Putting HDTV on the map in Oklahoma

This site has been running for about eight and a half years tracking the digital television transition. During that time, through two content management systems nearly 3,400 items and more than 15,000 comments have been posted. There have also been more than 900 posts in the forums through two different systems. During that time, 11,300 user accounts have also been added, but as near as I tell, fewer than 1,000 of those are not hackers simply looking for an way in to do whatever.

With the analog cutoff for some stations more than a year out and all stations since last summer, I’ve been rethinking the site and am going to make it more functional and interactive. There are also a few problems that will be fixed by these changes. As some of you know, I make my living doing web development and I’ve often used this site as a way to learn new things and experiment with things before I install them on client sites. This transformation is no different.

The first step in this upgrade process is going to be getting rid of the user accounts that don’t seem to have been created by real humans. The easiest way for me to do this is to delete the user accounts that have never posted an item, a comment or a forum post. While that might delete some actual real people from the system, I can’t think of a better way to identify who is actually participating in the site. And once I do this, I’ll be adding some software to better identify hacker accounts in the future so it should make it easier for me to maintain, which is one of my goals.

So, until someone jumps up and screams “NOOooooo!” I’ll be deleting the accounts later in the week. If your account gets deleted because you’ve never posted an item, comment or forum post, you’ll still be able to recreate it in the normal way. And, this would be a good time to comment if you haven’t done so before.

The rest of the changes will follow shortly after and throughout the process I’ll be posting links on Twitter.

Dennis

Taddeusz writes:

I’m not sure when it happened but KFORDT, KFORDT2, KOCODT, and KOCODT2 are currently available on two separate clear QAM channels in the OKC area, 84 and 116. Previously they were only on channel 84. I wonder if Cox is planning on moving those from 84 to 116 and they are keeping both alive until the change is permanent?

Is this the first time Cox has offered digital channels in the clear?

Dennis

I saw something about this a day or two ago, but I just noticed I haven’t been able to pick up KOCO-DT all day? Did they get knocked off the air by the snow?

Dennis

KWTV-DT has applied to stop broadcasting on VHF channel 9 and keep broadcasting only on UHF channel 39. If you have any DVR recordings on 9-1 I would change it to record on channel 9-2.

DirecTV and Panasonic announced a partnership to start broadcasting 3D channels starting in June. DirecTV HD receivers will receive an update so that the 3D picture and can seen on 3D compatible HDTVs. You will also need a pair of active-shutter glasses.

Discovery Communications, Sony and IMAX announced that they will launch a 3D network in 2011. Hello Discover 3D

Link

KWTV, Oklahoma City UHF Channel 39 will be performing planned maintenance from approximately 12:00 AM until 04:00 AM on Wednesday, January 6. If we finish the work early we will sign back on at that time. This maintenance will allow us to relocate our fiber feed at the transmitter location.

ESPN is going to create a 3D network starting in June 2010 and televise 85 live events.

Link

I went and saw Avatar this weekend at the Warren Theater in Moore. The Warren uses a 3D system from the Dolby. The AMC theater at Quail Spings Mall now has an IMAX theater which opened this month. Has anyone seen Avatar at both theaters? If you have which experience did you like better?

DirecTV launched a new satellite, DirecTV 12 yesterday. The new satellite should be deployed sometime in March to launch more HD channels as well as 3D services.

From Twitter:

OETA begins the end of our statewide digital transition today – Lawton Viewers: OETA channel 36 switches to digital-only TODAY! You must RESCAN your converter boxes and digital TV sets to continue watching OETA channel 36.1 and our new digital Okla Channel 36.2 … Tomorrow, we travel to Altus and Frederick … watch for on location posts from Tech Director Mark Norman each day. Questions? info@oeta.tv

According to its Twitter account, Cox Oklahoma will be carrying the Jenks vs. Union football game in HD on Friday at 7:30 p.m. on channel 710. Not sure if this is in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but it is a state championship game.

To my knowledge, this is the first high school game broadcast in HD in Oklahoma. Does anyone know differently?

Dennis

Update: HDTVR writes: Around Noonish today (Friday) I discovered Channel, 610 FSSP and 710 FSSPH are listed in the OK City Cox channel Guide with the game starting at 7:30 PM. Other programming listed as starting at 5 PM and ending at 11:30 PM.

I have updated the Cox Cable HD Channel List.

I have updated the FCC Applications page. More updates to come…

The Switch from Analog to Digital TV:

Stations that changed channel positions from UHF (ultra high frequency) to VHF (very high frequency) were more impacted, showing a 13% share decline. This change in channel position created challenges in household receivability, since homes with “digital” antennas — which were only capable of receiving UHF signals — were not able to receive VHF digital signals and homes could not receive these channels without performing a re-scan of their converter boxes.

Courtesy Jack Hodgson, OSU broadcast journalism professor

Given the challenges voiced here receiving digital signals before and after the transition, I’m not surprised that some stations lost share when they transitioned from UHF to VHF. Perhaps that’s why KWTV might be transitioning back to UHF…