Ultra High Frequency: Difference between revisions

In terrestrial television, '''UHF''' ('''"Ultra High Frequency"''') stations are broadcasters which operate on shorter wavelengths than their VHF ("Very High Frequency") counterparts. These frequencies (nominally between 10cm and one metre) were plentiful but historically less valuable as analogue television stations on UHF channels were prone to require more power to reach even a reduced coverage area. Antenna manufacturers routinely claimed "up to 60 miles UHF, 100 miles VHF over flat terrain" for their largest rooftop antennas. UHF required different antenna designs and different tuners; in North America, many tellies made for the pre-1964 market had no UHF tuners at all.

Not all countries intermixed UHF and VHF channels in the same markets. In those which did, however, a common pattern was that the longest-established broadcasters (like [[NHK]] in Japan, [[CBS]] and [[NBC]] in the US, [[CBC]] in Canada) remained on the few available VHF channels wherever they could, leaving UHF to [[Strugglingnew Broadcaster]]sentrants, fourth networks and [[No Budget]] independents.

With most prime big-city VHF stations affiliated to the strongest networks before the end of [[The Fifties]], the rest of the spectrum became a motley array of [[Struggling Broadcaster|struggling]] independents, small-market stations, ethnic or minority-language outlets, fourth networks and educational broadcasters. Stations on the less-desirable UHF channels (TV 14-83, 470-890 MHz in North America) operated at a substantial disadvantage in the early years and not all survived.

[[Word of God|According]] to [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], at the time his ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]'' film (1989) invoked this trope: "It was a total anachronism even when it came out — it was on the tail end of UHF even being a thing. But as a kid, that was where you went to see all the weird programming. You know, you had your UHF dial, and you flipped it around, and [[https://film.avclub.com/we-got-it-all-on-uhf-an-oral-history-of-weird-al-yan-1798278657 there was everything] from PBS stations to Spanish-speaking stations to low-budget public stations, to just out-and-out weirdness."

Now largely a [[Forgotten Trope]] or [[Dead Horse Trope]], with satellite TV and digital OTAOver-The-Air TV as [[Trope Breaker]]s.

{{examples|suf= broadcasting}}

* In the US, educational [[PBS]], fourth commercial network [[Fox]] and Spanish-language [[Univision|Univisión]] rely disproportionately on UHF stations. Marginal network providers like [[IONIon Television]], the [[infomercial]]s' own network, tend to own and operate disproportionate numbers of outlying UHF stations. See [[American Television Stations]] and [[Broadcasting in the United States]] for the history of these.

* Alas, [[Technology Marches On]]. The UK moved all of the telly channels to UHF during the transition from monochrome to colour. Digital TV caused manyMany long-established North American stationsnetwork (typicallyaffiliates [[CBS]]abandoned andonce-valuable [[NBC]]low-VHF inchannels thedue US,to [[Canadianimpulse Broadcastingnoise Corporation|CBC]]and interference in Canada)the todigital abandonage; once-valuablesome low-VHFof these channels whichare theynow heldused sinceby [[Theno Fifties]]more duethan toa impulsedozen noiseUS andfull-service interferenceDTV broadcasters nationwide. As high-UHF channels are lost to mobile telephone companies, available channels for over-the-air HDTV are becoming increasingly scarce and the remaining UHF ischannels are valuable. The distinction in frequency has become less significant with modern equipment and with the widespread adoption of cable and satellite.

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