There could be brief interruptions in broadcasts over a two-week period for viewers of a PBS Member station serving Gary, Indiana and parts of the Chicago metropolitan area. But, the long-term benefits are worth it, says the station’s owner.
Lakeshore PBS viewers across Northwest Indiana can expect an improved television viewing experience once “significant upgrades” to the signal of secondary Member station WYIN-TV are complete.
Providing a “stronger and more reliable broadcast to viewers” across the region positions Lakeshore PBS as a worthy competitor, in some ways, to WTTW-11, one of the nation’s earliest public TV stations.
And, says Lakeshore PBS, “This is the culmination of extensive behind-the-scenes efforts that have taken place over the last year to replace the station’s decades-old antenna with a new High Definition television antenna.”
As of Monday (8/28), engineers and a crew of tower climbers will be on-site to commence Lakeshore’s antenna installation project, which will bring ATSC 3.0-powered NEXTGEN TV broadcasts.
However, viewers who rely on over-the-air signals — including platforms like AT&T Uverse, Direct TV, Dish, and a digital antenna — may experience intermittent disruptions through September 10 as crews work to mount the new antenna at the top of the nearly 1,000-foot WYIN tower located in Northwest Indiana. The station’s previous antenna was a side-mount installation located at a lower point on the tower.
Disruptions are also expect to impact WYIN-56.2, which features NHK World-Japan.
“While we understand that broadcast interruptions can be frustrating to viewers, the end result will be an amazing accomplishment for public broadcasting in Northwest Indiana,” Lakeshore President/CEO Chuck Roberts said. “Lakeshore Public Media takes pride in bringing award-winning local programming as well as state-wide programming that is often lacking in our media landscape, and now the station will be able to serve more households than ever before.”
Carl Kurek, Lakeshore’s Vice President of Development, added, “It’s truly an exciting time for Lakeshore staff who have been working so hard to make this new antenna a reality. We have made sure our broadcast is available on the growing number of digital platforms like YouTube TV and Hulu Live, but it is equally important that we also continue to improve the accessibility to over-the-air viewers across the Region including those who will now be able to discover the Lakeshore PBS broadcast in their channel line-up for the first time.”
The station will continue to keep audiences updated on the progress of the installation on its website at LakeshorePublicMedia.org/Antenna.
