I was flipping through the channels and saw a commercial on Telemundo about the 2009 switchover to all HDTV. It was paid for by cable operators and it urged viewers to go to the website www.espanol.dtvtransition.org/ and there was a 1-888-DTV-2009 phone number on the screen as well. Going to the English Version of the website I see: A countdown to the transition. And FAQ's about it, etc.
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2009 Change Over to All DTV
- Thread starter MarcB
- Start date
The vast majority of TV viewers won't notice a thing on that day. Their local channels will appear on the same cable channel they always have. The folks who watch TV with an over the air antenna will be the ones most effected.
There are some who only have their primary TV on cable/satellite, with the rest being OTA. Most portable TV's will be useless, except for the LPTV stations, unless the FCC mandates their changeover on 2/17/2009 also. Converter boxes aren't practical for the portable TVs, and I haven't seen portables with ATSC tuners yet.
Though the 80% plus viewers who recieve their TV from cable or satelite for the most part won't notice a thing, there will be widespread disruption. True, many OTA viewers will have converters or digital-ready TV's by that time. In urban areas, many of those digital ready viewers will be able to find many, but not all, of their favorite channels in digital, but in many rural areas, that will not be the case. As is mentioned above, what will become of viewers who depend on translators for their television? Example---Utah and some surrounding areas are served by hundreds of translators rebroadcasting the SLC stations. What will become of those viewers? And that is only one example! Also, digital signals have thus far proven not to carry as far as analog stations---many areas which were covered quite well by analog channels will not be able to pick up the digital signals. THere will be a run on satelite companies by those who can afford it, but what will happen to the rest of the viewers?
tested said:
Excuse me?
The vast majority of TV viewers have cable?
I think you mean the vast majority of cable/satellite tv viewers... Correct me if I am wrong (with data) but I believe that most Americans still get their TV the old fashioned way, with a pair of rabbit ears, and those people will indeed notice a change, especially in small markets.
Garrett said:
Cable & satellite penetration is getting close to 80% nationwide - some areas more than others, of course. I'm willing to bet that most of those have at least one portable TV in their possession, but increasingly, there's a whole lot of electricity being wasted on high-powered transmitters that are being watched by fewer and fewer people with each passing year.
Apparently some conversion is beginning to happen on cable in the Jackson, TN area. I received a letter from Charter yesterday that they would be making changes to some of their channels as of Oct. 17th. GSN, G4, and WE will be going digital. GSN and G4 will stay in the same channel positions in the basic tier, but will only be available with the digital tuners, and cable ready sets won't be able to get them any longer. WE will be changing channels to a channel in the digital tier, and the previous basic channel will be empty. It appears that Charter will be gradually converting channels to digital until they get to a point that all customers will have to use converter boxes, possibly even several months before the conversion date.
I have another question about with the new digital sets. I've noticed that some sets have a listing for QAM capability that will pick up even digital channels that are only available from converter boxes on older sets. Do all digital TV sets have this capability or is this only available in certain sets?
I have another question about with the new digital sets. I've noticed that some sets have a listing for QAM capability that will pick up even digital channels that are only available from converter boxes on older sets. Do all digital TV sets have this capability or is this only available in certain sets?
dhett said:
Best Buy sells a couple of portable TVs with built in ATSC tuners -- one is a 5" 4:3 model and the other is a 7" 16:9 model. While far from perfect (while the ATSC tuner seems to be of good quality, the built in dipole antenna has poor sensitivity), these televisions will work for portable digital reception in strong signal areas.
fortmill said:
Contrary to popular belief, Utah has been incredibly proactive about the DTV conversion. 16 LPDTV stations are already licensed; 470 have construction permits, most of which were granted in 2006. Also, most of the 470 CPs are for digital companion channels, not for flash cut authorizations. Utah will be ready in 2009.
Garrett said:
Sorry, should have said cable and satellite. The latest statistics (http://www.tvb.org/rcentral/mediatrendstrack/tvbasics/12_ADS-Natl.asp) show 88.6% of the country gets their TV from cable & satellite combined. Most folks won't notice much with this change. Furthermore, I'm sure the TV stations will hype the hell out of it and folks will buy the right kind of set to make sure they keep getting the over the air DTV signal.
In Chicago Comcast went all digital. They don't even lock the box to my apartment building anymore. Just out of curiousity I went and plugged my cable in. All that comes in is the OTA channels and the shopping channels.
Comcast will give every cable household one free digital box. It's kind of smart cause there's no way to steal cable now. You need that box.
I least I don't think there is.
The real fun for digital will come after the date. I still think the FCC has really screwed up in the digital allocations. I think too many OTA will interfere. I mean our analogue WTTW Channel 11 is virtually unwatchable since digital Channel 11 from Lafayette signed on.
Comcast will give every cable household one free digital box. It's kind of smart cause there's no way to steal cable now. You need that box.
I least I don't think there is.
The real fun for digital will come after the date. I still think the FCC has really screwed up in the digital allocations. I think too many OTA will interfere. I mean our analogue WTTW Channel 11 is virtually unwatchable since digital Channel 11 from Lafayette signed on.
dhett said:
Are LPDTV stations able to multicast? Or is that something reserved for the full power stations only?
Those lucky Utah residents also have the choice of getting broadband from the fiber optic UTOPIA network! I wish I had fiber to the home.
Also, I would say that at least TBN has been rather proactive about the digital transition. They have filed for virtually all their translators to do a digital flash cut. I have to wonder how well that will work in practice, since it could be an uphill climb to get their viewer base outfitted with DTV tuners. My guess is that TBN will heavily promote the DTV set-top box voucher program, and/or offer "For your love gift of $50-100, TBN will send you a new digital tuner box."
Also, I would say that at least TBN has been rather proactive about the digital transition. They have filed for virtually all their translators to do a digital flash cut. I have to wonder how well that will work in practice, since it could be an uphill climb to get their viewer base outfitted with DTV tuners. My guess is that TBN will heavily promote the DTV set-top box voucher program, and/or offer "For your love gift of $50-100, TBN will send you a new digital tuner box."
fortmill said:
I'd like to know where you're getting this information from. When TV stations were filling out their final DTV channel elections, they were given the choice of replicating current analog service, or maximizing service, which in most cases, will exceed the coverage of their analog signal. For those replicating, only on the snowy fringes of the analog signal might you not be able to pick up the digital signal, which is all or nothing: 0 or 1.
What you might be seeing is that some stations are operating on low-power temporary facilities by Special Temporary Authorization. They were given the digital companion channel, but it won't be their post-transition channel. Since they're going to have to build new digital facilities on their final post-transition channel anyway, why spend the money on maximizing a digital signal on a temporary channel?
Come February 17, 2009, let's see how many stations have decreased coverage with DTV. There may be some, but probably won't be many.
TexasTom said:
What are the brands/models and prices? I need to replace my 10 year old Sharp, even if it's temporarily with a smaller ATSC portable.
By the way: here is Bill "Foxtrot" Amend's take on the DTV conversion:
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ft/2007/ft071007.gif
I don't like those no-name brands. I prefer high-end brands like Sony and Panasonic. The price has really come down over the years. You can buy a 42" model for $1399 now. Would you consider that cheap? When do you think they'll come down to what the price of what a standard 27" Tube model is now (if they still make those)?
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