Saturday, 11 January 2025

Deadline; Back From Black: L.A.’s ABC7 Over-The-Air Signal Is Working Again

Story from Deadline:

ABC7 (KABC), the ABC affiliate station in Los Angeles, is back from black. The station lost its over-the-air signal Friday morning as the Eaton Fire burned near the Mount Wilson observatory and communication towers in the Angeles National Forest, but it has now been restored.

Disney-owned KABC confirmed that it was “experiencing an issue with the transmitter,” this morning, but did not provide details. A spokesperson said the issue was related to the fires, but equipment was not burned.

Radio station KLOS-FM 95.5, which also uses transmission facilities in the Angeles National Forest, also went off the air overnight due to the malfunctioning signal.

The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area is burning extremely close to the radio and TV transmitter towers Thursday, which also include NBC, Fox, PBS stations, Nexstar’s KTLA-TV Channel 5, Paramount’s KCBS-TV Channel 2, KCAL-TV Channel 9 and other local stations, as well as LAist/KPCC-FM 89.3, KCBS 93.1 and KIIS 102.7. Fortunately, the transmitters were not damaged by the flames.

While the station lost its signal transmission, digital streams of its morning newscasts were provided directly to cable and satellite TV operators, Disney-owned Hulu Live TV and other streaming apps. The station was blacked out only for viewers who use over-the-air antennas for television.

Viewers also could also tune in at abc7.com or via the ABC7 Los Angeles app.

The Eaton Fire, burning above Altadena and Pasadena, erupted Tuesday night amid fierce hurricane-level winds. It has charred nearly 14,000 acres as of Friday morning and is 3% contained.

© 2025 Deadline.