Multicasting

The country's switchover from analog to digital broadcast signals brings with it a need for stations to program the digital subchannels created in the bandwidth space formerly occupied by their analog signals.

With the proliferation of digital broadcast channels, things are looking up for distributors of FCC-friendly children's educational or instructional (E/I) programming. After a long battle with broadcasters, the FCC during the Clinton years mandated that every TV station air at least three hours of E/I programming each week.

Robert Johnson, the billionaire founder of the Black Entertainment Television, is looking to get back into television is a big way by programming at least one channel on the Ion Media's stations under unique "share-time" licenses.

The transition to digital television was supposed to be more than just an upgrade in picture quality. It was also supposed to usher in a revolution in TV content and the quality of free television.

The sun is setting on NBC Weather Plus, the 4-year-old digital joint venture between NBC and affiliated local stations, which programmed the 24/7 local weather service on their digital channels.

Chicago has a rich media history, having been the center of the emerging broadcast industry in the early 1920's, home to the first radio station to broadcast the World Series, the "Chicago School of Television," and the city that pioneered the daytime-talk show format.

Everyone knows that the national transition to digital broadcast television will promote sexy new technologies including high-definition TV (HDTV). But few could have imagined that it might also revive some of the creakiest movies and series ever committed to celluloid, including The Lone Ranger, McHale's Navy and The Addams Family.

The Media Access Project, a public interest law firm, is proposing a new category of station license that would apply to existing TV stations' digital-multicast channels. The "S Class" licenses could be obtained by minorities and others if a station agreed to give up the excess digital spectrum for licensing.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, impressed with what Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting has done in packaging vintage TV shows under the Me TV and Me Too brands, announced Monday it is partnering on a national offering called This TV Network.