Posted by chicagomedia.org on September 04, 2009 at 15:29:27:
Doubling of power should help viewers having trouble getting station's signal following the digital switchover
By Wailin Wong
Tribune staff reporter
3:07 p.m. CDT, September 4, 2009
WLS-Ch. 7 temporarily boosted its power on Friday and is working on a permanent fix for those viewers who are still having trouble getting the station signal after June's transition from analog to digital broadcasts.
The Federal Communications Commission granted permission for WLS to effectively double its power for a limited time. Emily Barr, president and general manager at WLS, said the station has applied with the FCC to relocate to Ch. 44, a move that should give it a stronger signal.
The FCC should approve the move within the next several weeks, after which WLS will need another few weeks to get its equipment in place. Barr said she expects WLS to be broadcasting on Ch. 44 by the middle of October. The station will continue broadcasting on Ch. 7, but drop back to its original power levels.
In the digital transition, WLS moved its digital signal from Ch. 52 on UHF to Ch. 7 on VHF. Afterward, many viewers in the Chicagoland area reported that they received the broadcast intermittently or not at all.
The power boost is only a temporary solution because it causes some interference with other stations, Barr said. The move to Ch. 44, which is on UHF, would be a permanent solution.
"We do have regulars who call us and say, 'What's going on -- when are you going to get the power boost?" Barr said, noting that it's difficult to quantify the number of local viewers still experiencing problems. "We're delighted. We've been working hard to get this."