it up.
MBPN - which as I stated before, I receive on channel 26-1 and 26-2. However, today I suddenly started receiving these signals on channel 45-3 and 45-4. But only for a short time, then it went back to 26-1 an 26-2. This was quite confusing.
So here’s the bottom line:
I have a lot of contacts through my web log and many who rely on my site to get information about what’s going on with our local, Portland ME, high definition television market.
These consumers who receive over-the-air television broadcasts are somewhat confused and very angry. There is not enough information out there and this is having, or will soon have, an effect on brand loyalty and bad publicity. If a particular television station sends the wrong message to the consumer, meaning they don’t care so much what the “over the air” consumer thinks, this will be a costly mistake. They want to be heard, and they want to be informed.
I believe that the last thing that any television station wants is to loose viewers. Losing viewers translates into losing ratings, which translated into losing revenue.
All of the TV stations I have mentioned are in digital mode now, but even the ones trying to leverage to multi-channel capabilities are not doing a very good job with it.
I wrote to the Maine Association of Broadcasters identifying what I thought were some major gaps between what is going on in the industry and what the public is aware of. Other than visitors to my web site who have sought out HDTV information, I have yet to met ONE person among my fiends, family, the general public, or members of the local community organization to which I belong, who have any idea what I am talking about in terms of the changes that are happening in the industry, let alone what’s going on right here in Portland Maine and the state of its High Definition/digital programming.
When the transition to digital is final, which channels will retain their current number, which will retain the UHF (digital) channel assignment. The “over the air” public needs to know this information.
I wrote to the MAB and asked how I can get involved as a consumer and I was referred to the national FCC site, as if to say that they are not really concerned about what the local consumers think, nor what their needs are.
And what about digital converters, who needs them, how do they get them and is the FCC going to subsidize the cost of them?
When will locally produced programming like the news, or TV magazine shows be produced and broadcast in HD? Won’t doing so increase your ratings?
I realize that this transition is probably a very difficult one for all of you. You must be feeling the heat of the 100% digital deadline that is fast approaching on February 17, 2009. I can tell you that from my experiences, many, many consumers are tired of the high prices of cable and satellite providers and when they find out that I am receiving all of the local TV stations in full high definition format, for free, with an antenna that is not expensive, they are amazed. They want to know how to do it, how it works, what they need, etc. This is especially true of two major groups, the techie types, and the elderly or those on a more fixed income.
The FCC has a web site with a plethora of information about digital TV and has templates for television stations to use to disseminate information to the public. I have read these communication templates and feel that even with them, the public is still going to be quite confused. Further, the FCC website that deals with digital TV does not spend a lot of time on “over-the-air” broadcasting which in my opinion will be a growing segment for those who don’t need 900 channels just to receive a high definition broadcast of something like CSI: Miami.
My purpose in writing is to share with all of you the experiences that my blog friends, the public, and I have had and discussed amongst ourselves. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, they are frustrated, angry, and confused. I would like to get involved where I can as this has become a passion of mine. But when I asked this of the MAB, I was dismissed as if the information I have laid out here has no real value. I believe you all need a good marketing campaign and communication plan. I will leave you with a few of the “search terms” that the pubic used to find my site (and other sites I’m sure) just today and this is verbatim.
wcsh channel 6
WGME DIgital Channel uhf
cw hd maine
over the air signal maine
how do you get high def through cable
rabbit ears hd stations
convert TV signal to HDTV
Can HDTV’s receive analog signals
Favorite wmtw broadcasters
hdtv signal portland me
hdtv feb 19 2009
receiving high definition channels without paying
I don’t believe that you, the television broadcasters, are even close to communicating with the pubic on the level that is needed; and I mean needed now, not later. In my communications with various personnel from television stations in our marked and I have heard things like “things are happening” and “later this year” etc. I have heard a lot of terminology that, when you read between the lines, sounds like passing the buck, and finger pointing. I have been in contact with cable companies and people at the FCC, including Richard Wiley (who was heavily involved in writing the HDTV standards for the FCC) and, to be honest, most blame the lack of public knowledge on the broadcasters. Anything you folks do in your “testing” with sub channels and temporary signals, etc, etc. is 100% noticed by those of us receiving over-the-air broadcasts. The mistakes in HD broadcasting signals, the voice/picture sync problems, all of it, is noticed and consumers are beginning to gain strong opinions about one station or another. I believe this is why you need to take notice as to what is going on out there is the blog-o-sphere, so that none of it catches you by surprise. As I said this letter will be going on my blog and if I can be of any further assistance to any of you, please let me know.
Best regards,
Springvale, Maine
telephone number available upon request.
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