• 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

Programs about DTV

V

vchimpanzee

I've seen four.

One ran on nearly every station in the country at 7:30 on a Saturday night. It reminded me of the Mac vs. PC commercials for Macs. The old man was unwilling to change from analog TV. The young man convinced him DTV was a good thing.

It was poorly done and nothing but public relations.

On February 18, the two stations in my area that went digital started running two versions of a much more informative show. The first version I saw was in Spanish. The other was in English. They alternated and kept running over and over. I remember how happy I was when I finally got my converter box to work--until I saw that show on one of the stations that switched. I wondered why some of my signals weren't perfect like they said.

The other one was over the weekend. Very informative, and unlike the one with the old man, they actually acknowledged that some people won't pick up certain digital signals without making some changes to their antenna setup.

The stations are doing a much better job this time around.
 
Locally, as far as what I've seen, KABC and KTTV ran one special produced by the National Association of Broadcasters, while KNBC recently ran one produced by WNBC (and I'm assuming that this same program aired across the NBC O&Os), while KCAL/KCBS produced their own, with excepts from WCBS-TV. The locally-produced ones seems to be a bit more informative than the generic one from the NAB. In terms of content, you're getting the same basic information across the board, but KCAL/KCBS actually listed the the analog shut-off times of the other VHF channels in the L.A. area.
 
Here in the Bay Area, KTVU (FOX) Channel 2 did a locally produced show. It was very informative and the 1/2 hour went by quick. They have it available to view on-line at http://www.ktvu.com.

NBC Bay Area (KNTV 11) also showed a program as well. I didn't see it, so I do not know if it was WNBC's version chopped up and copied/pasted together.
 
1069_KIFR said:
NBC Bay Area (KNTV 11) also showed a program as well. I didn't see it, so I do not know if it was WNBC's version chopped up and copied/pasted together.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if it was. We found a couple of "not so understandable" spots in the NBC program, and asked if we could add a super for clarification. We were told we could not touch it.
 
ShawnHill1 said:
Locally, as far as what I've seen, KABC and KTTV ran one special produced by the National Association of Broadcasters, while KNBC recently ran one produced by WNBC (and I'm assuming that this same program aired across the NBC O&Os), while KCAL/KCBS produced their own, with excepts from WCBS-TV. The locally-produced ones seems to be a bit more informative than the generic one from the NAB. In terms of content, you're getting the same basic information across the board, but KCAL/KCBS actually listed the the analog shut-off times of the other VHF channels in the L.A. area.
Click to expand...
I think mine was the NAB's. It did list shutoff times.
 
Charlotte's ABC affiliate had a locally produced show.

Like the first one with the old man, it failed to explain the potential problems. All the show did was explain what to do in order to receive a digital signal. That was for those watching analog TVs who lived close to the station.

They showed a map of the station's signal range (what is this, a joke?), plus the range of the station they added in the mountains for people who might have trouble. Lots of people were getting good results with that new signal. But I was well inside that signal range they showed. I was getting the station on Feb. 21. Why am I not getting it now? WHO is that map intended for? People with outdoor antennas? I didn't need one. And I don't think the station moved. I scanned for the first time on June 14 on my second converter box, so it's not that the first one needs rescanning. Or is it? I didn't rescan the first one because no one was moving except this one channel that was moving to VHF. I decided to use a separate antenna for VHF with another converter box.

They even had a report from Wilmington, and I've heard all about the problems people had there. Yet they found someone who used to get snow on the channels (oh, good, we'll find out he lost everything) but he got every channel perfectly.

The one thing the show did right was to explain in detail the problems emergency services are having. There aren't enough frequencies for firefighters to communicate with each other in a major fire, or for police officers to transmit video back to headquarters instead of transferring the video when they get back. Things like that.
 
I know WCBS/2 (Chris Wragge) and WABC/7 (Scott Clark, I think) had their own DTV programs ("Why Doesn't My TV Work?" was that Channel 2 program title).
 
DToTheJ said:
I know WCBS/2 (Chris Wragge) and WABC/7 (Scott Clark, I think) had their own DTV programs ("Why Doesn't My TV Work?" was that Channel 2 program title).
Click to expand...

And I can now confirm that the looping DTV infomercial on Channel 2 Lite is indeed the generic DTV program and not the WCBS-produced show as referenced above. Sampled it via the TV band on my Walkman. The show I heard made a reference to calling "your local station" and then mentioned that the show will be repeated in Spanish and again in English.
 
I think during nightlight, stations must use the DTV program provided to them from the FCC (or NAB?), and not their own. Is this true?
 
It was mentioned on the New England TV board that WFSB-TV channel 3 of Hartford went off after running the NAB Nightlight program for only 3 days instead of 8 or 10 days as first announced.
 
azumanga said:
I think during nightlight, stations must use the DTV program provided to them from the FCC (or NAB?), and not their own. Is this true?
Click to expand...
I guess so. I turned to the nighlight station and got the Spanish program. It had a different host than the stations that went off the air in February had.

A few minutes later I got the English program but since I joined it in the middle, I got the Spanish program when it ended. I thought they did each one twice, but I guess that WAS the second one. I still haven't gotten around to watching the rest of the English program but I am curious.

The interesting thing about Spanish is hearing the Spanish words for some of the concepts, and of course all the English words they use anyway.

Here's an idea I have and I'm going to suggest it. The Fox station in Charlotte usually had a report about DTV preceding the weather at 10. I almost always taped the weather because that station is the only one that does the weather the way I like it. So I would see this DTV guy, or whatever his title was. I fast-forwarded through him because I didn't want to learn about DTV. I wanted it to be delayed again and again because I didn't want all the problems. Now I miss the guy and I think he still ought to be on, since not everyone has it all figured out. But if the Fox station doesn't want him, maybe the nightlight station can be persuaded to take his old reports. I wonder if they'd be permitted to?
 
azumanga said:
I think during nightlight, stations must use the DTV program provided to them from the FCC (or NAB?), and not their own. Is this true?
Click to expand...

False. Stations can run whatever type of DTV conversion program, as long as the sole topic is the conversion. According to clips online, WCVB/Boston and WEWS/Cleveland were running locally produced nightlights. The NAB video is an option for stations that don't want/can't spend money or resources to produce a local special (which appears to be 95% of stations running nightlight). The video was provided for free by the NAB.
 
so whaddya think.....does Mike DiSerio pick up an Emmy this year? :D
 
KING-TV did a locally-produced nightlight video in English (with Glenn Farley, reporter), and the NAB spanish video. KBTC is doing the NAB-produced nightlight video in English and Spanish.

-crainbebo
 
vchimpanzee said:
[Here's an idea I have and I'm going to suggest it. The Fox station in Charlotte usually had a report about DTV preceding the weather at 10. I almost always taped the weather because that station is the only one that does the weather the way I like it. So I would see this DTV guy, or whatever his title was. I fast-forwarded through him because I didn't want to learn about DTV. I wanted it to be delayed again and again because I didn't want all the problems. Now I miss the guy and I think he still ought to be on, since not everyone has it all figured out. But if the Fox station doesn't want him, maybe the nightlight station can be persuaded to take his old reports. I wonder if they'd be permitted to?
Click to expand...
I called the station but never got farther than the receptionist, although she suggested leaving a message on the Digital Dude's voice mail. She believed he had a contract and wouldn't be allowed to show his reports on any other channel.

Still, it would be nice if we could see a collection of his reports. Like I said, I never saw them.
 
hhgregg sponsored the program in Charlotte.

I guess that would help.

And it's good for them because the only people watching are ... potential hhgregg customers!
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom