FCC To Allow WVUE To Return To UHF Digital Channel

New Orleans station has had continuing problems with its assigned VHF channel since DTV transition

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/18/2009 3:12:32 PM

The FCC wants to allow WVUE New Orleans to return to its pre-DTV transition UHF digital channel 29 after continuing problems with its assigned VHF channel (8).

WVUE had requested the change after saying it had recieved thousands of calls from viewers who said they could not receive the station's digital signal.

The FCC has allowed some stations to boost power, but in the case of WLS Chicago even that was not enough to solve the problem, and the FCC last week also tentatively granted it a move to a UHF channel. WVUE says it does not have that powering-up option since a power boost could cause interference to an adjacent-channel station in Baton Rouge, LA.

The FCC also allows stations to work out power adjustments among themselves then present them to the commission, but WVUE owner Louisiana Media said that moving to its pre-transition channel would ensure that "all of the station’s former analog and pretransition digital viewers will once again receive service from the station."

The FCC has proposed allowing the move, and has given interested parties 25 days to weigh in, just as it has with  WLS and other channel moves as it continues what it calls a mop-up operation following the June 12 transition to digital.