The Walt Disney Co.’s KABC-TV Channel 7 station, which makes use of communications towers close to Mount Wilson, misplaced over-the-air sign Friday morning because the Eaton Fire continued to rage within the mountainous terrain.
Separately, radio station KLOS-FM 95.5, which additionally makes use of broadcast services within the Angeles Crest Forest, additionally went on the air in a single day.
KABC confirmed that “there was a problem with the transmitter,” with out offering particulars of the issue.
The Eaton Fire got here dangerously shut Thursday to the large phalanx of transmitters excessive within the mountains. Engineers at tv and radio broadcasts, together with Nexstar’s KTLA-TV Channel 5, Paramount’s KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9, and different native stations, together with LAist/KPCC-FM 89.3, have been sweating it out for probably the most a part of the day as they watched the hearth progress in the direction of their crucial infrastructure.
The transmitters escaped harm from the flames.
While KABC misplaced sign transmission, the station was in a position to present digital streams of its morning newscasts on to cable and satellite tv for pc TV operators, Disney-owned Hulu Live TV and different streaming apps.
Only viewers who depend on over-the-air antennas for tv discovered the station blacked out.
“Teams are clearly working arduous to revive the feed for over-the-air viewers and hope to revive it quickly,” an ABC spokesperson stated in an e-mail. The downside was associated to fires, the spokesperson stated, however the tools was not burned.
The firm directed viewers to the KABC web site and streaming apps to observe the extremely rated tv station.
Meanwhile, controls at Meruelo Group’s KLOS-FM 95.5 radio transmitter have been disrupted round 2 a.m. Friday and the station went off the air. According to a station supervisor, station engineers realized that the generator used for backup energy was operating out of gas.
