Disney’s KABC and PBS SoCal stations’ signals from Mt. Wilson restored amid Eaton fire
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Walt Disney Co.’s KABC-TV Channel 7 station, which uses communications towers near Mt. Wilson, lost its over-the-air signal Friday as the Eaton fire continued its rampage through mountainous terrain.
Separately, radio station KLOS-FM 95.5, which also uses transmission facilities in the Angeles National Forest, went off the air overnight. Public broadcaster PBS SoCal lost signals for nearly 24 hours before transmissions were restored Friday morning.
KABC confirmed that it was “experiencing an issue with the transmitter,” without providing details of the problem. KABC’s signal was restored around 3 p.m. Friday, a station representative said.
Electrical power to the Mt. Wilson transmitter tower complex — used by Los Angeles’ broadcasters — was cut off late Tuesday as the Eaton fire spread on the mountain. Stations then switched to generator power to maintain their broadcast signals to viewers who rely on over-the-air antennas. On Thursday, the Eaton fire came perilously close to the huge phalanx of mountaintop transmitters.
Television and radio broadcast engineers — including for Nexstar’s KTLA-TV Channel 5, Paramount’s KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9, Fox’s KTTV-TV Channel 11 and public radio outlet LAist/KPCC-FM 89.3 — sweated throughout much of the day as they watched the fire’s progress. The communications towers are near the popular Mt. Wilson Observatory.
The transmitters escaped damage by flames.
But generators began running out of fuel as early as Thursday, including those powering PBS SoCal’s public television stations KOCE and KCET, said PBS SoCal Chief Executive Andrew Russell.
The KABC outage was caused by a generator pump malfunction, according to two people close to the situation, who were not authorized to comment publicly. After KABC lost its signal transmission, the station provided digital streams of its morning newscasts directly to cable and satellite TV operators, Disney-owned Hulu Live TV and other streaming apps.
Only viewers who rely on the over-the-air antennas for television found the station blacked out.
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“Teams are obviously working hard to get the feed back up for over-the-air viewers and are hopeful we have it back up soon,” an ABC spokesperson said in an email. The issue was related to the fires, the spokesperson said, but equipment was not burned.
The company directed viewers to the KABC website and streaming apps.
Meanwhile, Meruelo Group’s KLOS-FM 95.5 radio transmitter controls were disrupted about 2 a.m. Friday and the station went off the air. Station engineers learned that the generator it was using for backup power had failed, according to a station executive.
Station employees were working to resolve the issue Friday.
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The two PBS stations, including the signal for KLCS PBS, which is operated by Los Angeles Unified School District, went off the air about 10 a.m. Thursday, Russell said.
By that time, the fire was threatening the Mt. Wilson complex and the California Highway Patrol had shut down the forest roads.
“We had fire right up to the edge of the building,” Russell said. “We did not have access for fuel delivery.”
Station executives also had to scramble because fuel was prioritized for emergency vehicles, Russell said. In partnership with Univision’s KMEX-TV Channel 34, the two station groups were able to source a tank of fuel, which was then trucked up the mountain early Friday.
PBS SoCal station signals were largely restored by 9:25 a.m. Friday.
Local TV stations disrupted their regular programming to provide around-the-clock fire coverage Wednesday and Thursday as their news crews fanned out across the fire-ravaged region. Stations that provide network programming had largely returned to their national programs, including “The Price Is Right” on CBS and “The View” on ABC, by Friday morning.
The Eaton fire has burned 13,690 acres since it began Tuesday at 6:18 p.m., according to Friday morning estimates. Mt. Wilson sits near the northeastern edge of the fire. Vegetation was already cut away to provide a buffer for the transmission tower complex, which serves most of the local broadcast stations. The fire containment efforts were helped by aircraft water drops.
“We are grateful to firefighters & mountain staff for their dedication to keeping the mountain safe,” Mt. Wilson Observatory staff wrote in an X post late Thursday. Earlier in the day, observatory staff reported the facility had lost power but there were firefighters on the grounds.
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