In this week’s issue… ATSC3 comes to Boston – iHeart moves in NYC – Callahan returns to Pamal – Canadian low-power AM flips to FM
By SCOTT FYBUSH
*The new ATSC3 digital TV standard has been rolling out slowly in medium markets around the region, but until now, cutting-edge viewers in the biggest NERW-land markets haven’t been able to try out the promise of more robust signals, higher-definition pictures and more interactivity.
That will change in a few weeks in eastern MASSACHUSETTS, when most of Boston’s major stations join forces to put full-power ATSC3 on the air in the Boston market.
Univision’s WUNI (Channel 66) will be the host station for the new digital technology, using its RF channel 27 signal from its tower in west suburban Marlborough to carry programming from public WGBH-TV (Channel 2), CBS-owned WBZ-TV (Channel 4), Hearst’s ABC affiliate WCVB (Channel 5), Cox’s Fox affiliate WFXT (Channel 25) and NBC’s WBTS-LD (Channel 15), as well as its own Univision programming from WUNI and True Crime TV from channel-share partner WWJE (Channel 50).
The arrangement will send WUNI’s ATSC 1.0 signals to be hosted by Univision’s partners across the market: the main WUNI 66.1 Univision signal will be hosted by NBC’s Telemundo outlet WNEU, Bounce (66.2) and Get TV (66.3) by WFXT, Court TV (66.4) by WBZ’s sister station WSBK, and Twist TV (66.5) by WGBH. And since WUNI itself is the host for a channel share with True Crime TV outlet WWJE (50.1), the WWJE programming will be hosted on WCVB.
The new WUNI ATSC 3.0 multiplex will actually the second 3.0 signal in town, following last summer’s launch of several diginets over WCRN-LD (Channel 30). Across the region, it joins Hartford, Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo in having most major networks available in 3.0; there are also smaller 3.0 launches from Nexstar in Springfield and Harrisburg and Sinclair in Pittsburgh.
What about other big markets? We’re expecting an announcement from one of them any day now… stay tuned.
And if you don’t have your Tower Site Calendar, now’s the time!
If you’ve been waiting for the price to come down, it’s now 30 percent off!
This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.
And did you see? Tower Site of the Week is back, featuring this VOA site as it faces an uncertain future.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).
We still have a few of our own calendars left – as well as a handful of Radio Historian Calendars – and we are still shipping regularly.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the new calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!
In this week's episode - Top of the Tower is back with a new spring/summer season of conversations with some of the most interesting people in radio! This week, it's another joint episode, a two-way chat with my good friend Jason...
In this week’s issue… Oneonta signals go dark - Whiteoaks takes over in Niagara - Corus empties Ottawa studios - CBS-FM shuffles talent - Armstrong anniversary to be honored
In this week’s issue… Public broadcasters plead for help - Connoisseur restructures leadership - Pennsylvania AM goes dark - Succession plan for veteran college radio manager
In this week’s issue… Car dealership goes terrestrial - Lawsuit uncovers Connoisseur's attempted bids for Audacy, Cox - New newsroom for WNBC, WNJU - Remembering Buffalo's Deeb, Batavia's Platt
