If you have cable or satellite TV you probably didn't notice that every TV station serving Yakima except for PBS was off the air. So for anyone who watches over the air on a regular antenna then you either got static or a notice from their digital TV tuner saying "No Signal" or "Weak Signal." I don't have cable and that's what happened to me.

Earlier today at about 4:44 p.m. I was driving on I-82 from Ellensburg when 94.5 KATS-FM went off the air. I called Townsquare Media's director of engineering, Kurt Oberloh, to let him know that the station was off. He spoke with Pacific Power, who said that a vehicle had knocked over a power pole and cut off power to the KATS transmitter. As I write this he is still on top of Ahtanum Ridge baby-sitting the generator to help KATS stay on the air while Pacific Power works to restore power to the area, which they're estimating will be 10:30 p.m.

At about 8:30 I noticed every channel I tried to tune into said "No Signal." I checked my connections, fiddled with the antenna, held it high in the air, held it against my window and still nothing... not even a blip. Finally I noticed PBS did work so I realized it wasn't any of my equipment. Then it occurred to me to call Kurt and ask him if all the commercial TV stations transmitters were up on Ahtanum Ridge, which he confirmed. While getting stuck on the top can be boring and lonely, at least Kurt was able to snap a great shot of Yakima from the top!

I hope the power to our local TV stations is back up soon because a man can only take so much of "Grantchester" on "Masterpiece." Ugh.

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