RabbitEars

RabbitEars is a website dedicated to providing information on over-the-air digital television in the United States, its territories and protectorates, and border areas of Canada and Mexico. Aside from merely listing network affiliations and technical data, notations of stations carrying Descriptive Video Service, TVGOS, UpdateTV, Sezmi, Mobile DTV, and MediaFLO are also now covered on the site. RabbitEars also maintains a spreadsheet of current television stations.

RabbitEars
RabbitEars logo
FormationApril 14, 2008 (2008-04-14)
PurposeEducational
HeadquartersVirtual Space
Region served
United States
Official language
English
Owner
Trip Ericson
Main organ
Website
Staff
4
WebsiteRabbitEars.info

RabbitEars.Info has been cited by The New York Times,[Ref 1] The Washington Post,[Ref 2][Ref 3][Ref 4] the Los Angeles Times,[Ref 5] the Columbus Dispatch,[Ref 6][Ref 7] and the Gotham Gazette[Ref 8] for news stories, the Electric Pi Journal,[Ref 9] CEOutlook,[Ref 10] Sony's eSupport,[Ref 11] and Crutchfield[Ref 12] websites for additional technical information, and WCCB-TV,[Ref 13] WOLO-TV,[Ref 14] and WGHP[Ref 15] television stations in relation to the digital television transition.

History of RabbitEars

RabbitEars was developed as a replacement for 100000watts.com, which was a website started around 1998 by Chip Kelley. 100000watts started as a listing of every TV station in the US and grew in scope to eventually include AM and FM radio information as well. However, all information on that site, including technical data from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), was hand-entered, and ultimately Kelley no longer had the time to dedicate to the website. Planning to shut the site down, Clear Channel/M Street Publications stepped in and purchased it in late 2002,[1] after which it became subscription-only. It was at that time that Trip Ericson decided to develop a replacement.[2]

After the digital television transition started in 2008, RabbitEars began tracking digital subchannels, Digital Transition Reports, and Analog Termination Requests made to the FCC. These pages were attached to an incomplete design that Ericson had begun to implement in 2004, but that had never been finished due to lack of coding knowledge. As the transition-related pages in particular received attention, corrections were sent to add to and correct the incomplete data that was kept on the rest of the site, and a notice was posted asking for additional assistance. On March 14, 2008, Bruce Myers joined the effort by creating an updated website design, and on April 14, 2008 RabbitEars launched in its current form.[2] Because of these circumstances, while the web address was registered in 2004, the 2008 date is considered to be the beginning of the organization.

RabbitEars Spreadsheet

RabbitEars maintains a spreadsheet of DTV channels that includes information about stations such as their locations, call signs, network affiliations, channel, ERP, HAAT, and more for full-service DTV stations. The spreadsheet was originally hosted on AVSForum by Mike Mahan, who is better known as "Falcon_77", and was integrated into the RabbitEars project on July 29, 2008.[2]

Data Included

RabbitEars tracks stations that use Descriptive Video Service, TVGOS, UpdateTV, Mobile TV, Sezmi, and individual datacasts provided by local television stations in addition to providing lists of television station ownership, network affiliations, and some other miscellaneous information. It covered the digital television transition extensively, and maintains a history of the transition. Also provided is continuing documentation of stations requesting different channels, as well as stations having problems with VHF transmission.

At the end of October 2009, the site added listings for Qualcomm's MediaFLO service, which has since gone defunct. In December 2009, the site also added listings for high powered transmitters Echostar would be using to launch its own mobile video service.[3] It is believed that the high-powered transmitters MediaFLO and Echostar use could result in overloading of preamplifiers used to boost television signals, and that these lists could help mitigate those concerns.

READS Ranks

The RabbitEars Area Designation System (READS) Ranks were put together in 2008 in order to provide for a market ranking system without utilizing the proprietary Designated Market Area data,[4] which is a registered service mark of Nielsen Media Research.[2] The READS Ranks are based solely on OTA signal coverage of American channels and do not take any demographic data into account. Also, for that reason, border Canadian markets, such as Toronto and Montreal (Canada's top markets), are included in the list, but rank close to the bottom of the list; most other Canadian markets, such as Edmonton, are not included, as American channels are not available over-the-air.

The READS list has been made available for use by anyone who wants to use them, with the only condition being that the ranks are not modified and still listed with the name "READS".

List of READS market rankings
  1. New York City, New York
  2. Los Angeles, California
  3. Chicago, Illinois
  4. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  5. San Francisco, California
  6. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
  7. Boston, Massachusetts
  8. Houston, Texas
  9. Atlanta, Georgia
  10. Detroit, Michigan
  11. Washington, District of Columbia
  12. Sacramento, California
  13. Seattle, Washington
  14. Cleveland, Ohio
  15. Miami, Florida
  16. Tampa, Florida
  17. Minneapolis, Minnesota
  18. Phoenix, Arizona
  19. Denver, Colorado
  20. St. Louis, Missouri
  21. Orlando, Florida
  22. San Diego, California
  23. Hartford, Connecticut
  24. Baltimore, Maryland
  25. Portland, Oregon
  26. Indianapolis, Indiana
  27. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  28. Charlotte, North Carolina
  29. Salt Lake City, Utah
  30. Raleigh, North Carolina
  31. Kansas City, Missouri
  32. Columbus, Ohio
  33. Cincinnati, Ohio
  34. Greenville, South Carolina
  35. Providence, Rhode Island
  36. San Antonio, Texas
  37. West Palm Beach, Florida
  38. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  39. Nashville, Tennessee
  40. Norfolk, Virginia
  41. Grand Rapids, Michigan
  42. Albany, New York
  43. Fresno, California
  44. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  45. Birmingham, Alabama
  46. Memphis, Tennessee
  47. Buffalo, New York
  48. Greensboro, North Carolina
  49. Louisville, Kentucky
  50. New Orleans, Louisiana
  51. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
  52. Dayton, Ohio
  53. Scranton, Pennsylvania
  54. Las Vegas, Nevada
  55. Austin, Texas
  56. Flint, Michigan
  57. Jacksonville, Florida
  58. Mobile, Alabama
  59. Tulsa, Oklahoma
  60. Little Rock, Arkansas
  61. Richmond, Virginia
  62. Albuquerque, New Mexico
  63. Knoxville, Tennessee
  64. Roanoke, Virginia
  65. Huntsville, Alabama
  66. Tucson, Arizona
  67. Fort Myers, Florida
  68. Portland, Maine
  69. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  70. Toledo, Ohio
  71. Huntington, West Virginia
  72. Rochester, New York
  73. Harlingen, Texas
  74. Green Bay, Wisconsin
  75. Syracuse, New York
  76. Des Moines, Iowa
  77. Madison, Wisconsin
  78. South Bend, Indiana
  79. Johnstown, Pennsylvania
  80. Champaign, Illinois
  81. Honolulu, Hawaii
  82. Chattanooga, Tennessee
  83. Paducah, Kentucky
  84. Shreveport, Louisiana
  85. El Paso, Texas
  86. Youngstown, Ohio
  87. Omaha, Nebraska
  88. Columbia, South Carolina
  89. Springfield, Massachusetts
  90. Spokane, Washington
  91. Springfield, Missouri
  92. Tyler, Texas
  93. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  94. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
  95. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  96. Lexington, Kentucky
  97. Johnson City, Tennessee
  98. Savannah, Georgia
  99. Fort Wayne, Indiana
  100. Davenport, Iowa
  101. Wichita, Kansas
  102. Monterey, California
  103. Fort Smith, Arkansas
  104. Jackson, Mississippi
  105. Lansing, Michigan
  106. Tallahassee, Florida
  107. Evansville, Indiana
  108. Tupelo, Mississippi
  109. Greenville, North Carolina
  110. Gainesville, Florida
  111. Lafayette, Louisiana
  112. Augusta, Georgia
  113. Santa Barbara, California
  114. Peoria, Illinois
  115. Charleston, South Carolina
  116. Northern Arizona
  117. Waco, Texas
  118. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
  119. Macon, Georgia
  120. Columbus, Georgia
  121. Montgomery, Alabama
  122. Hagerstown, Maryland
  123. Eugene, Oregon
  124. Salisbury, Maryland
  125. Bakersfield, California
  126. Reno, Nevada
  127. Boise, Idaho
  128. Beaumont, Texas
  129. Fargo, North Dakota
  130. Rural Minnesota
  131. Burlington, Vermont
  132. Monroe, Louisiana
  133. Jefferson City, Missouri
  134. Corpus Christi, Texas
  135. Eastern Kentucky
  136. Rockford, Illinois
  137. Traverse City, Michigan
  138. Erie, Pennsylvania
  139. Wheeling, West Virginia
  140. Wausau, Wisconsin
  141. Clarksburg, West Virginia
  142. Topeka, Kansas
  143. Redding, California
  144. Rural Vermont
  145. Sioux City, Iowa
  146. Biloxi, Mississippi
  147. Terre Haute, Indiana
  148. Joplin, Missouri
  149. Lincoln, Nebraska
  150. Rochester, Minnesota
  151. Wichita Falls, Texas
  152. Amarillo, Texas
  153. Sherman, Texas
  154. Binghamton, New York
  155. Lubbock, Texas
  156. Odessa, Texas
  157. Palm Springs, California
  158. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
  159. Bluefield, West Virginia
  160. Anchorage, Alaska
  161. Jackson, Tennessee
  162. Utica, New York
  163. Harrisonburg, Virginia
  164. Kennewick, Washington
  165. Yuma, Arizona
  166. Medford, Oregon
  167. Wilmington, North Carolina
  168. Albany, Georgia
  169. Bangor, Maine
  170. Bowling Green, Kentucky
  171. Idaho Falls, Idaho
  172. Abilene, Texas
  173. Duluth, Minnesota
  174. Hattiesburg, Mississippi
  175. Alexandria, Louisiana
  176. Panama City, Florida
  177. Greenwood, Mississippi
  178. Grand Island, Nebraska
  179. Cape May, New Jersey
  180. Bellingham, Washington
  181. Dothan, Alabama
  182. Yakima, Washington
  183. Quincy, Illinois
  184. Lima, Ohio
  185. Jonesboro, Arkansas
  186. Missoula, Montana
  187. Charlottesville, Virginia
  188. Meridian, Mississippi
  189. Elmira, New York
  190. Marquette, Michigan
  191. Parkersburg, West Virginia
  192. Mankato, Minnesota
  193. Grand Junction, Colorado
  194. Hays, Kansas
  195. Rapid City, South Dakota
  196. Laredo, Texas
  197. Billings, Montana
  198. Northeastern South Dakota
  199. Farmington, New Mexico
  200. Bryan, Texas
  201. Roswell, New Mexico
  202. Watertown, New York
  203. Garden City, Kansas
  204. Victoria, Texas
  205. Great Falls, Montana
  206. San Angelo, Texas
  207. Wailuku, Hawaii
  208. Twin Falls, Idaho
  209. Bend, Oregon
  210. Eureka, California
  211. Pullman, Washington
  212. Mansfield, Ohio
  213. Ottumwa, Iowa
  214. Zanesville, Ohio
  215. Rural Wyoming
  216. Cheyenne, Wyoming
  217. Bismarck, North Dakota
  218. Western Oklahoma
  219. Hibbing, Minnesota
  220. Scottsbluff, Nebraska
  221. Alpena, Michigan
  222. Klamath Falls, Oregon
  223. Hilo, Hawaii
  224. Bozeman, Montana
  225. Minot, North Dakota
  226. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
  227. Montrose, Colorado
  228. Fairbanks, Alaska
  229. Norwood, New York
  230. Goodland, Kansas
  231. Fort Bragg, California
  232. Northern Nevada
  233. North Platte, Nebraska
  234. Clovis, New Mexico
  235. Casper, Wyoming
  236. Presque Isle, Maine
  237. Butte, Montana
  238. Sheridan, Wyoming
  239. Silver City, New Mexico
  240. Key West, Florida
  241. Helena, Montana
  242. Williston, North Dakota
  243. La Grande, Oregon
  244. Pierre, South Dakota
  245. Dickinson, North Dakota
  246. Juneau, Alaska
  247. Sitka/Ketchikan, Alaska
  248. Calais, Maine
  249. Jackson, Wyoming
  250. Glendive, Montana
  251. Central Nevada
  252. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  253. Sherbrooke, Quebec
  254. Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario
  255. London, Ontario
  256. Thunder Bay, Ontario
  257. Peterborough, Ontario
  258. Fort Frances, Ontario
  259. Ottawa, Ontario
  260. Montreal, Quebec
  261. Wawa, Ontario
  262. Rural Alaska
gollark: It's mildly easier to read and more extensible.
gollark: Just rewrite all the tools which deal with this in Rust and use a toml library.
gollark: ```toml[username]id = 1000datathing = "ææææ"home = "/home/username"```or```toml[1000]username = "bees"home = "/whatever```
gollark: * obviously yes
gollark: Maybe all this data should just be a single SQLite file. That would be neat.

References
  1. Fybush, Scott (April 27, 2005). "[BC] 100000watts.com (was: XETRA-690 to be bought by Spanish network)". radiolists.net. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  2. Jay (July 12, 2009). "RabbitEars.info - Interview with Webmaster Trip Ericson". dtvusaforum.com. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  3. Jessell, Harry (10 December 2009). "CES To Offer Look Into Mobile DTV Future". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  4. timothy (20 September 2008). "Nielsen Sends Wikipedia DMCA Takedown For Station Descriptions". Slashdot. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
Referrals
  1. Barron, James (1 August 2013). "CUNY TV Station Turns Over an Old Leaf, Transmitting by Air to Widen Its Reach". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2013. Adding an over-the-air signal makes sense, said Mark J. Colombo, owner and editor of the Web site RabbitEars.info.
  2. Pegoraro, Rob (February 20, 2009). "(Some) Analog TV Broadcasts Died This Week". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 September 2009. More technically-inclined viewers can find additional details at a volunteer-run database, RabbitEars.
  3. Pegoraro, Rob (March 5, 2009). "The Digital Transition, TV's Long-Running Horror Show". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 September 2009. your best source might have been a volunteer-run site, http://rabbitears.info.
  4. Pegoraro, Rob (April 26, 2009). "A DVR Without Subscriptions, Strangely Unique". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 September 2009. That guide comes from two free sources: the data digital stations transmit and a service called TV Guide on Screen available in most U.S. cities.
  5. Sarno, David (December 25, 2008). "How to get TV using an antenna". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 December 2009. For a list of broadcast channels available in your area, go to www.rabbitears.info, click on "searches" and put in your ZIP Code.
  6. Husted, Bill (July 27, 2009). "Return to rooftop antenna fits well with move to HDTV". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 16 September 2009. www.rabbitears.info/market.php: A quirky Web site with much detailed station information.
  7. Husted, Bill (July 27, 2009). "In some areas, antennas work fine for HDTV". Ventura County Star. Retrieved 16 September 2009. Republished from Columbus Dispatch
  8. Schneider, Peter (December 22, 2008). "The Use of Wireless Mics in the U.S. Beyond the DTV Transition". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved 16 September 2009. http://www.rabbitears.info/ss/DTV-Channels.xls is an Excel spreadsheet listing DTV channels, their location, call sign, transmitter height and power. http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php lists similar information with easy links to the FCC database for station information and transmitter contour pattern. Importantly, it also lists the DTV stations that are moving on or soon after February 17, 2009.
  9. Rucker, Dick (February 16, 2009). "Preparing for The Switch to Digital TV Broadcasting". Electric Pi Journal. Washington Apple Pi. Retrieved 16 September 2009. For a complete listing of all broadcast TV stations in the U.S. and their current status and plans for making the transition to DTV, go to http://www.rabbitears.info
  10. Gilroy, A. (March 17, 2010). "Mobile DTV Seems to Clear FCC". CEOutlook. Retrieved 15 April 2010. So now the problem for Mobile DTV returns to that of wrangling enough broadcasters to support it, as only 24 are now airing in the new service, according to the RabbitEars Forum.
  11. "Unable to get TV Guide listings". Sony. October 14, 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009. For further information regarding when a particular local broadcast station will begin transmitting the TV Guide Onscreen a signal through a digital broadcast, contact the local broadcast station or visit http://rabbitears.info.
  12. Barstow, Loren (July 1, 2009). "Understanding TV Guide On Screen". Crutchfield. Retrieved 16 September 2009. You can find info on local digital stations at www.rabbitears.info (TV Guide On Screen host stations will have an On Screen icon next to them.)
  13. "Your HDTV & Digital Television Questions". WCCB-TV. 19 June 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2009. www.rabbitears.info/search.php gives basic parameters of all available stations.
  14. "ABC Columbia Presents". WOLO-TV. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2009. http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php gives basic parameters of all available stations.
  15. "Digital TV Switch". WGHP. 28 Feb 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
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