HARLINGEN — Cable and internet have provided many options for consumers to take in entertainment and news.
The rise of streaming services has allowed for viewers to take in content at a mass rate.
However, this is not the case for everybody.
While there are more options available, some residents in the Valley still rely on old-fashion broadcast television.
Public broadcaster and television program distributor PBS has been a popular staple for residents unable to receive cable.
Those residents, for the time being, are out of luck.
Local PBS station KMBH has been having trouble broadcasting its content over the airwaves.
That is when people don’t have cable or a dish and utilize an antenna to obtain television stations.
Harlingen resident Steve Wilder first noticed it in February when he changed the television to watch PBS and received a “no signal” warning.
The local PBS affiliate is broadcast on channel 38.2 as KMBH and 38.1 as COZI TV. Both have been off the air for more than two months.
Officials at R Communications, an organization that owns KMBH and COZI TV, said the problem is with the transmitter.
According to an engineer at R Commun-ications, this is the first time in almost 20 years the transmitter has been down for such a long period.
Officials said they are unsure of when the transmitter will be up and running again but the engineers are working on it.
Communications director for the PBS national office Aparna Kumar said the company is looking into possible solutions for these issues.
“PBS is exploring options to get a reliable broadcast feed into the market so that every household can receive PBS programming free over the air,” Kumar said. “We are currently looking into all options.”
While broadcasting has been down, those with cable are still able to receive KMBH programming.
