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RabbitEars
	RabbitEars logo
Formation	April 14, 2008; 16 years ago
Purpose	Educational
Headquarters	Virtual space
Region served	United States
Official language	English
Owner	Trip Ericson
Main organ	Website
Staff	4
Website	RabbitEars.info

RabbitEars (also known as the website name RabbitEars.info) is a website that provides information on over-the-air digital television in the United States, its territories, protectorates, and border areas of Canada and Mexico. It lists network affiliations and technical data, and also covers stations with Descriptive Video Service, TVGOS, UpdateTV, Sezmi, Mobile DTV, and MediaFLO RabbitEars maintains a spreadsheet of current television stations.

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

RabbitEars was created to replace 100000watts.com, a site started by Chip Kelley around 1998. Originally listing every TV station in the US, 100000watts expanded to include AM and FM radio information. Due to time constraints, Kelley sold the site to Clear Channel/M Street Publications in late 2002,^[1] which made it subscription-only. In response, Trip Ericson developed RabbitEars as a free alternative.^[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.

Data

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]

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.

Rankings

The RabbitEars Area Designation System (READS) was created in 2008 to rank markets based on OTA signal coverage without using proprietary data from Nielsen Media Research.^[4]^[2] READS ranks are based solely on signal coverage and do not consider demographic data. Consequently, major Canadian markets like Toronto and Montreal are included but rank low, while other Canadian markets like Edmonton are excluded due to the lack of OTA American channels.

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

References

^ Fybush, Scott (April 27, 2005). "[BC] 100000watts.com (was: XETRA-690 to be bought by Spanish network)". radiolists.net. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jay (July 12, 2009). "RabbitEars.info - Interview with Webmaster Trip Ericson". dtvusaforum.com. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
^ Jessell, Harry (December 10, 2009). "CES To Offer Look Into Mobile DTV Future". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
^ timothy (September 20, 2008). "Nielsen Sends Wikipedia DMCA Takedown For Station Descriptions". Slashdot. Retrieved September 16, 2009.

Referrals

^ Barron, James (August 1, 2013). "CUNY TV Station Turns Over an Old Leaf, Transmitting by Air to Widen Its Reach". The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2013. Adding an over-the-air signal makes sense, said Mark J. Colombo, owner and editor of the Web site RabbitEars.info.
^ Pegoraro, Rob (February 20, 2009). "(Some) Analog TV Broadcasts Died This Week". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2009. More technically-inclined viewers can find additional details at a volunteer-run database, RabbitEars.
^ Pegoraro, Rob (March 5, 2009). "The Digital Transition, TV's Long-Running Horror Show". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2009. your best source might have been a volunteer-run site, http://rabbitears.info.
^ Pegoraro, Rob (April 26, 2009). "A DVR Without Subscriptions, Strangely Unique". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 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.
^ Sarno, David (December 25, 2008). "How to get TV using an antenna". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 25, 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.
^ Husted, Bill (July 27, 2009). "Return to rooftop antenna fits well with move to HDTV". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved September 16, 2009. www.rabbitears.info/market.php: A quirky Web site with much detailed station information.
^ Husted, Bill (July 27, 2009). "In some areas, antennas work fine for HDTV". Ventura County Star. Retrieved September 16, 2009. Republished from Columbus Dispatch
^ Schneider, Peter (December 22, 2008). "The Use of Wireless Mics in the U.S. Beyond the DTV Transition". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved September 16, 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. {{cite news}}: External link in |quote= (help)
^ Rucker, Dick (February 16, 2009). "Preparing for The Switch to Digital TV Broadcasting". Electric Pi Journal. Washington Apple Pi. Retrieved September 16, 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 {{cite web}}: External link in |quote= (help)
^ Gilroy, A. (March 17, 2010). "Mobile DTV Seems to Clear FCC". CEOutlook. Retrieved April 15, 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.
^ "Unable to get TV Guide listings". Sony. October 14, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 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.
^ Barstow, Loren (July 1, 2009). "Understanding TV Guide On Screen". Crutchfield. Retrieved September 16, 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.)
^ "Your HDTV & Digital Television Questions". WCCB-TV. June 19, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2009. www.rabbitears.info/search.php gives basic parameters of all available stations.
^ "ABC Columbia Presents". WOLO-TV. May 21, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2009. http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php gives basic parameters of all available stations. {{cite web}}: External link in |quote= (help)
^ "Digital TV Switch". WGHP. February 28, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2010.

External links

[10000watts-16] Fybush, Scott (April 27, 2005). "[BC] 100000watts.com (was: XETRA-690 to be bought by Spanish network)". radiolists.net. Retrieved September 16, 2009.

[interview-17] Jay (July 12, 2009). "RabbitEars.info - Interview with Webmaster Trip Ericson". dtvusaforum.com. Retrieved September 16, 2009.

[Echostar-18] Jessell, Harry (December 10, 2009). "CES To Offer Look Into Mobile DTV Future". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved December 22, 2009.

[takedown-19] timothy (September 20, 2008). "Nielsen Sends Wikipedia DMCA Takedown For Station Descriptions". Slashdot. Retrieved September 16, 2009.

[nyt1-1] Barron, James (August 1, 2013). "CUNY TV Station Turns Over an Old Leaf, Transmitting by Air to Widen Its Reach". The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2013. Adding an over-the-air signal makes sense, said Mark J. Colombo, owner and editor of the Web site RabbitEars.info.

[news1-2] Pegoraro, Rob (February 20, 2009). "(Some) Analog TV Broadcasts Died This Week". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2009. More technically-inclined viewers can find additional details at a volunteer-run database, RabbitEars.

[news2-3] Pegoraro, Rob (March 5, 2009). "The Digital Transition, TV's Long-Running Horror Show". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2009. your best source might have been a volunteer-run site, http://rabbitears.info.

[news3-4] Pegoraro, Rob (April 26, 2009). "A DVR Without Subscriptions, Strangely Unique". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 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.

[news7-5] Sarno, David (December 25, 2008). "How to get TV using an antenna". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 25, 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.

[news4-6] Husted, Bill (July 27, 2009). "Return to rooftop antenna fits well with move to HDTV". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved September 16, 2009. www.rabbitears.info/market.php: A quirky Web site with much detailed station information.

[news5-7] Husted, Bill (July 27, 2009). "In some areas, antennas work fine for HDTV". Ventura County Star. Retrieved September 16, 2009. Republished from Columbus Dispatch

[news6-8] Schneider, Peter (December 22, 2008). "The Use of Wireless Mics in the U.S. Beyond the DTV Transition". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved September 16, 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. {{cite news}}: External link in |quote= (help)

[web1-9] Rucker, Dick (February 16, 2009). "Preparing for The Switch to Digital TV Broadcasting". Electric Pi Journal. Washington Apple Pi. Retrieved September 16, 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 {{cite web}}: External link in |quote= (help)

[web4-10] Gilroy, A. (March 17, 2010). "Mobile DTV Seems to Clear FCC". CEOutlook. Retrieved April 15, 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.

[web3-11] "Unable to get TV Guide listings". Sony. October 14, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 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.

[web2-12] Barstow, Loren (July 1, 2009). "Understanding TV Guide On Screen". Crutchfield. Retrieved September 16, 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.)

[TV1-13] "Your HDTV & Digital Television Questions". WCCB-TV. June 19, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2009. www.rabbitears.info/search.php gives basic parameters of all available stations.

[TV2-14] "ABC Columbia Presents". WOLO-TV. May 21, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2009. http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php gives basic parameters of all available stations. {{cite web}}: External link in |quote= (help)

[TV3-15] "Digital TV Switch". WGHP. February 28, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2010.

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