Now, we all know cable channels can pop up anywhere and seemingly at any time, but what about regular broadcast channels? It seems that most of them were made in the 40's or 50's and that was it...no more. Aside from some changing their call letters and changing affiliates, the number of TV channels in this country has been locked in for quite some time.

Are there FCC codes or whatever limiting the number of TV broadcast channels? Could we see more regular broadcast channels in the future as some smaller cities become bigger cities?

I thought more were coming with Digital taking over? I think the same thing will happen with Digital Radio. Is that what you're talking about? Heck even on my HDTV with rabbit ears it seems every channel has at least 2 other sub channels and some broadcast different things on each channel.

^ Yup. A total of 4 digital subchannels have been added in my area in the last year or two.

Eh? My local NBC, ABC and CBS stations launched in the 40s. Three more stations launched in the 50s. But most of the broadcast channels still in operation, over a dozen, launched in the 60s and 70s. Those include the local CW affiliate and the former WB affiliate. The local affiliates for Telemundo and ION (PAX) launched in the 80s, as did a 4th PBS station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A...on_frequencies

Now I want a TV with a dial that has channel 83. It'd be an antique I could use to play Pong.

Most new TV stations that have started in the past 10 years are Spanish, home shopping or religious.

And Pong works on channels 2, 3 or 4 (2 of those 3 at least) so as long as you have a VCR with a tuner you'll be able to keep playing it. That's how I plan to hook my Atari up if I ever get a TV with no analog tuner.

Emulators work as well. But my original Pong console demands a wood-grained TV with channel dials.

There are lots of "regular" TV stations out there depending on your market, but in terms of the big boy networks with self-made shows, probably doubtful if they're going to be run as piss-poor as UPN was.

My local station that lost the WB with the merger started showing all these crappy melodramas that I had no idea were actually being made somewhere.