A couple of Issues I often get asked about

I kind of feel like John McLaughlin (but without the political panel) when I mention that there are “Issues” people ask me about relating to Erie Media. So without further adu, Issue One: What is the hold up with Directv regarding Erie’s local stations being added to their service. That is a really good question and one I wish I had a definite answer for. I figured soon after Dish Network added Erie stations to it’s packages, Directv would soon follow. Well, the Erie market was added by Dish in 2003 and I soon added them to my service. I have read where Directv would add Erie to one of their new satellites. However, that is still not the case and doesn’t help my friend who keeps Directv for the “NFL Sunday Ticket” since he’s an Eagles’ fan. I doubt that I would see as many Directv dishes in the Erie region if it weren’t for the NFL. Good thing I can get the Steelers over the air every week where I am in southern Crawford county. Issue Two: Viewers with the new converter boxes or digital TVs’ are having a hard time pulling in Erie digital stations with an inside antenna. There is a pretty simple answer to this question. Most Erie DTV stations are not at full power as of yet. It’ll be hard to pull in a digital signal with “rabbit ears” or even an indoor amplified antenna when the stations are not at full power (depending on where you live.) Currently, only WSEE DT 16 & WQLN HD 50 are putting out more than one watt of power. WSEE is at full power at 75kw while WQLN is at 39kw but hoping to get to 200kw once interference issues with Canada are worked out. Meanwhile, there will be no power increases on WJET DT 58 or WICU DT 52 until both stations move to their current analog positions. WJET will move to DT 24 while WICU will move to DT 12, which means you’ll need a UHF / VHF Yagi antenna since WICU will remain in the VHF band after the digital transition. Both stations will move on 2/18/09. As for WFXP HD 22, there are rumors that they could possibly go full power by fall. I’m surprised that I can get the 1kw station in my area fairly well but it will be even better once they go 1,000 kw as will WJET DT. It’s unfortunate that Erie does not have every digital station at full power & in HD. I can get several stations where I live & people in Erie cannot believe how much better similar sized markets like Youngstown are when it comes to over the air DTV. Time will tell once Erie stations are at full power how well reception of the stations will be with any indoor antennas. You can go to www.tvfool.com & check how reception could be regarding digital stations in your area.