Roku Software Update Broke Over the Air Channel Reception.

 A recent update prevents users from getting over the air channels unless the TV is connected to the internet. They get a black or grey screen instead of the channel. Everything works only when the TV is connected to the internet. Roku states an update to correct the problem should be available in a few weeks. Apparently they're in no hurry. Of course you're need an internet connection to get the update.

Not connecting the TV to the internet is the main reason many people watch over the air TV. Some people have a relatively unreliable connection. If your Roku TV is connected to the internet but losses it, over the air channels are unavailable.

Another example of "don't update unless absolutely necessary". Today software updates are notorious for causing new problems with little or no improvement to anything. This is just one of many reasons people don't connect their TVs to the internet.

Cincinnati Reds Air 10 Games Over the Air

The Cincinnati Reds will broadcast 10 games on over the air free TV. Six (6) games are at home, 4 are away. The games will air in 16 market cities over 7 States. Except for March 26 (Thur), all the games are on a Monday.

CINCINNATI REDS GAMES ON OVER-THE-AIR TV

• Mar 26 (4:10 pm) - Boston Red Sox
  
• Apr 20 (6:40 pm) - at Tampa Bay Rays
  
• May 04 (7:40 pm) - at Chicago Cubs
  
• May 18 (6:40 pm) - Philadelphia Phillies
  
• Jun 01 (7:10 pm) - Kansas City Royals
  
• Jun 08 (9:40 pm) - at San Diego Padres
• Jun 15 (7:10 pm) - New York Mets
• Jul 20 (9:40 pm) - at Seattle Mariners
• Aug 31 (6:40 pm) - San Diego Padres
  
• Sep 14 (6:40 pm) - LA Dodgers

                All times are EST.

MARKET CITIES

Ohio   
- Cincinnati (Channel 19-1 --  FOX19 WXIX-TV)
- Columbus
- Dayton
- Toledo

Tennessee
- Chattanooga,
- Knoxville,
- Nashville,
- Memphis

Indiana   
- Evansville
- Ft Wayne
- South Bend

Kentucky     
- Bowling Green
- Lexington
- Louisville

North Carolina
- Charlotte

South Carolina
- Greenville-Spartanburg

West Virginia    
- Charleston-Huntington

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

How People are Getting Television

Streaming
This is the most popular, but the numbers are decreasing. The decrease is mainly due to cost. Streaming also uses a lot of bandwidth,  Over the air TV is free and doesn't use any internet bandwidth. 

Over-the-Air Broadcast
Viewers have been steadily increasing, doubling in the last 10 years. The number of channels has also greatly increased. Depending on market size, 30 to well over 100 channels are available. Channels include; 

• Legacy networks 
• Local channels
• Local weather
  
• Public TV (PBS)
• Entertainment
• Crime
• Comedy
• Sports
• News
• Shopping
• Religious
• Spanish

It's becoming increasing popular to combine over the air TV and streaming. Televisions can be set up for the viewer to easily select over air or streaming inputs. Some TVs and devices combine over air and streaming channels without changing inputs.

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.