[mythtv-users] Let's get our heads straight here on listings solutions

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Sat Jun 23 23:25:09 UTC 2007


Rod Smith wrote:
> On Saturday 23 June 2007 15:14, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
>> According to Wikipedia, the FCC says the total number of licensed
>> TV-band transmitters in the US is 8839.
>>
>> This is one reason why a separate newsgroup for each program source is
>> probably impractical, as much as I'd prefer to do it that way.  :-)
> 
> That number could be either high or low, compared to what we need:
> 
> - Does it include cable/satellite stations (CNN, Sci-Fi, HBO, etc.)? If
>   not, the number could be low, although probably by less than 10%.
> 
> - What precisely is a "licensed TV-band transmitter"? I'm guessing
>   this definition includes more than the TV stations for which we'd want
>   to provide data. I say this because there are 210 DMAs (TV markets) in
>   the US, and 8839/210 = 42.09. There certainly aren't an average of
>   42 OTA TV stations in each DMA.
> 
> Overall, I think 8839 is a high estimate. Assuming a dozen stations per DMA 
> and 500 cable/satellite stations, that works out to 3020 stations. My guess 
> is this would be a high estimate, but I doubt if the number would be less 
> than half that.
> 

I would think that number is exactly what it says "licensed TV-band
transmitters".

It would not include cable or satellite, but it would include low-power
rigs, translators and licenses for which construction permits have been
issued but not yet on the air. It might also include some aux services
licensed to operate in the TV bands.

And of course Myth users WANT the info on cable and satellite channels,
regardless if they have "transmitters operating in the TV band".

But the main point is that it is "A LOT", far too many for some of the
proposed "solutions" I've seen here.

BEWW



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