PBS .1 .2 .3 .4 Channels after Feb. 2009

[tzphotos.com]

I wonder what PBS will do with their channel lineup after the shut down of the analog station.

In Chicago WTTW 11 has a rebroadcast of the analog channel on 11.2.

It would be nice if they make the HD channel 11.1 the main supply of programing and dedicate themselves to HD. This could free up bandwidth by shutting down the 11.2. This would provide us with a better quality picture on the HD channel. As of right now 11.1 is bit starved, the detail gets smeared when there is any sort of movement in the picture.

[say-what]

If all of those sub channels have separate lineups/programming, I wouldn't expect them to shut any down.

[n3ntj]

We all have questions about PBS, such as the joint press release by PBS and DirecTV from December 2007 that no-one at either company will talk about anymore.

I agree that the more subchannels, the worse PQ. I don't have an issue with 1 subchannel, but more than that makes the main HD signal suffer.

Example - WPVI (6.1) out of Philly uses 6.1 for their regular HD channel, 6.2 for duplicating 6.1 (about half of the time) but analog feed (4:3) transmitted digitally, and 6.3 (Weather). Why on earth they even use that 6.2 boggles my mind. Get rid of the current 6.2 and do weather like you currently do. Then, use this extra bandwidth (from turning off 6.2) and use it to better the 6.1 signal.

[Supervolcano]

I could be wrong, but I think WTTW 11.1 is the national PBS-HD feed, while WTTW 11.2 is the local independent PBS feed who's programming lineup is literally controlled and decided upon by WTTW.

If this is true, I doubt it will ever go away, because 11.2 is where they have their special concerts and other local telethon drives, which is where I suspect WTTW Chicago probably gets a good majority of it's revenue from.

[n3ntj]

Another posting today I saw reported that the PBS HD (national) feed will be stopping sometime in the next few months.

Check out post# 45 at: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=131000&page=2

[BillRadio]

Each market is different. In Denver, where we have the luxury of 2 PBS channels, KRMA uses 6.1 for HD and 6.2 for v/me (Spanish). KBDI uses 12.1 for SD PBS/Local, 12.2 for the Documentary Channel, and 12.3 for MHz Worldview. I guess that's the best of both worlds.