WYVN-TV, Lakeshore public television, is finding out transmitters are in demand due to the broadcast channel repack. Chicago PBS affiliate on Channel 56 is having a hard time getting back on-air. First, a storm damaged its transmitter and then its transmission system was vandalized, more than a month ago.
The station has been off the air since July 15. Membership Manager Carl Kurek told the Chicago Tribune, vandals cut the transmission line to its 950-foot tower so that a temporary transmitter won’t work either. He said the station is working with police to investigate the vandalism and looking into additional security measures.
The station has a new transmitter on order, but that isn’t expected to arrive until mid-September. TV transmitters are in high demand now for the repack, according to Kurek.
Lakeshore PBS VP TV Operations Matt Franklin calls what’s happening “a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances. The age of the transmitter, a new engineering team, the spectrum auction and the vandalism — all happening at once to keep us off the air” longer than anticipated.
Chicago-area households that receive Comcast/Xfinity can still receive the station as the cable provider has back-up fiber in place, reports the Chicago Tribune.
August 23, 2018
