WSKC-CA
Encyclopedia
WSKC-CD is a low-power television station
in metro Atlanta, operating on TV channel 22. The station is owned by KM Communications Inc.
via holding company
KM LPTV of Atlanta, and has Atlanta
as its city of license
, though it reaches very little of the city.
The original callsign from 1984 was W04BR on channel 4. It was briefly assigned W59CZ in 1995 or 1996 while changing channels to 59. It became WSKC-LP after that and still identified itself as such, though its suffix
was changed with the upgrade
to class A in 2005, making it WSKC-CA. It carried Korean programming from South Korea
(hence WSKC), a format now aired locally on WKTB-LD 47.2 and 47.3.
The analog station on channel 22, which was recently silent (off-the-air
), was located atop Sweat Mountain
, and had a somewhat directional antenna
, originally aimed generally southeast toward Atlanta
. It was issued a construction permit
to change from channel 59 at the same power
, and to rotate the existing antenna
about 45° counterclockwise toward the east. The original digital TV allotment for WGTV TV 8 was changed from 22 to 12 (and then to 8 in the digital channel election
).
The station was granted a construction permit
to flash-cut
to digital TV on channel 22 at 800 watts, and an application filed in early August 2008 to increase this to 10 kilowatts. This gives a broadcast range equivalent to a 50 kW analog TV station, however its current analog facility is 150 kW. A later application also specified that the very directional antenna
point to the southeast again (instead of east), where it would cover its actual city of license
of Atlanta, as well as Sandy Springs.
Per an application made in 2008, the permit was extended and modified again in 2010, to transmit from a point on the Norcross
side of Duluth
, just south of the interchange of Buford Highway
(Georgia 13 and U.S. 23) and Pleasant Hill Road. The station reaches all of Gwinnett
and much of each surrounding county, but still not reliably Atlanta, which will remain its city of license.
During March 2009, WSKC-CA was off-air. In April 2009 it returned, again simulcasting WATC-DT 57.1, which is unusual because they both transmit from the same location, making its entire coverage area redundant
. It was unclear why this was so, or when the station might resume its own programming.
In late July 2010, the station was again reported as being on-air but now with its new digital signal, carrying digital subchannel
s 22.1 and 22.2, both identified as MBC
. MBC was previously carried (along with two other Korean TV networks) on WKTB-LD 47.3, another LPTV station in the same area, which has the highest concentration of Asian immigrants
in metro Atlanta
.
It was originally reported as using 480p
format, which is unusual since 480i
is standard. It is now using 704×480i, which is normally used for widescreen
broadcasts, and is often reported and treated by ATSC tuner
s as 16:9
. However, the station uses the full width to transmit standard 640×480i (NTSC
-equivalent) 4:3 video, resulting in stretching
of the picture and distortion of its intended fullscreen aspect ratio
.
Once the station was granted its broadcast license
in early October 2010 to cover its digital changes, it became WSKC-CD, indicating a class A digital station. It applied for this license in August 2010, but the following week applied to modify the construction permit to increase power from 10kW to 15kW, and to rotate the slightly directional antenna (which has circular radiation pattern
but offset from the center) so that the maximum power output is southwest toward metro Atlanta, instead of east.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in metro Atlanta, operating on TV channel 22. The station is owned by KM Communications Inc.
KM Communications Inc.
KM Communications, Inc. is the owner of several television and radio stations throughout the United States. The company, based in Skokie, Illinois, gets its name from the first names of its President, Myoung Hwa Bae and her husband, Kun Chae Bae...
via holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
KM LPTV of Atlanta, and has Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
as its city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
, though it reaches very little of the city.
The original callsign from 1984 was W04BR on channel 4. It was briefly assigned W59CZ in 1995 or 1996 while changing channels to 59. It became WSKC-LP after that and still identified itself as such, though its suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
was changed with the upgrade
Upgrade
The term upgrade refers to the replacement of a product with a newer version of the same product. It is most often used in computing and consumer electronics, generally meaning a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the system up to date...
to class A in 2005, making it WSKC-CA. It carried Korean programming from South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
(hence WSKC), a format now aired locally on WKTB-LD 47.2 and 47.3.
The analog station on channel 22, which was recently silent (off-the-air
Off-the-air
In telecommunication, the term off-air or off-the-air has the following meanings:# In radio communications systems, pertaining to a radio station or television station that is completely shut down, i.e. that is not transmitting any signal, not even an un-modulated carrier wave...
), was located atop Sweat Mountain
Sweat Mountain
Sweat Mountain is a low mountain located in far northeastern Cobb County, Georgia, in the suburbs north of Atlanta. The exact GNIS location of its summit is , and it has an official elevation of above mean sea level...
, and had a somewhat directional antenna
Directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources....
, originally aimed generally southeast toward Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. It was issued a construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
to change from channel 59 at the same power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
, and to rotate the existing antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
about 45° counterclockwise toward the east. The original digital TV allotment for WGTV TV 8 was changed from 22 to 12 (and then to 8 in the digital channel election
Digital channel election
A digital channel election was the process by which television stations in the United States chose which physical radio-frequency TV channel they would permanently use after the analog shutdown in 2009. The process was managed and mandated by the Federal Communications Commission for all...
).
The station was granted a construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
to flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
to digital TV on channel 22 at 800 watts, and an application filed in early August 2008 to increase this to 10 kilowatts. This gives a broadcast range equivalent to a 50 kW analog TV station, however its current analog facility is 150 kW. A later application also specified that the very directional antenna
Directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources....
point to the southeast again (instead of east), where it would cover its actual city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
of Atlanta, as well as Sandy Springs.
Per an application made in 2008, the permit was extended and modified again in 2010, to transmit from a point on the Norcross
Norcross, Georgia
As of 2010 Norcross had a population of 9,116. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 40.8% white , 19.8% black or African American , 0.7% Native American, 2.1% Asian Indian, 10.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 21.5% from some other race and 4.3% reporting two or more races...
side of Duluth
Duluth, Georgia
Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia and an increasingly more affluent and developed suburb of Atlanta. Unincorporated portions of Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is outside city limits...
, just south of the interchange of Buford Highway
Buford Highway
Buford Highway is an international community along and on either side of a stretch of Georgia State Route 13 in DeKalb County, Georgia. It begins just north of Midtown Atlanta, continues northeast through the towns of Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville, and ends northeast of the Perimeter at the...
(Georgia 13 and U.S. 23) and Pleasant Hill Road. The station reaches all of Gwinnett
Gwinnett
Gwinnett can refer to:*Button Gwinnett, signatory of the US Declaration of Independence*Gwinnett County, in the US state of Georgia*Gwinnett Ballet Theatre, Gwinnett County's first non-profit performing arts troupe...
and much of each surrounding county, but still not reliably Atlanta, which will remain its city of license.
During March 2009, WSKC-CA was off-air. In April 2009 it returned, again simulcasting WATC-DT 57.1, which is unusual because they both transmit from the same location, making its entire coverage area redundant
Redundancy (engineering)
In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe....
. It was unclear why this was so, or when the station might resume its own programming.
In late July 2010, the station was again reported as being on-air but now with its new digital signal, carrying digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s 22.1 and 22.2, both identified as MBC
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC (Hangul : 문화방송주식회사, Munhwa Bangsong Jushikoesa) is one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks. Munhwa is the Korean word for "culture". Its flagship terrestrial television...
. MBC was previously carried (along with two other Korean TV networks) on WKTB-LD 47.3, another LPTV station in the same area, which has the highest concentration of Asian immigrants
Chinatowns in North America
This is a list of Chinatowns located in Canada and the United States.-Edmonton:There are actually two Chinatowns in Edmonton: the newer Chinatown North and the older Chinatown South. Chinatown North stretches on 97 St from 107A Ave to 105 Ave and boasts mostly of shops, restaurants, and supermarkets...
in metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta
The Atlanta metropolitan area or metro Atlanta, officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States...
.
It was originally reported as using 480p
480p
480p is the shorthand name for a video display resolution. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 480 denotes a vertical resolution of 480 pixel high vertically scanning lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 aspect ratio or a horizontal resolution of...
format, which is unusual since 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
is standard. It is now using 704×480i, which is normally used for widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
broadcasts, and is often reported and treated by ATSC tuner
ATSC tuner
An ATSC tuner, often called an ATSC receiver or HDTV tuner is a type of television tuner that allows reception of digital television television channels transmitted by television stations in North America, parts of Central America and South Korea that use ATSC standards...
s as 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
. However, the station uses the full width to transmit standard 640×480i (NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
-equivalent) 4:3 video, resulting in stretching
Stretch-o-Vision
Stretch-o-Vision is a neologism used to describe the practice of upconverting video from a standard aspect ratio to a widescreen aspect ratio. HDTV programming is broadcast in the 16:9 aspect ratio, a widescreen image. However, most SDTV programming is usually broadcast in the 4:3 aspect ratio....
of the picture and distortion of its intended fullscreen aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
.
Once the station was granted its broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
in early October 2010 to cover its digital changes, it became WSKC-CD, indicating a class A digital station. It applied for this license in August 2010, but the following week applied to modify the construction permit to increase power from 10kW to 15kW, and to rotate the slightly directional antenna (which has circular radiation pattern
Radiation pattern
In the field of antenna design the term radiation pattern most commonly refers to the directional dependence of the strength of the radio waves from the antenna or other source ....
but offset from the center) so that the maximum power output is southwest toward metro Atlanta, instead of east.
| Channel | Label | Format | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22.1 | WSKC DT | 704×480i | Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC (Hangul : 문화방송주식회사, Munhwa Bangsong Jushikoesa) is one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks. Munhwa is the Korean word for "culture". Its flagship terrestrial television... (Korean Korean language Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing... ) |
| 22.2 | unknown |