GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — As a result of an order from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Pioneer Public Television’s broadcast signal will be moved from Channel 49 to Channel 8 for the region served by Pioneer’s tower near Erhard (licensed to Fergus Falls).
Viewers receiving Pioneer’s channel via cable, satellite or the internet most likely will not be affected, but viewers who use antennas may have to adjust or replace their antennas once the new transmitter is installed.
The FCC is reallocating some of the TV spectrum to make room for more cell phone use. T-Mobile has obtained the Channel 49 frequency rights (and other channels in the 600 megahertz band). As a result, Pioneer has lost the ability to broadcast from that channel starting March 18, 2019. Delays in shipping and in getting approval for the replacement antenna has caused some of Pioneer’s viewers to lose service if they rely solely on an antenna signal.
It is expected that service will be restored by mid April. At that time, viewers will need to use the re-scan function on their televisions to receive the Channel 8 signal.
Pioneer will be working hard to keep this off-air time to a minimum and return to regular service on Channel 8. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Pioneer will post updates on its website and social media pages as the signal is restored. For more information, contact yourtv@pioneer.org or call 1-800-726-3178.
