WHRO-DT Hampton Roads, Va., told the Federal Communications Commission
Friday that a new technical study showed that the station is not the source of interference
suffered by WBOC-TV Salisbury on Maryland's eastern shore. Instead, the Wallace
and Associates survey demonstrates that misdirected antennas in WBOC's market are
a primary culprit, WHRO said.
According to WHRO's interpretation, many viewers in the market point
antennas, both at cable headends and oceanfront high-rise buildings, toward
Baltimore, the closest major market.
In the past, this anomaly caused no problem for WBOC because there has been no
signal competition. "The transition to digital television has changed this
landscape and eliminated this luxury," WHRO said.
An education effort to convince viewers to orient antennas properly for the
Eastern Shore market is the solution, WHRO added.
WBOC attorneys Friday said they were reviewing WHRO's filing and had no
comment.
WBOC claimed that WHRO's digital signal is interfering with its analog broadcasts,
and it has asked the FCC to order the Virginia station to cut its transmission
power.
WHRO has temporarily cut its power levels, but the stations have not reached a
final solution.
