FULL-COVERAGE N.Y.C. TV SERVICE MAY BE YEARS AWAY
It’s likely to be at least 2 years before N.Y.C. TV stations have fully functional antennas and transmitters on permanent sites, and terrorist attack is likely to mean lengthy delay in full DTV deployment, said consultant Leavitt Pope, chmn. of standing All-Industry Committee that deals with common antenna sites there. Pope said few existing alternatives were available that fully met broadcasters’ needs, although many might locate at least temporarily on Empire State Bldg. or elsewhere.
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Broadcasters had only recently completed work on antenna site atop World Trade Center, including both analog and DTV antennas for all major broadcasters in market. Most were knocked off air by attack (CD Sept 13 p3), although CBS and others got back on air, using facilities at Empire State Bldg. or in nearby Alpine, N.J. But none of sites provided same signal coverage as was available from Trade Center, Pope said.
Empire State Bldg. appears to be best site available now, but there’s disagreement on whether all stations can operate from site, including radio stations that were located there. Robert Seidel, CBS vp-engineering, said he believed space on tower and floors below for antennas and transmitters probably could be adequate, but others said that probably wasn’t true, particularly if DTV were added. Pope said putting 10 analog plus 10 DTV facilities on Empire State would be “at least problematical.” Even just for analog, at very least antennas on Empire tower probably would have to be re-stacked, Seidel said. He said CBS was looking at keeping Empire as its long-term site, but was developing geographically diverse site for backup antenna and transmitter. Site, described only as “very tall,” is expected to be operational in about 2 weeks, he said.
One problem is that Empire State is nearly 500’ shorter than World Trade Center, resulting in smaller signal coverage, Pope said, and broadcasters may not find that adequate. He said it was important to stations to replicate previous coverage, which reached from near Philadelphia north into Conn., in order to preserve audience size and prevent viewers from switching to other stations. Empire State also has other problems, including its 70- year age and questions about ownership. Even if ownership could be resolved satisfactorily, Pope said, there’s question whether stations would be willing to invest “a lot of money” in old building.
There are few other alternatives, Pope said. Other buildings are even shorter and have other problems, he said. Broadcasters had considered building dedicated tower of 1,500 ft. or more, possibly on Governor’s Island, but that was considered impractical. Idea like that could be reopened, Pope said, and it could be more practical now for political and other reasons. World Trade Towers’ owner, Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J., is less likely to oppose it now, and historical preservation and other issues might be easier to resolve in light of crisis, Pope said. Other sites would be difficult to find because of heavy use of real estate in area, and because proximity to 4 major airports raised FAA issues.
Funding remains issue for dedicated tower, which could cost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, Pope acknowledged. He said changing economics of broadcasting industry make stations more reluctant to spend large amount of money. Political issues of finding site, including “not in my backyard” factor, may be more difficult than engineering, Pope said. Even if site and funding could be agreed upon, process that certainly would take months, he said it probably would take at least 18 months to build tower and install equipment.
Process of finding permanent solution hasn’t even begun in earnest, officials said. “Right now, most engineers are just trying to do the necessary temporary work and get a few hours of sleep,” Seidel said. Pope said his committee had had some brief conference calls, but mostly about immediate issues. No date has been set for meeting to discuss more permanent solution, he said: “This is not high on our priority list right now. There’s still a lot of effort to get back on the air.”
One possibility is for stations to locate in multiple sites for long term, instead of at single site. Broadcasters had wanted single site to allow home antennas to be pointed in one direction for all stations and to assure that no competitor had technical advantage, Pope said, but that could be slightly less important since so many viewers received TV signals via cable. Still, he said stations probably would prefer single site: “The problem is finding just one site.” Even CBS, with its Empire State facility, still would be interested in common site, Seidel said.
Most N.Y. TV stations almost certainly will have to seek extensions of deadlines for launching DTV, Pope said. All major stations already had DTV on air before attack, but now all but CBS have to start over. DTV also “isn’t on the priority list,” Pope said, and he said FCC officials had indicated they would be “understanding” about reasonable delays.
Meanwhile, Pax TV, which lost its antenna in terrorist attack, said it was back on its assigned channel in N.Y.C., broadcasting on Ch. 31 from facility in E. Orange, N.J., as well as on LPTV Ch. 38 Amityville, N.Y. Chmn. Lowell Paxson said network planned to move its local signal to Alpine, N.J., tower in about month.