Comet, Charge finding new homes; This TV needs one
The Sinclair-owned diginet Comet is finding a new home in Houston on KHOU 11.4. The station currently airs on KIAH 39.3, but simulcasting is currently underway in preparation for the final move.
In addition, you can now find Charge replacing This TV on KTRK 13.3 as part of a deal bringing Charge to ABC-owned stations around the country. Charge has already departed KUBE 57.4. Filling its space there is Z Living, a general entertainment channel.
No new home has yet been announced for This TV.
Circle moving to OTT; Twist shutting down
Circle, Gray’s country music-formatted subchannel currently airing on KHOU 11.5, is moving its programming off its over-the-air signal onto over-the-top (OTT) platforms including Roku TV, Samsung TV Plus, Vizio WatchFree, Xumo, Fubo, Peacock, Tubi and Redbox.
In addition, Tegna-owned lifestyle channel Twist, currently on KHOU 11.8, will be leaving the air on December 31.
There’s no word yet on what will be replacing these channels on KHOU.
いらっしゃいませ NHK WORLD
Houston Public Media has added NHK World to its multicast on KUHT channel 8.4, displacing PBS World to channel 8.6.
From a press release:
NHK WORLD-JAPAN is the English-language international service of Japan’s sole public broadcaster, NHK. Area viewers can tune in to broadcast channel 8.4 or Xfinity channels 304 and 1152 to catch the latest international and Asian news and enjoy cultural programs devoted to everything from homestyle Japanese cooking to anime to bicycling the countryside.
NHK WORLD-JAPAN delivers a unique and diverse blend of English-language programming featuring hourly live international news from Tokyo and 30 news bureaus around the globe, including New York City, along with programs covering Japanese society, politics, scientific advancement, culture, history, food and lifestyle.
“We are delighted to bring the news and unique cultural perspective of NHK WORLD-JAPAN to audiences across Greater Houston,” said Mr. Jun Takao, President and CEO of Japan International Broadcasting, Inc. “The Houston community is one of the most diverse in the United States and its people thrive on international culture, so it is a pleasure to bring this content to its English-speaking Asian population and the broader audience that wishes to know more about Japanese news, current events, and culture.“
With the addition of Houston, NHK WORLD-JAPAN is now broadcast in 14 metro markets in the U.S. and available to stream online.
“The programming provided by NHK WORLD-JAPAN is consistent with our mission to inform, educate and inspire the people of Houston with intelligent, enriching and culturally significant programming,” said Lisa Trapani Shumate, associate vice president and general manager, Houston Public Media. “It’s a pleasure to partner with NHK WORLD-JAPAN to bring this high-quality content to Greater Houston viewers.”
Circle is circling the drain
The Gray-owned subchannel Circle will be shutting down at the end of 2023, as content will move online with the end of the partnership between Gray and Ryman Hospitality.
Circle airs locally on KHOU 11.5.
The station will likely be replaced on most of its affiliate stations by one of the new networks being launched by Gray, Lionsgate and Warner Bros./Discovery.
KHOU joins KTMD in locking out ATSC 3.0 viewers
Tegna-owned KHOU has turned on copy protection DRM on its ATSC 3.0 signal, meaning most viewers with external tuners won’t be able to tune it in.
The ATSC 1.0 signals on channels 11.1 and 11.11 are not affected.
KTMD adds copy protection, locks out most ATSC 3.0 viewers. What can we do?
The creeping prospect of digital rights management being added to the public airwaves, already seen in a number of other TV markets, came to Houston today as NBC Universal-owned KTMD, channel 47, added copy-protection to its ATSC 3.0 channel.
The content protection means that most people with ATSC 3.0 tuners, such as Silicon Dust’s HDHomerun series, are no longer able to watch the channel, instead seeing an error message that “content protection is required”.
The content-protection bit can be set to restrict the ability to record the channel, as well as expire any allowed recordings.
YouTuber Lon Seidman has been following this trend and has posted a series of videos explaining the problem. The videos are worth watching:
* Restrictive DRM Coming to ATSC 3 Broadcasts.. Why are Broadcasters Doing This?
* Save Free TV – Let’s Stop ATSC 3.0 DRM ! Broadcasters are Encrypting Over the Air TV Channels!
* The FCC Responds to my ATSC 3 Complaint and Wants To Hear From You!
The best thing we as viewers can do is to complain.
Write KTMD:
1235 North Loop West
Suite 125
Houston, TX 77008
Comment on KTMD’s website:
Follow these instructions to file a comment with the FCC about filing 16-142.
A wild MPEG-4 appears!
KXLN, channel 45, has added a subchannel in the more efficient MPEG-4 video codec. ShopLC is airing on channel 45.5, the dial position formerly occupied by DigiTV.
The MPEG-4 codec is more efficient than the existing MPEG-2 codec because of better compression, taking about half the bit rate to send an equivalent program. The drawback is that your equipment may not be able to decode the MPEG-4 stream.
Thanks to reader Darrell for the tip.
Decades to rebrand as Catchy Comedy
Weigel-owned Decades, broadcast locally on KRIV 26.2, is rebranding to Catchy Comedy next month, according to Variety.
The new format, starting March 27, will focus on classic comedies with an emphasis on female-led programs.
Azteca America goes off the air
Azteca America, once the third-largest Hispanic TV network in the US, shut down operations on December 31. The local broadcast on KYAZ 5.3 has been replaced by a simulcast of MeTV+, also airing on 51.2.
Newsy to rebrand as “Scripps News”
The Newsy digital channel is planning a rebrand to tie in with its parent, E.W. Scripps. TV Newscheck reports the rebrand to “Scripps News” will occur on January 1.
Newsy airs locally on Scripps-owned KPXB 49.7.
57 channels and nothing on... 