St Louis Cardinals will air 10 Games on Free Over Air TV

The St Louis Cardinals will broadcast 10 games on over the air free TV.
Seven (7) games are at home, 3 are away. All the games are on a Friday. The games will be aired in 14 market cities on MATRIX TV channels. 

CARDINALS GAMES ON OVER-THE-AIR TV
Channel 32-1 -- MATRIX (KMOV) St Louis

• Apr 24 (7 pm) - Seattle Mariners
• May 22 (5:30p)-- at Cincinnati Reds
• May 29 (6 pm) - Chicago Cubs.
  
• Jun 12 (7 pm) -- at Minnesota Twins
• Jun 26 (7 pm) - Miami Marlins
• Jul 03 (7 pm) -- at Chicago Clubs
• Jul 24 (7 pm) - Cincinnati Reds
• Aug 07 (7 pm) - Colorado Rockies
• Aug 28 (7 pm) - Pittsburgh Pirates
  
• Sep 11 (7 pm) - Chicago White Sox

The Games will be Aired in 14 Market City's.

• St Louis, MO (Channel 32-1)
• Springfield, MO
• Champaign, IL
• Peoria, IL
• Quincy, IL
• Rockford, IL
• Evansville, IN
• Jonesboro, AR
• Memphis, TN
• Paducah, KY
• Cedar Rapids, IA
• Davenport, IA
• Ottumwa, IA
• Sioux City, IA

Find TV channels and broadcast towers near you at https://otadtv.com/tvtower/ .

Kansas City Royals Games on Over-the-Air Free TV in Nebraska

Several areas in Nebraska will get select Kansas City Royals games on free over the air TV. Areas include Lincoln, North Platte, Grand Island and Hastings. Ten (10) games will be aired between the Home Opener (March 30th) and September 07th. The TV channels for the first 3 games have been set, the other 7 games channels will be announced later.

KC ROYALS GAMES AIRED IN NEBRASKA

March 30 (Monday) - Minnesota Twins (KC Home Opener)

• Lincoln       Channel 4-1 NBC (KSNB-TV)
• North Plate   Channel 2-1 NBC (KNOP)

April 03 (Friday) - Milwaukee Brewers

• Lincoln       Channel 10-1 CBS (KOLN)
• North Plate   Channel 10-1 CBS (KNPL)
• Grand Island  Channel 11-1 CBS (KGIN) 

April 24 (Friday) - LA Angels

• Lincoln       Channel 18-1 CBS (KCWH-LD)
• North Plate   Channel 11-2 CW (KIIT-CD)

TV Channels and Markets to be Announced

• Apr 24(Friday) - LA Angels
• May 22(Friday) - Seattle Mariners
  
• Jun 12(Friday) - Houston Astros
  
• Jun 19(Friday) - St Louis Cardinals
  
• Jul 17(Friday) - San Diego Padres
  
• Aug 07(Friday) - Chicago Clubs
  
• Aug 21(Friday) - Detroit Tigers
  
• Sep 07(Monday) - Arizona Diamondbacks

 

 

 

Purposed FCC Mandate Will Force Consumers to Buy a NextGen TV

The Federal Communication System (FCC) is considering forcing TV manufacturers to only produce NextGen 4k (ATSC 3.0) televisions.  NextGen televisions cost about 20% more than High Definition HD televisions.  The top 500 market areas have very few or no NextGen broadcast.  The mandate also contradicts the administration’s de-regulatory priorities.

NAB in Favor of Forced Implementation
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is pushing for the mandate.  The NAB’s ultimate goal is to sunset HD (ATSC 1.0) broadcast and force all TV broadcast and televisions to be NextGen (ATSC 3.0).  The NAB has been promoting NextGen TV for years, with little success. Now they're trying to force manufacturers and consumers to buy into it. It appears NextGen TV is a jobs program for software companies, and will be costly for consumers and smaller broadcasters.

The CTA is Against Forced Implementation
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) position is the mandate will “hurt American consumers by forcing them to buy something they don’t want”.  Even households that don’t use broadcast TV will pay more for a television.  Low Power TV (30 miles range) broadcasters are also against the mandate.

The CTA also opposes allowing High Definition HD (ATSC 1.0) broadcast to encode MPEG-4 streaming. Older HD televisions would lose the TV channels.

Does the FCC Have This Authority?

The FCC’s authority to force NextGen television is in question. In the past Congress adopted the switch from analog to digital TV in 2009.  The CTA’s position is the FCC mandate is “ultimately a major question for Congress to decide”. 

Consumers
There is no public interest.  Less than 2% of TV broadcast channels are NextGen.  The number of new NextGen broadcast virtually stopped in 2025, nobody is watching.

Lack of consumer interest is due to cost, lackluster improvement, the content protection (DRM) feature, and endless software updates that are often buggy.  The obviously solution is continuing the voluntary transition to ATSC 3.0  Let the market decide, not special interest groups.   

FCC Considering an Unwanted and Costly Change to Over the Air TV

 The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is currently considering a proposal that would require all TV stations to implement NextGen TV within the next five years. The largest TV markets would need to transition by 2028, the other markets by 2030.

NextGen TV channels started increasing in 2020, but greatly slowed in 2024, and has virtually stopped in 2025. Less than 2% of TV channels are NextGen. There is little to no public interest.

NextGen TV advantages

• higher resolution,
• enhanced audio,
• better reception characteristics.

NextGen TV disadvantages

• transition cost for consumers and broadcasters,
• viewing habits can be tracked,
• some TV channels cannot be recorded, or have an expiration date if recording allowed,
• recorded programs can only be replayed from the DVR or tuner that recorded it,
• viewers can be blocked from using Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward, and Ad-Skip,
• opens the door for pay-for-view. Most people use over the air TV to get away from pay-for-view as well as another internet connected device.
• software updates may be required. Does anyone need any more updates. Many updates add little, and often cause multiple problems.

In 2009 the transitioned from analog to digital TV was a great success and well implemented. The number of channels greatly increased, as did the quality and variety of programs. Over the air TV consumers also greatly increased, and is still increasing.

The FCC should not force the public to use what it doesn't want or need, is highly unpopular, has far more disadvantages than advantages, and will be costly. If the proposal is adopted it will make things worse, not better.

DON'T FIX IT IF IT AIN'T BROKE!

New Cartoon Network

The Me-TV Toons network is a 24/7 cartoon channel scheduled to launch in 70 market cities on Monday June 25, 2024.  

Cartoons

Atom Ant	Inspector Gadget	Speed Racer
Beetlejuice	Jetsons	Super Mystery Boat
Bug Bunny	Joe 90	Supercar
Bullwinkle & Rocky	Peter Potamus	The Mask
Captain Planet	Popeye & Pals	Thunderbirds
Captain Scarlet	Real Ghostbusters	Tom & Jerry
Casper	Scooby-Doo	Underdog
Fireball XL5	Smurfs	Wacky Races
Flintstones	Police Academy	Woody Woodpecker
		Yogi Bear & Gang

 

Over-the-Air Channels

State	City	TV Ch	Call Sign	RF Ch and Band
AL	Huntsville	31.8	WAAY	RF-17 (UHF)
AL	Mobile	31.4	WMBP	RF-31 (UHF)
AZ	Kingman	6.5	KMOH	RF-19 (UHF)
AZ	Tucson	4.4	KVOA	RF-23 (UHF)
AZ	Phoenix	40.2	KEJR	RF-29 (UHF)
AZ	Tucson	4.4	KVOA	RF-23 (UHF)
CA	Chico-Redding	12.8	KHSL	RF-18 (UHF)
CA	Fresno-Visalia	43.5	KGMC	RF-11 (VHF-Hi)
CA	Los Angeles	54.3	KAZA	RF-21 (UHF)
CA	Monterey	27.5	KMBY	RF-27 (UHF)
CO	Glenwood Springs	3.8	KREG	RF-23 (UHF)
CO	Grand Junction	11.5	KKCO	RF-12 (VHF-Hi)
CT	Hartford	35-8	WHCT	RF-35 (UHF)
DC	Washington	48.5	WDME	RF-20 (UHF)
FL	Gainesville	19.3	WTGB	RF-34 (UHF)
FL	Jacksonville	47.4	WJAX	RF-19 (UHF)
FL	Orlando	9.4	WFTV	RF-19 (UHF)
FL	West Palm Beach	19.8	WBWP	RF-19 (UHF)
GA	Atlanta	47.7	WKTB	RF-23 (UHF)
GA	Perry	58.5	WPGA-TV	RF-23 (UHF)
HI	Honolulu	20.2	KIKU	RF-19 (UHF)
IA	Cedar Rapids	7.6	KWWL	RF-7 (VHF-Hi)
IA	Des Moines	45.4	KDIT	RF-17 (UHF)
IL	Chicago	26.7	WCIU	RF-23 (UHF)
IL	Rockford	13.2	WREX	RF-13 (VHF-Hi)
IN	Evansville	44.5	WEVV	RF-28 (UHF)
IN	South Ben - Elkhart	25.3	WCWW	RF-25 (UHF)
KS	Kansas	39.7	KGKC	RF-33 (UHF)
KY	Louisville	21.7	WBNA	RF-8 (VHF-Hi)
KY	Paducah	9.4	WQWQ	RF-18 (UHF)
LA	Monroe	11.8	KMLU	RF-11 (VHF-Hi)
MA	Boston	62.3	WMFP	RF-10 (VHF-Hi)
MI	Flint - Saginaw - Bay City	12.7	WJRT	RF-12 (VHF-Hi)
MI	Grand Rapids	64.7	WLLA	RF-22 (UHF)
MN	Carlsbed	19.5	KKAC	RF-19 (UHF)
MN	Rochester - Mason City	47.3	KXLT	RF-25 (UHF)
MO	St Louis	24-2	KNLC	RF-14 (UHF)
MS	Greenwood - Greenvile	13.4	WMEL	RF-13 (VHF-Hi)
MS	Jackson	35.5	WLOO	RF-36 (UHF)
MS	Memphis	35.6	WTME	RF-14 (UHF)
NC	Charlotte	18.9	WCCB	RF-18 (UHF)
NM	Silver City - Santa Fe	10.5	KKAD	RF-10 (VHF-Hi)
NV	Las Vegas	21-6	KHSV	RF-2 (VHF-Lo)
NY	New York	33.2	WJLP	RF-3 (VHF-Lo)
NY	New York	43.4	WZME	RF-21 (UHF)
OH	Cleveland - Akron	35.3	WOCV	RF-27 (UHF)
OK	Oklahoma City	30.7	KTUZ	RF-29 (UHF)
OR	Eugene	9.6	KEZI	RF-23 (UHF)
OR	Portland	29.8	KJYY	RF-29 (UHF)
PA	Philadelphia	2.10	WDPN	RF-2 (VHF-Lo)
SC	Myrtle Beach	43.9	WFXB	RF-36 (UHF)
SD	Sioux Falls	13.6	KSFY	RF-13 (VHF-Hi)
TN	Jackson	7.5	WBBJ	RF-35 (UHF)
TN	Nashville	44.8	WJFB	RF-25 (UHF)
TX	Dallas	55.3	KAZD	RF-31 (UHF)
TX	Lubbock	14.5	KMYL	RF-22 (UHF)
TX	Waco	46.7	KNCT	RF-17 (UHF)
UT	Salt Lake City	8.8	KCSG	RF-14 (UHF)
UT	Salt Lake City	27.8	KKEL	RF-27 (UHF)
VT	Burlington - Plattsburgh	40.7	WYCI	RF-34 (UHF)
WA	Bellingham	12.9	KVOS	RF-14 (UHF)
WA	Seattle - Tacoma	44.7	KFFV	RF-16 (UHF)
WI	Eau Claire	18.3	WQOW	RF-25 (UHF)
WI	Green Bay - Appleton	31.2	WMEI	RF-32 (UHF)
WI	La Crosse	19.3	WXOW	RF-28 (UHF)
WI	Madison	27.3	WKOW	RF-26 (UHF)
WI	Milwaukee	49.5	WMLW	RF-17 (UHF)
WI	Wausau	9.3	WAOW	RF-9 (VHF-Hi)
WI	Wausau	4.3	WMOW	RF-13 (VHF-Hi)
WV	Parkersburg	26.3	WIYE	RF-26 (UHF)

 See the TV TV Tower Locator for Broadcast Towers in your area.

New Over the Air News Network

The Salem Media Group announced on June 12th, 2024 a partnership with HC2 Broadcasting to broadcast the Salem News Channel in 55 market areas.   That’s about 25% of US markets. 

Salem News Channel

State	City	TV Ch	Call Sign	RF Ch & Band
AL	Huntsville	38.5	W34EY-D	RF-28 (UHF)
AL	Montgomery - Selma	36.5	WQAP-LD	RF-18 (UHF)
AL	Mobile	29.5	WEDS-LD	RF-14 (UHF)
AR	Fayetteville	20.5	KFLU-LD	RF-20 (UHF)
AZ	Phoenix - Prescott	22.2	K12XP-D	RF-27 (UHF)
CA	Bakersfield	14.5	KXBF-LD	RF-33 (UHF)
CA	Sacramento - Stockton	32.7	KFKK-LD	RF-33 (UHF)
CA	Morgan Hill	45.7	KQRO-LD	RF-31 (UHF)
CA	Santa Barbara	30.4	KDFS-CD	RF-21 (UHF)
CT	Hartford - New Haven	34.6	WTXX	RF-35 (UHF)
FL	Orlando -Daytona Beach	47.4	WATV-LD	RF-5 (VHF-Lo)
FL	Tampa - St Petersburg	30.7	WTAM-LD	RF-15 (UHF)
FL	West Palm Beach - Ft Pierce	10.4	WWCI-CD	RF-30 (UHF)
FL	Tallahassee	21.7	W21EL-D	RF-15 (UHF)
GA	Atlanta	34.7	WDWW-LD	RF-17 (UHF)
GA	Macon	44.3	WJDO-LD	RF-35 (UHF)
GA	Savannah	26.5	WDID-LD	RF-27 (UHF)
GA	Augusta	47.6	WIEF-LD	RF-29 (UHF)
IL	Chicago	36.2	W31EZ-D	RF-20 (UHF)
IL	Salem	29.7	W29CI-D	RF-23 (UHF)
IN	Evansville	30.1	WELW-LD	RF-34 (UHF)
IN	Indianapolis	28.3	WUDZ-LD	RF-24 (UHF)
KS	Topeka	35.1	K35KX-D	RF-35 (UHF)
LA	Baton Rough	43.7	K27NB-D	RF-28 (UHF)
ME	Bangor	20.7	W20ER-D	RF-15 (UHF)
MI	Flint - Saginaw Bay City	17.1	WFFC-LD	RF-29 (UHF)
MI	Traverse City - Cadillac	36.6	W36FH-D	RF-24 (UHF)
MN	Minneapolis - St Paul	15.5	KWJM-LD	RF-19 (UHF)
MO	Columbia -Jefferson City	35.6	K35OY-D	RF-15 (UHF)
MO	Kansas City	46.6	KQML-LD	RF-26 (UHF)
MO	St Louis	7.6	KPTN-LD	RF-23 (UHF)
MS	Biloxi-Gulfport	32.2	W33EG-D	RF-33 (UHF)
ND	Fargo - Valley City	19.5	K15MR-D	RF-2 (VHF-Lo)
NE	Lincoln	15.2	KIUA-LD	RF-21 (UHF)
NE	Omaha	25.7	KQMK-LD	RF-6 (VHF-Lo)
NV	Las Vegas	28.3	KVPX-LD	RF-29 (UHF)
NV	Reno	12.4	K07AAI-D	RF-25 (UHF)
NY	New York	45.7	W02CY-D	RF-12 (VHF-Hi)
OH	Cleveland - Akron	20.7	WQDI-LD	RF-17 (UHF)
OK	Tulsa	48.1	KUOC-LD	RF-20 (UHF)
OR	Eugene	15.7	KORY-CD	RF-7 (VHF-Hi)
OR	Portland	20.1	KOXI-CD	RF-25 (UHF)
PA	Philadelphia	18.2	W25FG-D	RF-32 (UHF)
PA	Pittsburgh	60.3	WJMB-CD	RF-2 (VHF-Lo)
PR	San Juan	26.1	W20EJ-D	RF-20 (UHF)
SC	Myrtle Beach - Florence	16.6	W33DN-D	RF-30 (UHF)
TN	Memphis	19.5	WPED-LD	RF-33 (UHF)
TX	Dallas-Ft. Worth	28.3	KPFW-LD	RF-19 (UHF)
TX	Brownsville	64.1	KNWS-LD	RF-21 (UHF)
TX	Houstion	45.7	KUVM-CD	RF-35 (UHF)
TX	Tyler	27.7	KDKJ-LD	RF-35 (UHF)
VA	Richmond - Petersburg	28.6	WWBK-LD	RF-36 (UHF)
WI	La Crosse - Eau Claire	53.6	W23FC-D	RF-33 (UHF)
WI	Madison	8.1	WZCK-LD	RF-27 (UHF)
WV	Charleston - Huntington	21.1	WOCW-LD	RF-10 (VHF-Hi)

 See the TV Tower Locator for Broadcast Towers in your area.

Next Gen TV Tradeoffs

 A Next Gen television is needed to receive broadcast using the new standard (ATSC 3.0), also called UHD. The new standard offers higher resolution, enhanced audio, interactivity, and has better reception characteristics. These improvements come with some tradeoffs.

Broadcasters can Content Protect TV channels using the Digital Rights Management (DRM) standard. Programs that can be recorded can only be replayed from the DVR / Tuner that recorded it. Broadcasters can prevent recording, or set an expiration date on a recording. They can also Block using Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward, and Ad-Skip.

Currently the number of ATSC 3.0 broadcast is small, and not growing very fast. Nationwide 81 out of 500 market areas have a few ATSC 3.0 TV channels. None of these channels are in 4k ultra high definition.

One of the first ATSC 3.0 television manufacturers (LG) will stop manufacturing televisions with the new standard in 2024. The decision was due to a licensing cost increase from $3 to $7 per television, and lack of sales.

The ATSC 3.0 standard is not fully developed and will probably require periodic software updates, much like computer and phone software updates. 

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