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Consumers across the country are seeing service changes, as the first stage of a mass channel reassignment finishes up.

TV channel shifts look to miss Holyoke stations

    Antenna users may notice service changes as the first impacts of the Federal Communications Commission’s 2016-17 incentive auction are felt across the country.
    Fortunately for Holyoke consumers, the two TV stations considered receivable in town by the FCC — ABC’s KWNB-TV and PBS’ KPNE-TV — will be staying put on channels 6 and 9, respectively.
    Ed Lake of the Region One Translator Association, which provides rebroadcasting services for Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma counties, also said the changes to the other channels receivable from their facilities will not have a long-term impact on residents.
    The deadline for the first phase of a mass channel reassignment affecting more than a thousand broadcast stations passed Nov. 30, meaning 79 stations must now be transmitting at their new post-auction frequency. An additional 64 stations expected to finish their move before the first deadline.
    All in all, 84 megahertz of broadcast frequency will be cleared and repurposed by the change, which was approved by Congress in 2012 to free up airwaves for wireless companies.
    An auction facilitated by the FCC gave these companies the chance to bid on broadcast frequencies from March 29, 2016, to March 30, 2017. Nearly $20 billion was raised, including $10.05 billion for winning broadcast bidders and $7 billion that was deposited into the U.S. Treasury.

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