Brrrrring! Channel 22!

Brrrrring! Channel 9!

In the '70s, that was the battle cry of WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. Locals who are my age recall this jingle fondly. The channel number seems inseparable from the call letters.

But the recent rollout of digital TV has proven to be such an unmitigated disaster that stations are having to make unprecedented expenses just to keep their viewers.

Digital reception is so much weaker than that of traditional analog TV that WCPO has taken the rare step of applying to change its channel number. WCPO wants to move to Channel 22 so it can increase its power - which is necessary for the station to cover almost as much area as it did before.

WCPO has already increased from 19,000 to 28,000 watts - but this hasn't gained back its coverage. Now it wants to broadcast with 1,000,000 watts.

Digital TV is so unstable that it takes 1,000,000 watts to cover as much area that analog signals could cover with only 19,000!

This is an issue all over America. Some folks in the New York City market report losing reception of most New York City stations. One viewer said reception now ranges from bad to "just plain lousy" - even with a 7-foot directional antenna. One of the few stations he can still pick up broadcasts nothing but infomercials.

FCC officials say there may someday be a nationwide solution to restore all the reception was lost. Well, I have a solution: Bring back analog TV.

(Source: http://www.connpost.com/ci_13303779?source=most_viewed)