Disney’s KABC station loses over-the-air signal from Mt. Wilson amid Eaton fire
Walt Disney Co.’s KABC-TV Channel 7 station, which uses communications towers near Mt. Wilson, lost its over-the-air signal Friday morning as the Eaton fire continued its rampage through mountainous terrain.
Separately, radio station KLOS-FM 95.5, which also uses transmission facilities in the Angeles Crest Forest, also went off the air overnight.
KABC confirmed that it was “experiencing an issue with the transmitter,” without providing details of the problem.
The Eaton fire came perilously close to the huge phalanx of mountain-top transmitters on Thursday. Television and radio broadcast engineers, including for Nexstar’s KTLA-TV Channel 5, Paramount’s KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9 and other local stations, including LAist/KPCC-FM 89.3, sweated throughout much of the day as they watched the fire’s progress toward their critical infrastructure.
The transmitters escaped damage by flames.
While KABC lost its signal transmission, the station was able to provide digital streams of its morning newscasts directly to cable and satellite TV operators, Disney-owned Hulu Live TV and other streaming apps.
Only viewers who rely on the over-the-air antennas for television found the station blacked out.
“Teams are obviously working hard to get the feed back up for over the air viewers and are hopeful we have it back up soon,” an ABC spokesperson said in an email. The issue was related to the fires, the spokesperson said, but equipment was not burned.
The company directed viewers to the KABC website and streaming apps to watch the highly rated television station.
Though there is still a long way to go, there are signs fire conditions are easing. Ten people have died and more than 9,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed and roughly 150,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
Meanwhile, Meruelo Group’s KLOS-FM 95.5 radio transmitter controls were disrupted around 2 a.m. Friday and the station went off the air. Station engineers learned that the generator it was using for backup power had run out of fuel, according to a station executive.
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