Independent WSTR-TV boosts its power

Independent WSTR-TV boosts its power ; Star 64 Just got brighter in the Cincinnati sky, and the bosses at WSTR-TV hope It's shin- ; Ing down on Dayton too. If you're getting a clearer picture on Channel 64 these days, that's because the independent station has boosted its power and erected its own 970-foot tower. ; Channel 64's old transmitter was attached to the Channel 5 tower in Clifton, just north of downtown Cincinnati. The new tower is In Fin-neytown, five miles north of the old location and five miles closer to Dayton. The station that calls itself "Star 64" also has installed a transmitter that puts out 5 million watts of power, up from 1 million. That makes it "the nation's most powerful transmitter," according to a recent announcement. "That's deceptive," program director Jill Ca-.sagrande admits. "By virtue of the high frequency of Channel 64, we have to put out a lot more power to put out a strong signal." - Net result: Channel 64 is emitting a Grade B I signal that blankets all of Montgomery, Greene ! and Preble counties, according to the station's i doofbur map. A Grade B signal normally can be picked up with a rooftop or UHF loop antenna. Star 64 began boosting power on Halloween. In some Montgomery County communities this week, the picture on Channel 64 was about as good as Cincinnati's Fox affiliate, Channel 10... "We're getting a lot of calls from Dayton," Casagrande said. "We got a call from a lady out " t i TOM HOPKINS TELEVISION EDITOR The Dayton Daily News will begin listing Channel 64 programs on the daily television page next Thursday, Nov. 21, and in TV Week magazine Sunday, Dec. 1. by the Salem Mali. She wanted program listings. "We sent an engineer up to Huber Heights, Vandalia, Trotwood, Oakwood and Center-ville. He said we were comparable to Channel 19 wherever he went." The problem is that Star 64 won't be carried immediately by Viacom Cable in Dayton or Continental Cable systems in the Miami Valley. Both companies say all their channels are occupied. "We're working with Continental and Viacom," Casagrande said hopefully. Cable viewers who still have rooftop antenna hookups can switch back and forth between cable and over-the-air stations, like Channel 64, with an A-B switch. Channel 64's first-run series include Harry and the Hendersons, Superboy, Grudge Match, Love Stories, The Ron Reagan Show, People's Court, Studs, Love Connection, The New Dragnet, The New Adam-12, Baywatch and American Gladiators. The sports lineup this season includes 30 University of Kentucky basketball games along with the weekly Bengal Zone, with coach Sam Wyche and Donn Burrows, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. i Rest of the lineup is typical independent-station fare Including movies, morning and afternoon cartoons and reruns of old network shows like Sanford Si Son, Knight Rider, Matlock, Beauty and the Beast, The Golden Girls, Full House, Punky Brewster and Hunter. WSTR-TV was once a subscription TV station, WBTI-TV, which broadcast a weak signal on the translator frequency Channel 66 in Dayton. The station went into receivership and emerged briefly as WIII-TV. Now it's owned by ABRY Communications, a Boston-based partnership that has purchased five TV stations since forming less than three years ago. So far, ABRY's investments seem to be paying off. Annual gross revenue is estimated to hit $60 million this year, compared to under $20 million in 1990. Gross advertising revenues for Star 64 are expected to be up 50 percent over 1990.