We’re excited to share that there is potential relief for some antenna users in the Bay area! And really, there is no better time.
KNTV, the NBC affiliate in SF, has added their primary programming as a sub-channel on their UHF 49 Telemundo station (KSTS) from Mt Allison giving Bay area antenna users a second shot at their programming which, coincidentally, includes the Olympics that are scheduled to begin soon.
KNTV has often been a PITA for antenna users as one of the two VHF (channel 12) stations in the market. One of their more pronounced problems was that they were located on Mt San Bruno which was several miles south of Sutro Tower and their signal was blocked by Mt Sutro for much of the immediate San Francisco proper making signal reception tough, especially for indoor users.
Early on after the digital transition, KGO recognized the problem with VHF and installed a 15 kW UHF 35 translator on Mt Allison that has done a decent job of covering the southern Bay area on over into the Redwood City/Palo Alto area, even back up towards the city of SF. Now that NBC, owner of both KNTV and the Telemundo affiliate KSTS, has added the flagship NBC programming to KSTS, antenna users may be able to get adequate reception from all UHF transmissions without having to gamble on VHF. UHF antenna owners in the city of San Francisco who couldn’t get a reliable VHF signal not have a second chance although will likely need to readjust the aim of their antenna, at a minimum.
Details:
TVs tuned into KSTS will now get virtual channel 11.3 (KNTV) in 720p in addition to the two Telemundo feeds on virtual channels 48.1 & 48.2.
TVs tuned to KNTV’s channel 12 signal will also receive Telemundo’s primary channel as virtual channel 48.3 in addition to 11.1 & 11.2 (NBC & Cozi TV).
TVs that pick up BOTH signals successfully will get all 6 virtual channels with NBS and TEL each being duplicated.
Calculated coverage map of KSTS:
