WOWK Up For Sale

[NewsShoot]

Word is that WOWK and it's sister stations are on the auction block. Can't confirm, just a rumor. However, lots of recent layoffs and continued downslide in the ratings. They're down to a bare bones staff and relying a lot on the automated systems. Union members are down to single digits and latest company personel to be laid off was Greg Payton, assistant chief engineer.

[genlock]

Things are getting tight when you lay off your transmitter guy.
Not a good market for TV station groups now.
Bray may take a real beating.

When WTRF was off and "out of town" people were working on it,
would that mean wtrf has lost the transmitter guy?
How about wboy, wvns?

[Cameron]

Nuthin' to do at that site, anyway:

DECLARATION
Bill Galloway hereby declares and states as follows:
1. I am Chief Engineer of West Virginia Media Holdings, LLC. West Virginia Media Holdings, LLC, is the licensee of television stations in West Virginia, including WOWK, Huntington, West Virginia (analog channel 13/pre-transition digital channel 47/post-transition digital channel 13). This declaration is submitted in support of an FCC filing to request authority for completion of an early digital transition to Channel 13.
2. Pursuant to an Emergency STA granted by the FCC’s Video Division on January 29, 2009, WOWK has been operating its post-transition digital facility on Channel 13 since January 29, 2009. In addition, on January 29, 2009 WOWK notified the FCC of the discontinuance of operations of both its Channel 13 analog facility and its Channel 47 pre-transition digital facility, as the result of damage sustained in a sever ice storm. WOWK advised in that notification that it did not expect to be able to resume operation of its analog facility on Channel 13 and/or its pre-transition digital facility on Channel 47 prior to the station’s transition to digital operation on Channel 13.
3. WOWK was already operating with reduced power prior to January 29, 2009, due to an equipment failure. On January 26, 2009, WOWK notified the FCC that the station had been operating with reduced power as of January 15, 2009, as the result of the failure of a contactor in the station’s analog transmitter. The contactor was not operating within specifications, which caused it to introduce electrical spikes in the voltage supply of the transmitter and building. This failure caused a reduction in operating performance of the transmitting tubes in the transmitter. This required WOWK to run the transmitter at a reduced power to minimize the risk of more damage to the analog transmitter and even the pre-transition digital transmitter. The analog transmitter was built in 1982, and the specific part is no longer manufactured or available from a supplier.
4. In the following days, there was a severe ice storm in the area, which caused the electric power in the building to became unstable again. The electric spikes affected the transmitting tube performance since the contactor could not protect the components in the transmitter. The surges caused by the contactor also created further instability of the building’s power. Discussions with other transmitter part manufacturers re-enforced the lack of availability of a new or replacement contactor for the analog transmitter. The only way to stop the contactor would be to defeat the component itself. This would mean bypassing a safety element, plus it would remove any means of remote control functions to the analog transmitter, including but not limited to ability to remotely turn the analog transmitter on or off.
5. The ice storm also adversely affected the Channel 47 digital transmitter. At the beginning of the ice storm the transmitter started losing power with high VSWR as a result of snow and ice build-up on the UHF antenna. Prior to total shut down the reflected power forced the Channel 47 transmitter off the air. The power surges created by the bad component in the analog transmitter caused the Channel 47 transmitter to become unstable and fail. Two failures occurred. One failure was the main fuse being blown again. The second failure was in the high voltage section
of the Channel 47 transmitter. The fuses were replaced by the high voltage section was damaged due to moisture build-up in the line feeding high voltage power supply located outside the building. The extreme ice and low temperature caused moisture to build up internally to conduit and feed lines. This build up was a result of the Channel 47 transmitter being without power for several days after the storm. Once the temperature of the Channel 47 transmitter reached above freezing, the transmitter would accept commercial power but would not supply high voltage. The feed line continues to be dried but without a moisture-clear line the Channel 47 transmitter will not operate. More than likely when high voltage can be supplied an assessment will discover damage to internal components. Lastly, the Channel 47 transmitter is the pre-transition transmitter and it is not connected to any back-up power source. When commercial power is lost at the building site the Channel 47 transmitter is off the air. Since DirectTV and Dish Network only carry digital signals, the result of the Channel 47 transmitter being off the air is that WOWK is not carried on those services. Even if WOWK could operate the analog transmitter, the bad contactor would create the same issues as above.

Yikes.

[genlock]

Where do you find these documents?


Never mind, found them.

[NewsShoot]

Things are getting tight when you lay off your transmitter guy.
Not a good market for TV station groups now.
Bray may take a real beating.

When WTRF was off and "out of town" people were working on it,
would that mean wtrf has lost the transmitter guy?
How about wboy, wvns?

I heard another engineer at one of the sister stations was let go as well, but I can't remember who or where. A couple photogs in Charleston were let go as well. Was told that even a lot of tri-state advertisers are jumping ship to WSAZ as well.

[Big Media]

I hate to hear of anyone loosing their job. Having said that, there is still a shortage of qualified engineers nationwide. Also, a station just doesn't need any more than one engineer--especially a TV group like WV Media. If Galloway goes on vacation, they will just put the Clarksburg chief on standby. Easy peasy. No outside contractors, no extra people standing around doing little, no fuss.

[genlock]

Just in time for lightning season.
Wonder what they will do if a transmitter should maybe, fail.
Some of these things are complicated.
Long drive to/from Clarksburg to Huntington, Beckley or Wheeling.

[Big Media]

Just in time for lightning season.
Wonder what they will do if a transmitter should maybe, fail.
Some of these things are complicated.
Long drive to/from Clarksburg to Huntington, Beckley or Wheeling.

Couple of things. 1st. If lightening is causing outages--other than a brief outage while the generator gets up to speed--then you have problems beyond the help of any chief. 2nd. A failed transmitter is not the end of the world. These DTV transmitters are much more stable than the old analog boxes. Outages should be few and far between and you should be able to bring your transmitters back up remotely anyway.

Compare the cost of lost revenue for even a two or three hour outage to the cost of paying and insuring two or three full-time engineers standing around scratching themselves all the time. It just isn't necessary anymore.

This is a good discussion.

[genlock]

It's knowing where to scratch that counts.

And it's transmitter. One of them.
Much easier when you have some sort of backup.

[Cameron]

Just in time for lightning season.
Wonder what they will do if a transmitter should maybe, fail.
Some of these things are complicated.
Long drive to/from Clarksburg to Huntington, Beckley or Wheeling.

Couple of things. 1st. If lightening is causing outages--other than a brief outage while the generator gets up to speed--then you have problems beyond the help of any chief. 2nd. A failed transmitter is not the end of the world. These DTV transmitters are much more stable than the old analog boxes. Outages should be few and far between and you should be able to bring your transmitters back up remotely anyway.

Compare the cost of lost revenue for even a two or three hour outage to the cost of paying and insuring two or three full-time engineers standing around scratching themselves all the time. It just isn't necessary anymore.

This is a good discussion.

Wow. What you DON'T know about lightning and/or transmitter/transmission systems could fill several volumes of...something.
Your next calling is general management.
I'm just glad these new-fangled transmitters don't adhere to the laws of physics, electrical energy, or radio-frequency like their analog counterparts.
Should be easy-going from here-on-out.

[oldtvman2]

when WOWK went remote controll the transmitter super said "untill we lose $30000.00 we are still making money." but i said what if someone watching tunes to another station and finds they like the other station better and do not come back. what was a 20 sec off the air could be aabout 1 hr outage. lighting on a tv tower is not much as everything is grounded, only ac power outages. still hate to see anyone lose their jobs. Greg was a GREAT engineer. I wish him luck finding another job.

[Big Media]

Your next calling is general management.

Done.

I'm just glad these new-fangled transmitters don't adhere to the laws of physics, electrical energy, or radio-frequency like their analog counterparts.
Should be easy-going from here-on-out.

I am not saying they adhere or don't adhere to anything. I am just saying that bad lightening (by itself) does not cause outages, only bad grounding.

DTV transmitter exciters and controllers are far less susceptible to power interruptions than a 40 year old analog transmitter. Especially if the HPA controllers are on a UPS and they can be rebooted remotely.

Like I said, if your transmitter is not staying on during a lightening storm, but the power is, your problems are far worse than an assistant engineer can fix. Just sayin'.

[genlock]

I know it is six months to football, but it it goes off and I miss a game,
I will really be pissed.

[rfhertz]

I am not saying they adhere or don't adhere to anything. I am just saying that bad lightening (by itself) does not cause outages, only bad grounding.

Bad lightening must be reported to the FAA. And the lights must then be repaired.

Bad lightning can damage any electrical or electronic equipment in a broadcast facility.

[genlock]

Good lightning hits someone else's tower, power line, phone line.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Good lightning hits someone else's tower, power line, phone line.

... while the ratings books are getting filled out.

[Lee]

If WOWK is indeed for sale, I wouldn't worry about Spencer Adkins.

Spencer Adkins would take Chuck Norris' lunch money...by just asking!

[lastone]

As anancient radio guy who had to "make due" with whatever he could find to repair transmitters, I somehow find it hard to believe that in this day of numerous sources of new and used parts, a contactor can't be found to replace the one in the analog transmitter!

Am I missing something or is this a 'croc'?

[genlock]

I agree with lastone.
Some sort of lash-up could have been made on the VHF.

Some way to hook up the DTV UHF transmitter to the generator could have also been arranged.
Even if it meant running 480v cables across the floor.
I am guessing their plant is 480v.

It may not have met code.
It would have been as safe as bypassing an interlock.
Who here can truly say they have not done that?

[fearpeddler]

Who here can truly say they have not done that?

*raises hand*