The FCC has approved the move of CBS's KTVT Fort
Worth, Texas from channel 11 to channel 19.
In an order released Friday, the FCC said it was in
the public interest to allow for the move, which also requires KTXA there to
move from its digital ch. 19 position to ch. 29.
The FCC has been flexible in letting stations
strike deals among themselves to try and resolve problems of lost viewership
after the June 12 switch to digital. The request for the double switch was filed
jointly by KTVT and the owners of KTXA.
CBS had told the FCC that KTVT had lost 57% of its
over-the-air audience after the switch, and that getting viewers to rescan their
converter boxes for its new post-transition digital channel had not helped
reclaim many of those viewers.
The commission said it was in the public interest
to allow the switch and to make it effective immediately on publication in the
Federal Register.
The FCC has had to work with two or three dozen
stations that had major issues with signal loss after the transition, granting
temporary authority for channel moves and power boosts, as well as some
permanent moves like the one approved Friday.
