Sunbeam's Boston Station's Signal Problems
While Boston is said to have had among the smoothest transitions to fully digital television, Sunbeam’s WHDH continues to struggle with signal strength, reports the Boston Globe.
Some parts of the DMA have not been getting the WHDH signal since last Friday. The NBC affiliate had planned to discontinue airing on channel 42 as of the analog shutoff, but is now simulcasting its signal on both channel 7 and 42 to reach the whole of greater Boston.
WHDH has asked the FCC for permission to boost its signal strength, which the Globe says could take weeks of testing.
The station is of course known to many as the one that announced it would not air hometown boy Jay Leno’s new primetime program in the fall, before backtracking on the announcement.
Giant letters across the top of WHDH.com say “IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE SEEING OUR SIGNAL PLEASE CLICK HERE.” The next page offers viewers tips on working through the problem.
“We are very sorry for the inconvenience to our viewers,” WHDH GM Chris Wayland tells the Globe, “and we hope to have this resolved quickly.”
Eric Post commented:
The FCC did a horrible job with these allocations. The FCC by saying, only if you stay on your digital allocation will we protect your signal, basically screwed all the viewers. The FCC should've said "move channels and deal with the new branding." If every station had to move channels no one would have an advantage. Once again, consumers lose because the FCC catered to broadcasting pandering.
