KNWS Going Spanish; KAZH Going English

[editor]

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2010/09/14/45249/kazh-making-shift-to-englishlanguage

Looks like there's too many Spanish stations going after the same small piece of Spanish-language advertising pie ($80 million in Houston), so the Vsallovision station (KAZH channel 57) in Baytown is going English ($400 million in Houston).

At the same time, Katy's KNWS (channel 51) is going Spanish, and picking up the Azteca affiliation.

The signals of the two stations are pretty much the same, so there's no coverage advantage either way.

[brucesw]

Retro TV, which was supposed to wind up on 51 before the bankruptcy of the former owner, has landed on KUVM.2, 34.2. It appears to be a very bad signal just about everywhere.

[editor]

Retro TV, which was supposed to wind up on 51 before the bankruptcy of the former owner, has landed on KUVM.2, 34.2. It appears to be a very bad signal just about everywhere.

That's because KUVM isn't supposed to serve the entire market. It's a low-powered community signal that's supposed to service a smaller area than a full-power station.

Here's the KUVM signal:

Here's the KNWS signal:

RetroTV is OK, but it's not as good as the Weigel offerings: Me TV, Me Too, This TV, That TV. It's amazing that one can build a minor broadcasting empire off of reruns.

Shame about 51. It has so much potential, but it just seems cursed.

[LTAWACS]

Why is the signal coverage of the weaker station irregular? Shouldn't they both be circles?

[Ross]

Why is the signal coverage of the weaker station irregular? Shouldn't they both be circles?

Nope. Different antenna designs give different coverage.The weaker station is using a directional antenna to get Houston, not the rural areas to the SW

[20thStDad]

It's a kidney!!

[brucesw]

That's because KUVM isn't supposed to serve the entire market. It's a low-powered community signal that's supposed to service a smaller area than a full-power station.

I live less than 10 miles due north of the transmitter and get only spotty reception. In a thread about this on R-I, everyone reported either bad reception or no reception and all except one lived well within the purported coverage area as I recall.

[editor]

I live less than 10 miles due north of the transmitter and get only spotty reception. In a thread about this on R-I, everyone reported either bad reception or no reception and all except one lived well within the purported coverage area as I recall.

Those graphs can be pretty misleading if you're not a broadcast engineer. A lot more goes into it than most people thing. So much so that only just in the last year or so have computers been able to do these plots in a reliable enough fashion that they can be used for licensing.

The KNWS signal line is 41 dBu, while the KUVM line is 72 dBu. More importantly, the KUVM signal is not polarized, while the KNWS has horizontal polarization, which helps with distance.

I used to understand all this sort of stuff back in college, but that was a long time ago. I'm open to any corrections.

[little frau]

Retro TV, which was supposed to wind up on 51 before the bankruptcy of the former owner, has landed on KUVM.2, 34.2. It appears to be a very bad signal just about everywhere.

RetroTV in Austin was on K-EYE and was one of the few stations that we could receive out at the country place between Houston and Austin. Just about the time we got used to watching it on weekends, it too went Spanish with Telemundo. Mr. Frau was very disappointed.

[editor]

I hear that KAZH will become KUBE next week. Nothing new about programming, though -- just the call letters.

[ricco67]

I hear that KAZH will become KUBE next week. Nothing new about programming, though -- just the call letters.

I'm curious what all goes into changing the call letters. I know it's been done over the years with several radio and TV stations around Houston and the country, but just wondering how big of a deal it is to get one.

And also, what is the point of changing the letters if you're not really going to change programming that much?

[editor]

I'm curious what all goes into changing the call letters. I know it's been done over the years with several radio and TV stations around Houston and the country, but just wondering how big of a deal it is to get one.

And also, what is the point of changing the letters if you're not really going to change programming that much?

It used to be that changing call letters was a long, involved process with lots of papers. But in the last couple of years, the FCC has streamlined it and you can just do it online: http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/callsign/main.html Once the computer approves your calls, you mail a check to the gub'mint.

Some stations have been known to change call signs multiple times within the same week, and "parking" high-value call signs on crappy signals in the middle of nowhere until they can be used on a better station is now becoming common.

As for the KAZH to KUBE change, I'd say going from Spanish to English counts as a pretty significant change in programming. The station picked up "KAZH" when it became part of TV Azteca, and it's probably trying to shed that heritage.

These days radio stations change call letters all the time, but the trend is making its way to TV, too. Look at 39. It's went from KHTV to KHWB to KHCW to KIAH in the span of seven years.

[Blue Dogs]

Editor, didn't Houston's 43.5 recently get a South Asian station ?

[editor]

Editor, didn't Houston's 43.5 recently get a South Asian station ?

Wikimopedia seems to think so. It lists the following on KHLM:

43.1 Multimedios

43.2 MBC

43.3 Television de Houston

43.4 Bendicion TV

43.5 SATV

I can't get KHLM where I am. But it's got quite a good signal: