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The owner of what could become Delaware’s only television station is struggling to get a signal on air before Saturday, May 5, the date the station’s Federal Communications Commission license would expire.
Meyer Gottesman, president of WRDE-Channel 59, said he is scaling back the station’s transmitter power to 15 watts, down from an initially planned 500 watts.
Gottesman said on Monday, Feb. 12, that reducing the station’s transmitter power would also reduce its broadcast range to about 1.5 miles from the Nassau Valley Vineyards antenna just north of Five Points.
The station’s range was to have been up to 15 miles, reaching Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach. Gottesman said the station couldn’t afford to purchase the more powerful transmitter.
“The FCC doesn’t penalize you for having less power,” Gottesman said. He said operating under reduced power would mean the station would reach about 6,000 viewers in the Nassau, Five Points, Belltown area. He said programming would be minimal – probably just a screen crawl with the station’s ID.
He said WRDE’s Nassau office has closed because of cash shortages, the same reason for the transmitter cutback. “We think it’s going to be a wonderful station once we get past the growing pains,” Gottesman said.
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