TV channels & antenna towers in Yelm, Washington

Yelm is a town of about 8,430 people in Washington. There are 38 licensed TV transmitters within 70 miles: 15 full-power, 11 low-power and 12 translators. Based on each transmitter's power, antenna height and distance, 16 are likely to arrive at fair strength or better, and 9 at good or strong strength.

2 of them are within 25 miles of Yelm, 6 sit 25 to 45 miles away and 30 are more than 45 miles out. Four of the 8 network stations in range are licensed to Seattle, so most of the network channels you will find here come from Seattle's stations.

The best-placed network stations are ABC on channel 4 (KOMO-TV), CBS on channel 7 (KIRO-TV), NBC on channel 5 (KING-TV), Fox on channel 13 (KCPQ), CW on channel 51 (KUNS-TV), ION on channel 33 (KWPX-TV), MeTV on channel 44.1 (KFFV) and Trinity on channel 20 (KTBW-TV). 7 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 N, at about 7°. The main network towers for Yelm sit in that direction, so a single directional antenna can pick them all up.

Two network stations, KTBW-TV and KCPQ, transmit from the same tower site about 43 miles north of Yelm (348° NNW). That one direction covers every station on the site.

Of the 8 full-power and Class A network signals that reach Yelm at fair strength or better, 88% arrive from the north; the rest are spread across one other direction.

KOMO-TV (ABC), KIRO-TV (CBS) and KING-TV (NBC) lie beyond the radio horizon of their transmitter as seen from Yelm. Past that point signals fade quickly, so antenna height matters more than amplification.

The farthest main network tower for Yelm is KIRO-TV (CBS), 49 miles away with a good estimated signal. That is why we suggest an outdoor directional antenna here. Viewers who do not need that station can often manage with less.

At this distance a low-noise preamplifier mounted on the mast, right below the antenna, helps more than an amplifier near the TV. It boosts the signal before cable loss eats into it. See the amplifier guide.

With 16 stations at fair strength or better, Yelm ranks 210th of 398 places in Washington: fewer than the typical Washington town (17). Its nearest major network tower is 43 miles away, against a state median of 19 miles.

24% of Washington's cities and towns get the same recommendation: an outdoor directional antenna. The nearest larger city is Lacey, 12 miles away.