WKPT-DT DIGITAL TV WEB PAGE

Holston Valley Broadcasting is transmitting the programming of WKPT-TV/ABC (analog channel 19) on WKPT-DT channel 27-1 (on most digital TV receivers it will show up as 19-1.) Some sixteen hours a week of primetime ABC TV Network programming is now being telecast in wide screen high definition on channel 27-1 (19-1). Tennessee’s First Digital TV Station is also the first digital station in the Tri-Cities, Tennessee/Virginia television market to broadcast in high definition on a regular daily basis.

The programming of WAPK Television/UPN (analog channel 36) is carried in standard definition on WKPT-DT channel 27-2 (on most digital TV receivers it will show up as 19-2.) .  The RETRO TV NETWORK is now seen on WKPT-DT-3 during most hours.  Other local programming from Appalachian Regional Community TV and sports programming produced my REVMA media is seen on WKPT-DT-3 weeknights.  This new  WKPT-DT-3 channel is being carried by most area cable systems.  Among the systems carrying WKPT-DT-3 include Charter Communications (channel 750), Comcast Cable (channel 251), and Scott Telecom (channel 64).  WKPT-DT-3's programming is also now seen over-the-air in analog form on station WOPI-CA, channel 9, which transmits from the WKPT-TV site on Holston Mountain.

WKPT-DT also carries the WKPT Radio Network (heard on AM radio frequencies 1400, 1490, and 1590 in different parts of the Tri-City, TN/VA  market).  WKPT/1400 Kingsport programming is heard in stereo on the "French" auxiliary audio channel of WKPT-DT-1.  The programming of  WOPI/1490 Bristol is heard in stereo on the "French" auxiliary audio channel of WKPT-DT-3.  The programming of WKTP/1590 Jonesborough/Johnson City is heard on the "French" auxiliary audio channel of WKPT-DT-2.

Tri-Cities is "Ahead of the Pack"

While Holston’s WKPT-DT is the first Tennessee DTV station, WKPT-DT’s home market, Tri-Cities, Tennessee/Virginia, straddles the Tennessee-Virginia state line. WKPT-DT joined Appalachian Broadcasting’s WCYB-DT, Bristol, Virginia, which signed on in spring, 2000, and was the first DTV station licensed to a community in the state of Virginia. On April 25, 2002 local CBS affiliate WJHL-DT became the third digital TV station to officially sign on in Tri-Cities, Tennessee / Virginia.   On January 23, 2003 WJHL-DT joined WKPT-DT in transmitting high definition images on a regular basis.

Tri-Cities FOX affiliate WEMT and religious station WLFG are also now on the air digitally.  PBS stations WSBN, WMSY, and WETP are also now on the air digitally and carry the PBS high definition feed.

In the digital TV world our small market was way ahead of most of those of similar size.  Prior to May 1, 2002, only the top four TV stations located in each of the thirty largest television markets in the U.S. were required to be on in the digital mode.  The Tri-City, Tennessee/Virginia market where WKPT-DT is located is the 92nd largest television market in the U.S.  

There are over 1,600 full service TV stations under the FCC’s jurisdiction.  Each will ultimately build a digital TV station counterpart.   According to the National Association of Broadcasters WKPT-DT was the 159^th digital TV station to sign on the air on U.S. soil.   
 

Receiving Digital Television

Traditional "analog" TV sets do not detect the presence of DTV signals. If a viewer in Tri-Cities tunes his analog TV set to UHF channel 27 for WKPT-DT, channel 28 for WCYB-DT or channel 58 for WJHL-DT, only what looks like traditional "snow" will be seen.

The most popular way to see DTV transmissions today is through the use of digital "set-top" conversion boxes or personal computer cards and accompanying computer programs. A number of manufacturers now have digital set-top receiver boxes available in the $200 range, and beginning in 2008, the price should come down to under $100.  Importantly, beginning in 2008 each household desiring set-top converter boxes will be able to receive from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) up to two coupons each of which is good for a $40 discount on the new less-expensive converter boxes.  Essentially all TV sets and VCR's now on the market are equipped with over-the-air digital tuners.  (Any units not so-equipped are supposed to have signs or labels warning prospective purchasers that after mid-February 2009 when most analog TV transmissions will end, the device will not be able to receive free over-the-air television.

While at present few cable systems nationwide carry local digital TV stations, Holston Valley Broadcasting is pleased that it and the Charter Communications Cable system serving nearly 100,000 homes in the Tri-City, TN/VA, market reached agreement to carry WKPT-DT's high definition programming on that system. Carriage officially began in May, 2003, on digital channel 780 on this system. Carriage of WKPT-DT's high definition programming recently commenced on Comcast Cable's Glade Spring, VA, based system on channel 180. Comcast's Gray, TN, based system will begin carriage soon on channel 180.

WKPT-DT was the first high definition TV station carried by any cable system in the Tri-City area.

Most cable subscribers wishing to receive WKPT-DT in high definition on cable must rent a special digital TV set top box from the cable company. This is a different type of set top box than is required to receive local digital TV stations using an antenna.  Cable transmits HDTV using the QAM modulation system while over the air digital transmissions in the United States utilize the FCC-mandated 8-VSB system.  Importantly, an increasing number of off the shelf receivers have built-in digital tuners, which can receive both the 8-VSB over-the-air signals as well as the cable QAM signals.  Viewers will note, however, that these sets may show the local stations on different digital channel numbers.  For example, on the local Charter Communications system, WKPT-DT-1 comes in on channel 780 on a Charter-supplied set top box, but on channel 102.1 on the built-in cable digital tuner of digital-cable-ready sets.

For those picking up a digital TV signal directly off the air (without utilizing a cable TV system) a good outside antenna is generally needed to feed a broadcast digital set-top box, integrated DTV receiver, or a DTV card in a personal computer. Since all digital TV stations in the Tri-City area transmit on the UHF band, a high gain UHF-only antenna is recommended.

In analog TV picture quality deteriorates as the received signal gets weaker and weaker.  This is not the case with DTV.  As with almost everything else digital, one either receives the signal perfectly or not at all.  This is known as the "cliff effect."  The picture and sound are crystal clear and ghost-free until the received signal drops below a certain "threshold." When the signal is too weak you simply "fall off the cliff" (i.e., both picture and sound simply go away as if the set were turned off).

For more information about Digital TV and WKPT-DT, channel 27, contact us via e-mail, write to us at WKPT-DT (222 Commerce Street; Kingsport, TN 37660), or phone us at (423) 246-9578.  The e-mail address for our president and general manager, George DeVault, is viewermail@hvbcgroup.com.   You may also want to click onto the "Titan TV" logo near the bottom of this website's main page.

History of WKPT-DT

The first signals from WKPT-DT, UHF channel 27, were transmitted on Sunday, October 15, 2000, following a weekend of intensive work by Holston Valley Broadcasting’s engineering department.  Regular programming began November 2, 2000.  High definition programming on WKPT-DT began on January 20, 2003.

WKPT-DT is operating at an interim power level under Special Temporary Authority from the FCC and is the first digital TV signal on the air associated with a station licensed to a community in the state of Tennessee (WKPT-TV/19).  The decision to build WKPT-DT in the Fall of 2000 rather than waiting until the FCC-required date of May 1, 2002, was made by Holston Valley Broadcasting’s board of directors on August 15, 2000.   FCC authority to proceed was obtained in only a few days making it possible to get the station on the air only two months after the initial board decision!

WKPT-DT Is Constructed in Record Time

October 14-15, 2000, was a busy weekend at Holston Valley’s transmitter and tower site high atop Holston Mountain in Northeast Tennessee.  The digital television (or "DTV") transmitter manufactured by ADC had only arrived on the 11^th, and electrical power lines were connected to it on the morning of October 14.

That same morning a crew of Holston’s engineers and one independent tower climber hoisted the Scala "Paraslot" channel 27 transmitting antenna and Andrew 1-5/8 inch foam-filled transmission line up the tower and mounted that gear on the tower.  The WKPT-DT transmitting antenna is located 2,276 feet above average terrain and some 4,600 feet above sea level.

In this shot of the tower following installation of the digital antenna, you can barely make out that antenna, which is "highlighted" in the white rectangular box on the right side of the tower near the top of the tower.

While the crew finished up the tower work, in the transmitter building below Engineer Bill Enix connected the transmission line to the ADC transmitter:

Below Holston’s former Director of information Technology, William Maxwell, is shown creating  graphics to identify WKPT-DT during its "shake down" period and testing the "Polaris" encoder/multiplexer manufactured by Barconet:

The encoder shown below converts standard definition analog TV into a digital bit stream for transmission on WKPT-DT.  This encoder was moved to our downtown Kingsport studio when WKPT-DT added high definition in January 2003.

Now-retired Chief Engineer, John Davis, smiles with satisfaction as the first digital TV pictures are transmitted by WKPT-DT:

Here’s what the first viewers of WKPT-DT saw:

As noted earlier, after a two week shake-down period during which various test patterns and still graphics (like those shown above) were transmitted, regular programming began on November 2, 2000.

Celebrating the Birth of WKPT-DT

In the picture below mountain-top "gang" poses on Sunday afternoon, October 15, 2000, after getting WKPT-DT on the air in record time and consuming a delicious steak dinner complete with "non-alcoholic" beer all supplied by Holston’s president "Chef" George DeVault.  (Saturday’s menu included pork barbecue rushed to the mountain just in time for the afternoon break.)   To quote Captain DeVault (USNR-Retired), "A well-fed crew is a  happy crew!"

Not one to miss a special occasion, Holston’s Board Chairman Bill Boyd (shown on the right in the picture below) arrived from California just in time to join in the Sunday celebration (and consume the last of those steaks prepared by "Chef DeVault," who is shown below on the left).  Note the "table" around which the gang gathered earlier for the steak dinner.  It is actually the large wooden "reel" on which WKPT-DT’s transmission line was shipped to us.  From the looks of his waistline it appears that our chef routinely enjoys the fruits of his culinary pursuits:

  (He has since undertaken a diet & exercise program and has lost 85 pounds!)

In late June of 2005 WKPT-DT began using a new higher-powered transmitter and a new transmitting antenna on the same Holston Mountain tower resulting in resulting in a maximized effective radiated power over 37 times greater than the original operation, which signed on in the year 2000.

WOPI-CA Now Simulcasts WKPT-DT3

WOPI-CA over-the-air Channel 9 now simulcasts WKPT-DT3.  Effective October 1st, our over-the-air analog Class A TV station, WOPI-CA, which transmits on "antenna channel 9" from Holston Mountain, began simulcasting WKPT-DT3.