Putting the V in Vallarta
Low-VHF digital history on the banks of the Río Ameca
Story publication date is August 8, 2023. A draft was briefly published in error in March 2022.
The Sistema Público de Radiodifusión del Estado Mexicano today began service from XHCPCQ-TDT 15 Chilpancingo, Guerrero; XHCPCP-TDT 9 Manzanillo, Colima; and XHCPCV-TDT 5 Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit. This brings the total of Canal Catorce transmitters in service to 45 in 29 states and adds 1.9 million people to the network.
History in Vallarta
While all three transmitters provide service to areas that did not previously have a public TV transmitter, the one in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, which will cover Puerto Vallarta and other localities across the state line in Jalisco, is noteworthy for another reason. It is the first operating low-VHF digital TV station in Mexico.
In analog, low-VHF (channels 2 to 6) was very intensively used, as was high-VHF (channels 7 to 13). Prior to 2015, one digital TV station in Mexico was authorized for the VHF band, XHMTA-TDT 12 Matamoros, and two more debuted that year as flash-cuts of existing VHF analog stations. In the last six years, a slow stream of new social and public stations and some major-market commercial outlets (such as XHTDMX, XHQMGU) have been authorized for the high-VHF band.
There were no authorized low-VHF digital TV stations until 2019, when the IFT approved XHCSBA-TDT 4, a social station in Puebla whose ownership is related to a church. That concession was later submitted for cancellation.
The SPR and IPN packages of 2021 brought that total to five. The SPR received XHCPCV (5) Nuevo Vallarta and XHCPBL (2) Taxco–Iguala, Guerrero, and the IPN was assigned XHCPAS (3), now XEIPN-TDT, for the second national public TV multiplex from Jocotitlán and XHCPBP (2) at Uruapan. Other low-VHF stations owned by the SPR and IPN include XHCPDP (3) León, XHCPET (5) Palenque, XHCPEU (4) Tuxtla Gutiérrez, and XHCPFN (4) Poza Rica/Cerro Azul.
Low-VHF digital television can be tough to receive if you do not have the right antenna or there are significant obstacles. This may especially be the case at Vallarta, where the SPR transmitter in El Porvenir, Nayarit, is in the opposite direction from the TV transmitters at Cerro de la Cruz that provide all commercial service. (Jalisco TV is nearby; Canal 44 is in town at the Centro Universitario de la Costa.) In anticipation of new service, in 2021 I wrote a Spanish-language guide to low-VHF reception.
If you have multiple antennas and live in Vallarta, it may be best to point a VHF antenna north for the SPR and Canal 44 and a UHF antenna south for the best reception of the stations in each direction. It is worth noting that the Canal Once transmitter (XHCPEZ-TDT), expected to be co-sited, will be a UHF service on channel 14.
