Winter Racks Up Repack Delays

Experts say the TV channel repack is getting more complicated as winter drags on and delays are inevitable, coming into spring and summer.
Phase 1 ended in late November with 143 stations moving without much delay, Inside Towers reported. However winter weather has caused headaches for tower crews and delays in Phase 2, with about 114 station moves due to be completed by April 12, reports TVNewsCheck.
In addition, many of the stations in the middle phases have interference dependencies, meaning if a station in Phase 3 moves late, that delays a move for another station in Phase 4. By contrast, there were no interference dependencies in Phase 1. Stations facing delays were simply moved to a later phase, said Dennis Wallace, Managing Partner of RF consulting firm Meintel, Sgrignoli & Wallace, LLC.
“You had a year and a half to move 150 stations,” says Wallace. “Now you’re going to move 150 every 30 to 60 days, which I think is pretty unrealistic. I think the wheels come off the wagon here in Phases 3 and 4,” he tells TVNewsCheck.
Some delays may be solved by the FCC granting certain stations STAs to operate at lower power, according to Wallace, “But at some point, they reach a scenario where a station can’t transition, and operating with an interim facility is not an option.”
Vendors prepared for the spike in equipment demand, but winter weather and the tower crew shortage, limits how much work gets accomplished. Jampro Antenna President Alex Perchevitch said, “People are looking around for crews, and when they’ve found them, the weather has not been very accommodating.” Continue Reading