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WFXS DTV update 9/26/08 The Latest on the DTV Build-out as of 9/26 Last Edited: Friday, 26 Sep 2008, 3:13 PM CDT Created: Tuesday, 12 Aug 2008, 4:35 PM CDT HDtv SideBar
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MyFoxWausau, Wisconsin  --  WFXS FOX55 DTV Update By Robert Raff – Vice President   On Friday September 26th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Report & Order granting WFXS's request to substitute channel 31 for digital TV operations in place of the channel 50 the FCC had set aside late last year. According to the FCC's report, the FCC states that "We believe the public interest would be served by substituting DTV channel 31 for DTV channel 50. Davis’s ability to maximize on Channel 50 is hampered due to its need to protect co-channel station WISC-DT, Madison, Wisconsin. Operation on DTV channel 31 will permit station WFXS(TV) to reach an additional 124,000 persons over an additional 9,410 square kilometers." According to WFXS management, WFXS now has the authority to file a formal application for a construction permit to begin the construction process to build-out digital facilities on channel 31. The legal FCC process should be completed within 60 days. Robert Raff, Vice President of Davis Television Wausau, LLC, which owns WFXS says the station will release a tentative construction schedule shortly but did say that crews and equipment had already been contracted for assuming a late January installation. Raff added that with any project in the dead of a Wisconsin winter, there are lots of potential obstacles including snow and ice, but all efforts would be made to get a digital signal on the air as quickly as possible. Viewers are urged to check the WFXS website, www.myfoxwausau.com every few days for any further updates or details.  

WFXS Back On With Low Power Antenna. Electrical Fire Damage still being worked on. Last Edited: Sunday, 05 Oct 2008, 9:11 AM CDT Created: Wednesday, 01 Oct 2008, 7:25 AM CDT Transmission Line or just enabling jstl so that we can just write ${bean.property} and jsp takes care of the new lines. -->
Update as of 9:00am Sunday 10/5/08 . DirecTV has made the switch and put us back on. I have heard that Dish Network has not done it yet and we are trying to contact them again this morning. This temporary antenna is performing about as well as we could hope and I want to thank all the viewers who have let us know where it works and what type of antenna they are using. That information helps us with other callers.. . There are still a few smaller cable systems without our signal but I know they are all working hard to provide something in time for the games today. Please remember this is our station's problem and not the cable company's.. And for that we are very sorry. . When the final parts arrive later today, we'll post an update with an expected timeframe for the final repairs. Pray for a Packer Win and No Rain Tonight and perhaps Monday morning this will all start to be a bad memory.. . Update as of 6:45pm Saturday 10/4/08 Turn your TV on to channel 55. What you see there now is what you will have for the remainder of the weekend. We installed the temporary standby antenna and we are operating at lower power than normal but we are already getting calls and e-mails from viewers who are happy to get at least some signal back. . The permanent replacement parts are not going to make it to town in time to be installed so we are going to leave this standby antenna in for Sunday's football and prime time programming. If the weather cooperates, we'll try to get final repairs done overnight Sunday into Monday morning. . Dish Network,  DirecTV and most cable systems are expected to switch the signal back to our channel sometime this evening. If the picture they give you is not as clear as usual, please understand it is our problem and not theirs. . If you can not currently get a good enough signal where you live, I suggest you make other arrangements to watch the game on Sunday. We can not add any more power to this antenna without damaging it. Feel free to drop us an e-mail at wfxs@wfxs.com and let us know how it comes in where you live. (and thanks for that information) . As things progress tomorrow, we'll keep you posted right here as usual. . Let's hope the Packers are at full power tomorrow. We appreciate your patience. . Update as of 1:05pm Saturday 10/4/08 Murphy's Law Strikes again. The truck carrying the replacement part broke down out east and will not be here in time to get it installed before the Packer game, so Plan A is the Standby Antenna.. This antenna should give us a pretty good signal in about a 20 mile range and then taper off depending on the type of antenna you have at home.. We hope to have this on by this evening if nothing else goes wrong.. We will update this site as soon as there is something for you to try and tune in. . Our best advice at this time is to check the channel later tonight. What you'll see is what you will have tomorrow as well. You might want to track down that long lost friend who has either a bigger antenna, Charter or Solarus cable or one of the Dish services just in case. Now is a great time to invite people over to watch the game if you can get a good signal tonight. . I hate to repeat myself, but we are very sorry for this inconvenience. It was unforeseen and unavoidable. I assure you we have been doing everything possible as quickly as possible. . Update as of 10:30am Sat 10/4/08 The Standby antenna arrived overnight and is being attached near the top of the tower. The next truck should arrive early afternoon and we hope to have some type of coverage area restored by early evening. This temporary antenna will not reach the entire market but we hope it will provide coverage to the smaller cable systems and a good number of antenna dependent homes. . The final replacement part is on a truck on it's way and is tentatively due to arrive after midnight tonight. If the part arrives and the weather allows, the crews will be standing by to install it overnight. . See previous posts for the rest of the details. . Thank You For Your Patience. Update as of 5:45pm 10/3/08 Plans to get back on the air are starting to take final shape. Three separate dedicated trucks are driving from the East Coast to Wausau non-stop. This is a 23 hour trip. The first one is scheduled to arrive at 2:00am tonight. This truck will have a Standby Antenna that will be mounted on the tower at first light. Other related parts will be here early in the morning to make all the connections and we hope to be testing that standby antenna by late afternoon. This antenna will give us limited over the air coverage but should be able to feed a signal to the majority of Marathon, Lincoln, Langlade, Portage and North-Eastern Wood counties. It's not ideal, but it's something. . The last truck slated to arrive Later Saturday night, in the midnight time frame, will be carrying the custom made replacement part we have been waiting for. Our entire repair crew will be waiting for this truck and if it arrives on time and the weather cooperates, we'll work all night to install it on the top of the tower. Night time tower work is extremely dangerous so it will be a very slow process but if all goes as hoped (notice we didn't say as planned) it should allow us to be back up to full power by Sunday morning. If this part does not arrive on time, we should still be able to provide at least some service using the standby antenna. That pretty much sums up our Plan A & B.. . Update as of 10:00am 10/3/08 . Tower crews have been back on the tower since about 7:00am.. They are working about 1000' in the air for 12 hours at a time.. Not a job for the weak or weak-knee'd.. Engineers are cleaning up smoke and soot from the melting aluminum which collected on the inside of the entire 1000' of the line. Every inch is being reinspected to make sure that when equipment arrives on site, we are ready to install it.. The estimated schedules outlined in last night's update (below) still look good so I won't repeat myself. (please read below) . We really do appreciate your patience and understanding of this very unusual and highly technical problem. We attached a picture for those who might like to see what caused all this stress.  . Update as 0f 7:00pm 10/2/08 . Progress if you can call it that.. We found that the damaged section had about a 13" section of a weld blown out and melted. So far it seems like the damage is limited to that one section but we've got a lot of things yet to check. We have what is called a "Standby" antenna being shipped here to be able to mount at a point below the damaged section, to get at least some signal back to the market. This antenna should arrive late Friday night or overnight Saturday morning. We've got everything and everybody in place to start installation as soon as things arrive. This should enable us to get our signal back on almost all the cable systems and both Dish & Direct. If this works, and that is still a question mark, our coverage should be above 150,000 Households but for people in the farthest corners of the market or with smaller antennas, there could still be issues. Please don't hold me to these projections, but if things start to go our way, it might just work. . We also have the replacement piece of the transmission line being manufactured and it should be completed sometime Saturday late morning.. Then it's about a 21 hour drive from Maine to Wausau straight thru.. . Our goal is to get as much signal out as possible in time for that little game on Sunday.. And thanks to the thousands of callers who have reminded us of it.. . I assure you we are doing everything possible to fix this mess and to keep you informed. We are very sorry for this inconvenience.. Update as of 8:00am 10/2/08 Tower crews are still on site working on our problem. We had a major failure of a piece of our transmission line that takes the signal from the transmitter up the tower to the antenna. It shorted and burned clear through. . This is a custom made item that could take a day or so to manufacture and ship. . Currently WFXS is working a four pronged approach to the problem. The replacement part is ordered and in the pipeline, we are working with two different vendors to try and secure a temporary antenna to be placed lower down the tower below the damaged section to restore some coverage, and we are having the damaged section removed today in hopes that there may be a way to "band-aid" a short term repair and get back on with some limited power. . We have lots of bodies and brains working on this problem and we'll keep you as informed as possible. . WFXS is still available in Analog & Digital on Charter Cable and we have arranged to have a FOX Affiliate from LaCrosse placed on DirecTV and Dish Network until this problem is resolved. . THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!! . Updated as of 6:00pm Wednesday 10/1/08 . Late Tuesday night WFXS had a failure in our transmission line at the tower. A neighbor near our tower reported a Bright Blue Glow at the top of the tower. Our transmission line has shorted and burned through. Engineers were forced to shut down the transmitter.  . WFXS is still available on Charter's Digital and Analog Cable systems throughout North Central Wisconsin and Dish Network has agreed to put on a temporary FOX affiliate feed from an adjacent  TV market. DirecTV is trying to accommodate our request as well. This will provide FOX Programming to nearly 75% of the market until we can get full repairs made. . Our crews are working on the issue around the clock, but some parts need to be custom manufactured in Maryland. . We will try to keep you updated via this space on our website. We apologize for the inconvenience and we are doing everything possible to speed the process along and minimize the impact to our viewers. . REGARDING THE DISH NETWORK DISPUTE!!!! . WFXS and Dish Network have reached an agreement on a new 5 year contract. With this agreement, WFXS will remain on the Dish Network Local Station Package and your service will not be interrupted.

WFXS has granted Dish Network a 30 day extension to the existing agreement to allow the contracts to be drawn up and reviewed by both sides. All major issues have been agreed upon.

The last few days have been very troubling for the station and for our viewers as well. The amount of support we received during this process has been overwhelming.

I don't feel either side in this dispute emerged a winner, but I feel it is a deal in the best interest of the viewer. Without the phone calls and e-mails of our viewers who voiced their concerns, I doubt this deal would have come together. You should be proud that your voice was heard by both sides loud and clear.

WFXS deeply regrets the stress and concerns this matter may have caused any of our viewers and We hope we can maintain our excellent relationship.

Thank You Very Much!!

Robert Raff

Vice President & General Manager

WFXS FOX55

WFXS FOX55 DTV Update

By Robert Raff – Vice President

 

It has been a while since we had any relevant information to update our viewers on. The process with the FCC is still extremely slow and torturous.

 

In June 2008, we were finally given the opportunity to file our long awaited channel change request with the FCC. The commission finally lifted the freeze on applications that had been blocking our path for the last 7 years. Our filing essentially shows the FCC that the channel 50 that was allocated late last year is technically insufficient and that channel 31 can be substituted to provide better service to our viewers.

 

The FCC’s process is somewhat bewildering to outsiders. Once the commission looked at our filing and agreed it would work, they then had to publish that finding in the Federal Register as a Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR). This was published on July 25th, well over a month after our application was accepted.

 

In an NPR the government basically tells everyone what they “think they want to do”, in this case to allow channel 31 to be used here for DTV, and then they give interested parties 30 days to file comments on the proposal  followed by another 15 day reply window.  Once those two “waiting periods” have passed, the FCC then re-evaluates the technical parameters again and hopefully will make channel 31 available to the Wausau-Rhinelander area table of allotments.  This might happen by mid September if all goes as planned

 

Once all of the above FCC process is completed, we then are finally able to submit another  application for a construction permit for channel 31.  Here, we could see another 30 or more days while the FCC basically looks it over again.

 

Once the FCC grants a final construction permit, we are then legally authorized to begin the build-out process on that channel.

 

For WFXS’s part, contracts are already in place for the necessary orders for the transmitter and antenna components that we will need to have custom made. Delivery on most of this equipment is three to five months, so as you can see making the February 17th 2008 DTV deadline will be challenging. An additional major wildcard in the process is the fact that this equipment must be installed on our 1,000 foot tower in the dead of winter. Very few tower crews have the experience and ability to perform such an installation in Wisconsin’s severe weather.  We have all the players in place ready to start the process, as soon as the government says we can. All we can do now is to hope the FCC hurries along and that the Wisconsin winter is as mild as possible.

For those of you who bought an HDTV set when they first started coming out, I understand this has been a painfully slow process, but it is after all being run by the government. For those of you thinking about taking the plinge into a new HDTV or even a converter box, my advice is to wait until next February.. The sets will be cheaper, the technology better, more programming will be available in HD and you won't miss a bit of this NFL, MLB and FOX Fall Programming season trying to figure out this whole mess.

For more information on HDTV, TV/Antenna Reception issues or WFXS, check out the "About Us Tab" on our website, or feel free to drop me a note at rraff@wfxs.com.

See Ya!!!

Earlier this week the flooding in the Wisconsin Dells had dramatic video of a lake overflowing and tearing apart several homes. I was almost immediately brought back to 1993 when I lived in Kansas. The same type of weather pattern dropped feet of rain on the North Central part of Kansas for weeks straight until our nearby  Milford lake could take no more.. The lake level rose well past what the Corps of Engineers thought the lake could hold and it finally spill over into a designed spillway and quickly devoured everything in it's path  It cut right through roads and fields, the water destroying everything in its path as it fought to find its way back to the river. Giant valleys of nothing were left in the path.

Then last night, numerous Tornados cut thru the same part of Kansas, nearly wiping out the small town of Chapman. 75 to 80% of the town's homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed. Another tornado ripped through the Campus of Kansas State University, home of the KSU Wildcats.  KSU will get plenty of help to rebuild the excellent college facilities, but for many in Chapman, this may be just a bit too much.

I hope the nearby communities rally to the cause and help this quaint little community get it's feet back on the ground.

I know I metioned it before, but you should really plan to be in town the 23rd through the 27th of July. The WALL, traveling Tribute to American Veterans will be in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Check out www.thewallinwausau.com

 

There are 2 upcoming events that I think are important events for this community. The first one involves the area Cub Scouts and is the 25th Anniversary of the Chuckwagon Skills Day. This event is really a joy to wact as the young boys pull minature replica wagons throught Cam Phillips from one fort to another, Each fort has a certain skill the boys have to learn or demonstrate. This is such a great look at the youth of our community doing something positive, and this event dates back to one of the first of it's kind in the nation.. Support your local Boy Scouts..

The other event that I think is really cool is being brought to town by the wausau VFW. It will be in July and it's called Celebrating Freedom. The center piece of this celebration an 80% replica of the Vietnam veterans memorial. I first had a chance to see this solemn monument many years ago in Kansas and it is a must see for every American who knows someone in the military or who just is thankful for what the military does. The wall has been updated and now is joined by monuments to all the other wars and conflicts as well. There is even a 9/11 tribute section listing the names of those who died in the Twin Towers. The event runs July 23rd thru the 28th.. You have got to stop by and see this.

 

It's simple and easy to start your own personal blog on myFOXwausau.com. Just go to http://community.myfoxwausau.com/blogs/Create.aspx
 and follow the simple instructions.

Behind the scenes here at WFXS FOX55, many of us have been working very hard over the past few weeks to develop our new web presence at www.myFOXWausau.com. This has been a real challenge for us because the site is hosted and served in Los Angeles by FOX Interactive Media, the internet arm of the FOX Network.
 
As you might imagine, this new partnership has added layer upon layer of Bureaucratic nonsense to what was once a fairly simple process. While we still manage most of the material on this site on our own, some of the mechanical issues are handled by various intertwined groups within FOX that sometimes resemble a 1990's approach to new media.  A lot of divisions with very little synergy.
 
On the very bright side though, this new partnership gives us the ability to become a local leader in News, Sports, Weather, Business and Entertainment News on the web adding dozens of features to the site that we previously didn't have the resources for. This simplified Blog section will give us a better chance to inform and interact with our viewers and online visitors.
 
I personally will use this space to give our viewers a little peek inside the workings of a TV station, and try to shed some light on the "How's" and "Why's" of what people see on the air and on the web. I also hope to create some dialogues with viewers to get a better feel of what you expect from a media company now and on a going-forward basis. We'll try to educate you a bit, and you have the opportunity to educate us a bit. Hopefully we can grow a partnership that brings information and entertainment providers like us together with our consumers, like you.
 
In the near future, we'll be launching new sections that cover area Schools, local Arts and Entertainment, a robust community calendar and some features to amuse and entertain. As always, if you miss one of the great shows on FOX Prime time, you can check out our FOX on Demand and catch the episode you may have missed.
 
So take a few minutes to test drive our site. Remember this is a work in progress with a few bugs yet to work out.  Then, if you have suggestions of features or segments you'd like to see, drop me a note at rraff@wfxs.com
Welcome to Your FOX, myFOXWausau.com.