doublej
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In Tulsa OETA has dropped PBS HD and now has slates up on the subchannels saying coming soon OETA YOU and OETA OKLA and has OETA KIDS on 11.4
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mzokc
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Indeed it is a sad day to lose OTA 24 hour PBS HD, but this is what OETA announced months ago. There is hope through Cox cable, and that is the plan to have PBS-HD transmitted 24 hours a day through COX.
Many PBS stations run two feeds, one PBS-HD and the other local programming at the same time. However OETA is planning to use the digital system to maximize channels.
OETA has mentioned in the past that they would be broadcasting HD OTA at times. Just how they planned to do this was confusing as they clearly have multicast scheduled during prime time and that would make it impossible for full HD transmission.
They mention 6 channels on their website. Don’t be confused, only 5 of them are digital and one of them is PBS-HD on COX. What’s left on OTA digital is:
OETA Main (same as analog.)
OETA OKLA
OETA YOU (with one day prime-time delay between 7-10 PM)
OETA KIDS (with repeat news at 10PM)
Hopefully they will change their minds in the future and drop the multicasting during a portion of the 24 hour schedule and allow us to record some HD programming. This ideally should be during prime-time, but after midnight would be another option.
At this point they probably want to keep things simple and let COX handle the HD part. At least we have enjoyed several years of great HD PBS programming. We now realize how important it is, how much we will miss it on OTA tuners and will do everything we need to do to get it on DISH, DirecTV, COX and maybe OTA as HD demand increases.
Mark Z
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Dennis Whiteman
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Simple would be to keep the national PBS-HD channel they had up until yesterday… 
Dennis
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MWB
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This is unfortunate, but not unexpected news–I remember reading about it here and in the OETA newsletter several months ago.
I’m OTA only, so I’ll miss out on any PBS-HD content that Cox carries. I really enjoyed several of the HD programs, especially Austin City Limits (which often gets the shaft, schedule-wise, from OETA analog), and have very little interest in what the multicast channels are seeming to offer. I’ll join others in hoping that they’ll drop the other channels occasionally to show certain HD shows in full bandwidth HD, but it’s hard to be anything other than pessimistic about that at this point.
It was nice while it lasted.
All in the name of “progress,” right, OETA?
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skc1277
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I sent an email to OETA about the change in programming and received the following response:
// To answer your question… No, OETA-HD will not be available over the air. The problem comes down to bandwidth. For the past several months, we’ve been digitally broadcasting the PBS HD loop. It’s a direct satellite feed from PBS. It takes up nearly the entire digital bandwidth allotted to us by the FCC. We had to decide whether to continue showing this feed of limited programming or use the bandwidth to appeal to a wider audience. We opted to broadcast four standard definition channels most days and times and then go back to high definition during Prime Time when PBS is feeding the core programming in high definition (i.e. NOVA, Nature, etc.). We hope to have all four channels multicasting next week.
True, this plan means we will be broadcasting fewer pretty pictures, but there will be far more programming. We will be serving more of Oklahoma with this wider variety of programming.
Cox Communications is impressed by OETA’s efforts to broadcast the wide variety of programming. They expressed a desire to add all of our digital channels to their Digital Cable service. They purchased and installed equipment at their facilities to receive OETA’s channels, and they plan to add them to their digital lineup in the next couple of months. Since Cox Communications isn’t limited by over-the-air bandwidth, they will also be able to receive the PBS HD loop that we were broadcasting. We hope other cable and satellite providers will soon follow suit. We hope to have all of Oklahoma watching OETA’s new channels eventually, whether by cable, satellite or received via digital broadcast. //
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doublej
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That is the exact same word for word email that I received this morning from the programming assistant. I am having a problem with KRSC-dt from claremore. I can receive them with built in tuner in the tv but not with tuner in the sat hd box. I have noticed a second channel on 35.2 with color bars. Perhaps they could show PBS HD since they pick up the bulk of pbs programming that oeta doesn’t show. Unfortunately they have not responded to any emails.
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pen25
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one thing to consider. i know several has an HTPC setup. one can go purchase a twinhan pci dvb FTA card and use an old primestar dish to recive the few hd broadcasts that are up there. i do know pbs is broadcast fta in the clear.
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doublej
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And who wants to watch HD on their pc monitor instead of the nice hdtv’s they have bought?
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fenly
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I think the point of a HTPC (home theater pc) is that its not on a pc monitor, and is hooked up to a high def tv or projector
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Dennis Whiteman
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Even though I’m a Mac user, all the OETA programming I used to watch was generally recorded and watched later using my EyeTV 500. Now, it’s so rare that something I schedule for recording is actually in HD that I’m not bothering any more.
My Macs were hooked up to a 50-inch Sony rear projection LCD from 1999 until last year and now I use a 32-inch LCD that’s plugged into my Mac. I have a couple of remote controls, including my Bluetooth cell phone for controlling what’s playing back.
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