TV channels & antenna towers in Castro Valley, California

Castro Valley, California has a population of about 61,400. There are 62 licensed TV transmitters within 70 miles: 32 full-power, 4 Class A and 26 low-power. Based on each transmitter's power, antenna height and distance, 37 are likely to arrive at fair strength or better, and 26 at good or strong strength.

30 of them are within 25 miles of Castro Valley, 6 sit 25 to 45 miles away and 26 are more than 45 miles out. Seven of the 20 network stations in range are licensed to Sacramento, so most of the network channels you will find here come from Sacramento's stations.

The best-placed network stations are ABC on channel 7 (KGO-TV), CBS on channel 5 (KPIX-TV), NBC on channel 3 (KCRA-TV), Fox on channel 2 (KTVU), PBS on channel 9 (KQED), CW on channel 58 (KQCA), ION on channel 65 (KKPX-TV), Telemundo on channel 48 (KSTS), Univision on channel 14 (KDTV-DT) and MeTV on channel 44.3 (KPYX). Spanish-language viewers can pick up Telemundo (strong signal) and Univision (strong signal). 13 full-power stations in range have no network listed in our data; these are typically public television, religious, shopping or independent stations.

Point your antenna WNW, at about 282°. The main network towers for Castro Valley sit in that direction, so a single directional antenna can pick them all up.

Six network stations, KPIX-TV, KGO-TV, KQED, KTVU and KRON-TV and others, transmit from the same tower site about 20 miles west of Castro Valley (282° WNW). That one direction covers every station on the site.

Of the 19 full-power and Class A network signals that reach Castro Valley at fair strength or better, 42% arrive from the west; the rest are spread across two other directions.

All of the main network towers are within their radio horizon as seen from Castro Valley, so signals arrive fairly directly and a well-placed antenna should hold them steadily.

The farthest main network tower for Castro Valley is KQED (PBS), 20 miles away with a strong estimated signal. That is why we suggest an indoor antenna here.

KCRA-TV (NBC), 51 miles northeast, is the exception: the nearest listed affiliate of its network is far enough away to need an outdoor antenna. Some local stations in our data carry no network tag, so check the other stations table below before buying a bigger antenna just for that one.

An amplifier only helps here if you run a long cable (over about 50 feet) or split the antenna to several TVs. Otherwise better placement does more. See the amplifier guide.

With 37 stations at fair strength or better, Castro Valley ranks 113th of 1,078 places in California: more than the typical California town (25). Its nearest major network tower is 18 miles away, against a state median of 22 miles.

22% of California's cities and towns get the same recommendation: an indoor antenna. The nearest larger city is Hayward, 1.8 miles away.