The $70 Billion Spectrum Rip-Off (Digital TV)

[marmar]

from In These Times:



The $70 Billion Spectrum Rip-Off
As many viewers struggle with the transition to digital TV, commercial broadcasters can look forward to a massive giveaway

By Megan Tady



Digital television — or DTV for short — is being hailed for its pristine picture, sound quality and explosion of new channels. Judging from the graphic of a flower and a nearly cloudless sky on the FCC’s digital television Web site, sunny days are ahead for TV viewers.

Now, it’s never nice to rain on someone’s parade, but bad news is bad news. Because when it comes to the DTV transition, the forecast looks gloomy.

On February 17, just five months from now, all U.S. analog TV stations will switch to digital broadcasting, creating thousands of new channels. (Digital broadcast technology allows several separate TV channels to be compressed into subchannels for what is called “multicasting.”) Broadcasters may go from the one channel they broadcast on now to potentially four or more using the same license – meaning you might soon find yourself flipping from channel 4 to channels 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 .

Or, you may not be flipping channels at all. Despite efforts by the FCC and others to raise public awareness, there are gaps in the population that haven’t gotten converter boxes and could be left with static on their old TVs after mid-February. A lack of coordination between federal agencies handling public education has only worsened the situation, and there’s a lack of direct assistance for people who need help hooking up their converter boxes and ensuring they work properly.

Most low-power commercial TV stations (including many Spanish-language stations) are not making the DTV transition in February – and the vast majority of converter boxes won’t carry their signals, leaving many people unable to tune into news and information they depend on. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3906/the_70_billion_spectrum_rip_off/

[sam sarrha]

1. no TV means another Baby BOOM...

[AndyTiedye]

2. Fringe Areas Will Get Nothing

A weak signal doesn't mean a snowy picture, it means you get nothing.
The digital channels are all UHF, most pretty high up the band.
That stuff is much more line-of-sight than VHF.

We get nothing on digital here.

There's nothing on TV anyway.

[Javaman]

3. Meh, my wife and I are currently mulling over getting rid of the damn thing altogether..

the only thing we watch on it are DVDs. We don't get our news nor do we watch any tv shows. Our only fix is Lost and we can watch that on the net.

Frankly, in about another year, I think "needing" a TV will start becoming a thing of the past.