[mythtv-users] VHF, UHF, and digital TV

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 6:27 PM, James Miller <gajs-f0el at dea.spamcon.org> wrote:
> Sort of a general query here

The answers to all of your questions are complex, due to overlapping
issues and history.

* Transmitter facilities (of the power needed for TV) are expensive.
  During the transition, some stations just used the transition
  as an excuse to invest in replacing their 1960's technology,
  others chose to use "temporary" additional frequencies at
  lower power for their rollouts, and then moved back to their
  original frequencies (and I believe there were some locations
  where the temp channels were required to run at low power
  to avoid interference with other existing users).

* VHF is technically inferior to UHF for digital transmissions
  due to certain types of interference most of the time, making
  UHF spectrum more appealing (for most).

* The demands for RF spectrum means that there are monetary
   incentives to (a) stop broadcasting entirely (take your money
   and close up shop), and/or (b) free up spectrum in certain bands
   in certain locations (moving from UHF to VHF), and/or (c)
   use the increased bandwidth in digital to share the frequency
   with others (performing, in effect, either or both (a) and (b)).



Any particular stations choices will vary, based on some
complex calculations of future profit(s) and service(s) and
location (RF spectrum value is likely worth more to some
providers in NYC than in parts of NE Montana).