KCTV to fix its signal

In the waning days of his reign at KCTV-5 last year, then-general manager Kirk Black was routinely tormented by a group of about 200 residents of Liberty, who would call and email him on an almost daily basis, reminding him that ever since the station switched to a digital signal, they could no longer receive KCTV.

As people have known from the dawn of the DTV transition, the digital signals that are now sent out by TV stations can be ... quirky. It's been years since I studied the various things that can go wrong with DTV broadcasting (Joel Brinkley's 1997 book Defining Vision - a surprisingly fun read given the subject matter - contains an excellent primer), but let's just say this: If you have never heard the word "multipath" in your life, consider yourself lucky.

Well, there's good news for the fine people of Liberty and everywhere else who refuse to acquire their local TV signals via cable or satellite: KCTV is about to make some changes there at the Eye-full Tower and improve reception issues across the metro. Just in time for its CBS-deprived viewers to catch the summer reruns of "CSI" and "Big Bang Theory" -- not to mention a brand! new! season! of "Big Brother."

Meredith PR follows ...

In June 2009 KCTV5 made the transition from analog to digital. During this transition it became apparent that KCTV5 was not reaching parts of the viewing area. A new antenna will be installed on the KCTV5 tower during the month of June.

“It is our desire that the loyal viewers of KCTV5 receive the best signal possible. We realize there has been some difficulty in some areas for viewers to receive a clear signal for KCTV5 following the HD transition. We’re pleased to announce all of our loyal viewers will once again be able to watch all of their favorite CBS Sports and Network programming, as well as our local news and syndicated shows in High Definition. We appreciate everyone’s patience while we remedied the situation,” said Bobby Totsch, Vice President and General Manager.

Tom Casey, Director of Engineering, said, “I am pleased to say that we spent a significant amount of time working with the manufacturer to come up with an antenna design that will not only allow the best coverage pattern but incorporates technology to help support excellent mobile reception in the future.”

(Thanks to Scott Fybush, again, for the Eye-Full Tower shot)