As the wireless industry grabs a bigger chunk of the television dial, the remaining free over-the-air stations are going to be on the move starting next year. More than 900 American television stations will get new channel numbers after the move is complete, all to squeeze signals into the unchanged VHF and diminished UHF dial.

The folks at Rabbit Ears have a handy tool that will guide you through the changes, and they are enormous. Just use the drop-down box next to “Market” and find your city. Here at Stop the Cap! HQ, all but two stations in Rochester, N.Y., are getting new channel positions:

TV station reassignments as a result of the channel repack for Rochester, NY. The first two columns show the new vs. current actual channel number.

Most viewers won’t notice a big difference because the FCC is allowing stations to continue to market themselves with a virtual channel number than usually dates back to before the migration to digital TV broadcasting. But the channel changes can still be important for viewers using an antenna, especially if your local station(s) migrate into the VHF or UHF bands where they might not have been before. Two different antennas are sometimes required to get good reception from both bands. The traditional “rabbit ears” indoor telescoping antenna is usually designed for VHF reception, while small loop antennas work better for UHF. Various other antenna configurations can work for both bands, some better than others. Outdoor aerials can be designed to receive VHF, UHF or both. You may need an antenna upgrade if your antenna isn’t designed to receive the station(s) you want to see after they move.

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An unprecedented 175 free over-the-air television signals will sign off on their current channels for good in return for an average of tens of millions in compensation paid by Comcast, Dish Networks, and various wireless companies that want their frequencies to bolster their mobile networks.

The UHF dial compression comes courtesy of the latest FCC spectrum auction, which allowed bidders to entice over-the-air television stations to give up their frequencies to make room for wireless companies trying to bolster their 4G LTE networks. At least 957 stations across the country will have to move to new channels as the FCC compresses the TV dial to make room for wireless providers.

Virtually all the affected stations won’t disappear from free over-the-air TV for good, however. Of the 175 stations, 133 plan to make a deal with another local station to relaunch as a secondary digital channel, 29 will move from a UHF channel to a new VHF channel (2-13), and one channel will move from a high VHF channel to a low numbered one.

The move was very profitable to some major market stations, where the TV dial is already crowded with signals. WWTO-TV, a TBN affiliate airing Christian TV programming in LaSalle/Chicago, Ill. won the highest amount of any station in the country to put its transmitter off the air – $304 million. The biggest non-commercial auction winner was New Jersey’s Public Broadcasting Authority, which won $194 million to switch off WNJN in Montclair, N.Y.

The winners are 50 wireless bidders who want the frequencies to improve their wireless networks by increasing the amount of spectrum they can use in the coveted 600MHz band. Signals at these frequencies do a better job penetrating buildings and around natural obstacles and terrain. The result will be improved coverage and signal quality, with fewer dropped calls.

“The conclusion of the world’s first incentive auction is a major milestone in the FCC’s long history as steward of the nation’s airwaves,” said FCC chairman Ajit Pai. “Consumers are the real beneficiaries, as broadcasters invest new resources in programming and service, and additional wireless spectrum opens the way to greater competition and innovation in the mobile broadband marketplace.”

Stations can begin vacating their frequencies this year. Among the 957 stations that have to change channel numbers, the first of a series of channel changes will begin on Nov. 30, 2018. The last changes should take place just over three years from now.

Are you affected? Here is the list of channels going off the air or relocating to a different band:

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.

• WCDC-TV UHF Going off the air

Augusta, Ga.

• WAGT-TV UHF Going off the air

Baltimore, Md.

• WUTB-TV UHF Going off the air

Boston, Mass.

• WBIN-TV UHF Going off the air
• WDPX-TV UHF Going off the air
• WFXZ-CD UHF Going off the air
• WGBH-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WLVI-TV UHF Going off the air
• WMFP-TV UHF Going off the air
• WYCN-CD UHF Going off the air
• WYDN-TV UHF Going off the air

Buffalo, N.Y.

• WIVB-TV UHF Going off the air
• WNYB-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WVTT-CD UHF Moving to High VHF Channel

Burlington, Vt.-Plattsburgh, N.Y.

• WNNE-TV UHF Going off the air
• WVTA-TV UHF Going off the air

Charleston-Huntington, W.V.

• WPBO-TV UHF Going off the air
• WTSF-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel

Charlotte, N.C.

• WLNN-CD UHF Going off the air
• WMYT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WTBL-CD UHF Going off the air

Charlottesville, Va.

• WVIR-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Chattanooga, Tenn.

• WNGH-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WTNB-CD UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Chicago, Ill.

• WOCH-CD UHF Going off the air
• WPWR-TV UHF Going off the air
• WSNS-TV UHF Going off the air
• WWTO-TV High VHF Channel Going off the air
• WXFT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WYCC-TV UHF Going off the air

Cincinnati, Oh.

• WOTH-CD UHF Going off the air

Cleveland-Akron, Oh.

• WAOH-CD UHF Going off the air
• WDLI-TV UHF Going off the air
• WGGN-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WRLM-TV UHF Going off the air
• WUAB-TV UHF Going off the air

Columbus, Ga.

• WJSP-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Columbus, Oh.

• WOUC-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WSFJ-TV UHF Going off the air

Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tex.

• KATA-CD UHF Going off the air

Dayton, Oh.

• WBDT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WKOI-TV UHF Going off the air

Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Mich.

• WCMZ-TV UHF Going off the air

Greensboro-High Point-Winston, N.C.

• WCWG-TV UHF Going off the air
• WLXI-TV UHF Going off the air

Greenville-New Bern-Washington, N.C.

• WFXI-TV High VHF Channel Going off the air

Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.

• WGGS-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WRET-TV UHF Going off the air
• WYCW-TV UHF Going off the air

Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Pa.

• WGCB-TV UHF Going off the air
• WLYH-TV UHF Going off the air
• WPMT-TV UHF Going off the air

Harrisonburg, Va.

• WAZH-CD UHF Going off the air
• WVPY-TV UHF Going off the air

Hartford-New Haven, Conn.

• WCTX-TV UHF Going off the air
• WEDY-TV UHF Going off the air
• WRDM-CD UHF Going off the air
• WUVN-TV UHF Going off the air

Huntsville-Decatur-Florence, Ala.

• WHDF-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Indianapolis, Ind.

• WCLJ-TV UHF Going off the air
• WHMB-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• WNDY-TV UHF Going off the air

Johnstown-Altoona, Pa.

• WKBS-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Knoxville, Tenn.

• WAGV-TV UHF Going off the air

Lansing, Mich.

• WHTV-TV UHF Going off the air
• WLNS-TV UHF Going off the air

Lima, Oh.

• WTLW-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Los Angeles, Calif.

• KAZA-TV UHF Going off the air
• KBEH-TV UHF Going off the air
• KDOC-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• KILM-TV UHF Going off the air
• KJLA-TV UHF Going off the air
• KLCS-TV UHF Going off the air
• KNET-CD UHF Going off the air
• KOCE-TV UHF Going off the air
• KRCA-TV UHF Going off the air
• KSFV-CD UHF Going off the air
• KVCR-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• KWHY-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Louisville, Ky.

• WBKI-TV UHF Going off the air
• WWJS-CD UHF Going off the air

Madison, Wisc.

• WISC-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel

Memphis, Tenn.

• WWTW-TV UHF Going off the air

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

• WDLP-CD UHF Going off the air
• WIMP-CD UHF Going off the air
• WLPH-CD UHF Going off the air

Milwaukee, Wisc.

• WCGV-TV UHF Going off the air
• WMLW-TV UHF Going off the air
• WMVT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WVCY-TV UHF Going off the air

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.

• KCCO-TV High VHF Channel Going off the air

Monterey-Salinas, Calif.

• KSMS-TV UHF Going off the air

Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.

• WGSI-CD High VHF Channel Going off the air

New York, N.Y.

• WEBR-CD UHF Going off the air
• WMBQ-CD UHF Going off the air
• WMUN-CD UHF Going off the air
• WNBC-TV UHF Going off the air
• WNJN-TV UHF Going off the air
• WNYJ-TV UHF Going off the air
• WRNN-TV UHF Going off the air
• WTBY-TV UHF Going off the air
• WXTV-TV UHF Going off the air
• WZME-TV UHF Going off the air

Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla.

• WACX-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• WTGL-TV UHF Going off the air

Philadelphia, Pa.

• WFMZ-TV UHF Going off the air
• WGTW-TV UHF Going off the air
• WLVT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WMCN-TV UHF Going off the air
• WNJT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WTSD-CD UHF Going off the air
• WTVE-TV UHF Going off the air
• WUVP-TV UHF Going off the air
• WWSI-TV UHF Going off the air
• WYBE-TV UHF Going off the air

Pittsburgh, Pa.

• WBOA-CD UHF Going off the air
• WEMW-CD UHF Going off the air
• WEPA-CD UHF Going off the air
• WNNB-CD UHF Going off the air
• WPCP-CD UHF Going off the air
• WQED-TV High VHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• WQVC-CD UHF Going off the air
• WVTX-CD UHF Going off the air

Providence, R.I.-New Bedford, Mass.

• WLWC-TV UHF Going off the air
• WRIW-CD UHF Going off the air
• WSBE-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel

Puerto Rico

• WDWL-TV UHF Going off the air
• WELU-TV UHF Going off the air
• WIRS-TV UHF Going off the air
• WKPV-TV UHF Going off the air
• WMEI-TV UHF Going off the air
• WSJU-TV UHF Going off the air
• WTCV-TV UHF Going off the air

Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

• WFPX-TV UHF Going off the air
• WHFL-CD UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• WNCN-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• WRAY-TV UHF Going off the air
• WZGS-CD UHF Going off the air

Richmond-Petersburg, Va.

• WUPV-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel

Roanoke-Lynchburg, Va.

• WFFP-TV UHF Going off the air

Rockford, Ill.

• WIFR-TV UHF Going off the air

San Diego, Calif.

• K35DG-TV UHF Going off the air
• KSEX-CD UHF Going off the air

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif.

• KEMO-TV UHF Going off the air
• KEXT-CD UHF Going off the air
• KMPT-TV UHF Going off the air
• KOFY-TV UHF Going off the air
• KQEH-TV UHF Going off the air
• KRCB-TV UHF Moving to Low VHF Channel
• KRON-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• KTLN-TV UHF Going off the air
• KTNC-TV UHF Going off the air
• KTSF-TV UHF Going off the air

Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Caballero, Calif.

• KMMA-CD UHF Going off the air

Springfield, Mo.

• KSPR-TV UHF Going off the air

Springfield-Holyoke, Mass.

• WGBY-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel

Syracuse, N.Y.

• WNYI-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, Fla.

• WUSF-TV UHF Going off the air
• WTTA-TV UHF Going off the air

Tri-Cities, Tenn.

• WAPG-CD UHF Going off the air
• WMSY-TV UHF Going off the air
• WSBN-TV UHF Going off the air

Tyler-Longview, Tex.

• KCEB-TV UHF Going off the air

Washington, D.C.

• WAZF-CD UHF Going off the air
• WDCA-TV UHF Going off the air
• WDCW-TV UHF Going off the air
• WJAL-TV UHF Going off the air
• WMDO-CD UHF Going off the air
• WNVC-TV UHF Going off the air
• WNVT-TV UHF Going off the air
• WZDC-CD UHF Going off the air

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Fla.

• WFGC-TV UHF Moving to High VHF Channel
• WXEL-TV UHF Going off the air

Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.

• WKBN-TV UHF Going off the air
• WVIA-TV UHF Going off the air

Google’s forthcoming online TV streaming service will cost too much for too little and includes a cloud-based DVR that will replace many of your recordings with unskippable-ad-laced alternatives.

YouTube TV was previewed for reporters Tuesday, despite the fact it won’t debut until late spring or early summer, with a lineup of 40 channels for $35 a month. The “skinny bundle” from Google has managed to put together a very incomplete lineup of major cable networks and for most of the country, on-demand-only access of network shows about a day after they air.

YouTube TV Tentative Lineup

• Disney: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN31, ESPNU, ESPNews, SEC Network, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform
• NBCUniversal: NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, Chiller, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Universo2, NBCSN, Oxygen, Sprout, SyFy, Universal HD, USA. In some regions: Comcast Regional Sports Networks, NECN (New England Cable News)
• CBS: CBS, The CW, CBS Sports Network
• Fox: FOX, FS1 (Fox Sports 1), FS2 (Fox Sports 2), BTN (Big Ten Network), FX, FXX, FXM, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Fox News, Fox Business. In some regions: Fox Regional Sports Networks
• The Weather Channel: Local Now (rolling weather forecasts)
• YouTube TV members can also add Showtime for $11 a month and Fox Soccer Plus for $15 a month.
• Availability of local TV/live network streaming limited to residents of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Prospective customers will have to tough it out with no access to AMC, HBO, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV/VH1, CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery, TBS, TNT, PBS, Food Network, and HGTV among many other missing networks.

One potentially interesting feature – an unlimited cloud-based DVR service, is rendered almost unusable with the imposition of prioritized video-on-demand. In short, this means that once a video-on-demand version of the show you recorded on your DVR becomes available, you can no longer access your recording. Your only option is to watch the ad-heavy, on-demand version with advertising you cannot skip. In most cases, that will give customers about 12-24 hours to watch their DVR recordings before they become inaccessible, at least until the on-demand version is removed.

Wojcicki

That’s a challenging proposition when consumers have other choices including AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Sling TV, and PlayStation Vue. The premise of YouTube TV, like many others, is to appeal to cord cutters and cable-nevers — especially millennials.

“There’s no question millennials love great TV content,” said YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki. “But what we’ve seen is they don’t want to watch it in the traditional setting.”

What Wojcicki ignores is the fact millennials prefer to watch their shows on-demand. Relying on live television as the primary source of scripted television shows is already inconvenient and unnecessary. The viewing experience is increasingly an individual one, catering to the whims of a single viewer watching on a tablet, smartphone, or connected TV. Of all the websites on the internet, YouTube should already understand the trend towards individualized viewing better than most.

Just as important, YouTube TV is a lousy deal. Hulu subscribers can binge watch all the series they want with no ads for $11.99 a month. YouTube TV will charge nearly three times the price and force customers to sit through up to 18 minutes of ads an hour. Hulu doesn’t require customers to use Google’s Chromecast as the only stream-to-TV option either. A premium YouTube Red subscription also won’t get you a better deal or fewer ads. You may already pay to watch YouTube commercial free but now you will pay more to watch YouTube TV filled with ads.

Analyst Michael Nathanson said Google’s real goal here is to get into the television advertising market. Because customers will be held captive by a disabled fast-forward button, they will see Google-targeted ads playing in ad slots normally reserved for use by local cable operators. Getting a lot of people to watch those ads means YouTube TV will at least be generous about something. A subscription will include access for six accounts with separate login information, but only three users can watch simultaneously, if they bother.

AT&T’s U-verse TV has been losing customers for over a year. (Image: Market Realist)

AT&T wants its U-verse TV video service dead, but is willing to watch it bleed customers for a while before likely downsizing or axing the service to make room for better broadband speeds.

The phone company has allowed U-verse TV to wither on the vine for more than a year, losing hundreds of thousands of customers every quarter since late 2015, and surprisingly has done almost nothing to stop the subscriber losses. In all, more than a million AT&T U-verse TV customers canceled service in 2016.

AT&T has admitted it has abandoned aggressively marketing its U-verse TV platform and has put its marketing muscle into selling DirecTV, the satellite provider AT&T acquired two years ago. DirecTV has added customers at a remarkably similar rate that AT&T has been losing U-verse TV customers. AT&T is even willing to watch customers walk into the arms of their competitors, a clear sign AT&T hopes their U-verse TV customers churn away.

Customers report U-verse TV-related promotions and retention plans have gotten worse in the last 14 months and some tell Stop the Cap! they were steered to DirecTV when they contacted AT&T to discuss their options.

Even the U-verse brand is being gradually discontinued. AT&T recently rebranded its fiber to the home service AT&T Fiber, dropping the AT&T U-verse with GigaPower brand the company had used since first announcing gigabit speed access.

AT&T U-verse as a brand is slowly disappearing in favor of AT&T Fiber.

Market Realist reports AT&T doesn’t necessarily want to spend a lot of money upgrading its legacy U-verse fiber to the neighborhood network across its entire landline service area, but needs to boost broadband speeds to stay competitive with cable broadband. When U-verse was originally launched, the service reserved much of its available bandwidth for television service, limiting broadband speeds to a maximum of around 24Mbps. That is no longer seen as competitively adequate and that leaves AT&T with only two options: upgrade its legacy infrastructure to support fiber-fed gigabit speed or reduce the amount of bandwidth devoted to television services and use it to expand broadband speeds.

AT&T is doing a little of both, expanding its gigabit broadband service in very limited areas in 46 cities with 23 more to come sometime this year. An indication of just how few customers can actually buy AT&T’s gigabit speeds was revealed indirectly by AT&T. Only four million homes and businesses, including 650,000 apartment and condo units can buy 1,000Mbps broadband from AT&T nationwide. Los Angeles and Chicago — both AT&T Fiber service areas, combined have more than five million potential customers alone.

In many cases, fewer than 10% of AT&T’s customers in AT&T Fiber cities can actually buy the service. In Knoxville, Tenn., AT&T admitted its gigabit service was only available in about 30 apartment and condominium complexes.

AT&T is promising to expand its fiber service to reach at least 12.5 million customers in 67 metro areas by the summer of 2019. But that will still likely leave more than half of AT&T’s customers out of reach of the service.

AT&T has told investors it plans no blockbuster budget increases to aggressively roll out fiber service across its footprint, which includes much of the south and midwest and large sections of California. Instead, it will likely offer fiber service to new housing developments, multi-dwelling units, and higher income areas. That decision still requires AT&T to do something for customers not on a near-term upgrade list, and that will likely be a gradual transformation of legacy U-verse into broadband-only service with speeds closer to 50-75Mbps, where video streaming from services like DirecTV Now can travel over the top to customers.

“I think that in general, there is probably too much commercial interruption in television,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

As some commercial networks cut “hour-long” TV shows to as little as 39 minutes, viewers have taken notice and are tuning out.

TV advertising loads — how many ad breaks and for how long — have been increasing since the 1950s, leaving viewers with less and less of their favorite shows. Networks have gotten creative over the years finding new spaces for advertising content by compressing opening titles and closing credits, telling producers to plan for shorter shows, using product placement to showcase brands and products inside shows, and editing or compressing older programs that can no longer fit in their allotted time slots.

The idea of reducing advertising is a recent phenomena, but one being taken seriously by networks that have watched ad revenue and ratings slip, as viewers learn to bypass or avoid advertising, or watch something else.

Iger promised an unspecified reduction in advertising on Disney-owned ABC and ESPN. It is uncertain if that will result in a slight decline of a minute per hour or something more dramatic. Time Warner, Inc., began opting for the latter in 2015, cutting ad time on certain shows on its TruTV network by half. Viacom and 21st Century Fox followed with experimental ad reductions of their own that same year.

Reducing advertising does not necessarily mean revenue reduction. Earlier experiments raised ad rates to compensate for the reduced number of commercials. Advertisers were reportedly pleased by the experiments because shorter ad breaks encouraged viewers to avoid channel surfing, giving higher exposure to advertising messages.