• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Market survey to see who's least prepared for digital switchover

Looking over that list, I notice that the "most prepared" markets tend to be ones with low levels of OTA viewing (high cable and/or satellite penetration) and the "least prepared" markets are the ones with higher levels of OTA viewing.

No great surprise there, since it is only OTA viewers who have to make any sort of effort to prepare for the digital transition.
 
TexasTom said:
No great surprise there, since it is only OTA viewers who have to make any sort of effort to prepare for the digital transition.
Click to expand...

Yeah! The rest just get left out.

Wait'll those Cable and satellite viewers get their bills, and the Cable viewers find out that their "analog TV workaround" is going away, and they have to get Digital Cable and rented converter boxes anyway.

Why are we so happy to pay extra for our TV and radio, and afraid to get it free?
 
I thought the FCC wanted cable companies to offer locals in analog for at least 5 more years... or something like that.
 
kenglish said:
TexasTom said:
No great surprise there, since it is only OTA viewers who have to make any sort of effort to prepare for the digital transition.
Click to expand...

Yeah! The rest just get left out.

Wait'll those Cable and satellite viewers get their bills, and the Cable viewers find out that their "analog TV workaround" is going away, and they have to get Digital Cable and rented converter boxes anyway.

Why are we so happy to pay extra for our TV and radio, and afraid to get it free?
Click to expand...

I have heard that Comcast systems in the Chicago area have already gone to an all-digital cable lineup (perhaps other than basic OTA, shopping, public access, etc.).

Here in Springfield the local Comcast system (which took over the former Insight franchises in downstate Illinois last Jan. 1) has dropped the following channels from its basic (channels 2-23) and expanded basic (channels 24-72) lineups since the summer (and are now exclusively on digital cable): C-SPAN2, Ion, EWTN, MTV2, SoapNet, and National Geographic (there may be another one dropped that I couldn't think of now). These channels were also dropped by Comcast in their other downstate systems (Peoria, Quincy, Champaign, etc.), and were dropped to make way for more HD programming.

Ironically (unlike on other major cable systems like Mediacom), the main channels for the premiums (HBO, Encore, Starz, Cinemax, Showtime, TMC) are still available on analog (channels 73-78).
 
poledo said:
I thought the FCC wanted cable companies to offer locals in analog for at least 5 more years... or something like that.
Click to expand...

Three years. But, they can go ALL Digital, if they provide a minimal converter box to each analog customer (I don't think there's even a requirement to supply more than one). That's Cable's "Seventy Dollar Box". as I've heard it called. No fanvy guides, no two-way or PPV, no HDTV.
 
kenglish said:
Why are we so happy to pay extra for our TV and radio, and afraid to get it free?
Click to expand...

I don't...and I'm not -- I've been watching OTA digital since 2002. The picture is great, and the number of shows on the cable networks that I want to see is just not worth the monthly subscription fees.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom