Just a few years ago with the advent of satellite and direct t.v., industry
analysts predicted t.v. would explode to would be entrepreneurs because
for the first time in history, viewers would be offered an abundancy of
channels offering more programing and advertising that in return would
create unlimited entrepreneurial opportunities. However, back then these
hotshots didn't foresee the Internet coming and also overlooked the down
side that more t.v. channels would create more competition. Fast
forward to today: things in t.v. land haven't gone as smoothly as some
had hoped and opportunities have not presented themselves as many had predicted.
Now, those nightly sitcoms seem to change with the wind as the networks
hopelessly try any and everything to hold viewers.
What was once the bedrock of American entertainment is truly facing some tough times. Some broadcasters say that its the end of the gravy train and that it's time to face the music and get out and get into something else that isn't as competitive. One person that agrees with this somewhat, but sees a t.v. broadcasting opportunity right here in the Delta is David Ellington of Webb .
Ellington has found a niche in low-power t.v. Low-power television stations broadcast their signals from local towers free of charge to anyone in their viewing area. Reception is possible with rabbit ears, but for better reception an outside antenna is required for those who do not subscribe to the local cable system. Cable systems can also pick up LPTV stations which allows cable subscribers an opportunity to watch their local community low-power television station.
Low-power t.v. began in 1982 and was enacted by Congress in order to provide small areas of the country or small communities of the country with access to more local television. It was not designed as a long distance medium. It operates very much the same way as large television stations, but with limited capabilities.
"I became interested in low-power t.v. just when Congress passed the law that created them," says Ellington who had been coaching football at West Tallahatchie High School. "I had always been interested in HAM radio and electronics, so it was natural for me to become interested in low-power t.v."
When Ellington changed jobs from coaching to becoming the school's technology coordinator, he purchased a video camera and started filming the school's football games broadcasting them on the local cable system. He also began seriously looking into the low-power t.v. opportunity.
Ellington found the licensing process to be extremely complicated. When he first applied to the FCC for his license, he found that there was a huge backlog as many were speculating that low-power t.v. was going to be the next "get-rich in a hurry" industry.
"There were a lot of people speculating on this," says Ellington. "Therefore, because of all of the applications it took several years to get an application through the process. There was just a lot of people that weren't sincere about trying to start a station to serve the public. Many of these applicants were just trying to make a lot of money off of the sell of their license and that just didn't happen. You just don't cover a large enough area in low-power t.v. to make a lot of money."
In 1988, Ellington was finally awarded his license and built his first station in Web (W11BU later becoming WEBU) broadcasting hometown football games and community events. Ellington later built his second station in Cleveland, Channel 8 WHCQ (cable channel 9), and recently signed on WPRQ Channel 12 in Clarksdale. Ellington's combined stations reach over 20,000 homes.
"We really have the best of both worlds," he says. "Basically, we reach the cable audiences that are on the cable systems and we also reach the folks who don't have cable but are within range to receive our signal. You think that everyone is on cable in these towns, but they're not.
"The beauty of this is that you can automate the station and not have to be there," says Ellington explaining that by automating a tape can be made that can run continuously with various programs on it thus eliminating someone from physically having to run the station.
"I guess you could say from an entrepreneurial standpoint that there are some possibilities, but so far, I have not expanded that much because I have a full-time job. My son, Chad, a sophomore at Delta State is also a big help running the Cleveland station. Retirement from the school is coming up pretty soon and then I'll have more time to put into the stations," says Ellington.