Vote To Delay DTV Transition Next Week Should pass, after it's modified to allow early transitioners Tipped by Mactron 
The Senate is getting closer to approving a new bill that would delay next month's planned transition from analog to digital TV nearly four months -- to June 12. While Senate Republicans last week were blocking Democrat delay attempts, the Associated Press reports that a bi-partisan agreement has been reached setting the stage for an approved vote early next week. The compromise involves allowing markets to make the transition to digital now if they feel they're ready. Nielsen claims roughly 6.5 million U.S. households will be left unprepared despite more than a year of public service announcements and other promotions.
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 | | People that arent ready, wont be ready People wont be ready in June either. More money is going to be wasted to continue advertising to people that seem to have not grasped the concept yet, after a year as the article above states.
Im not sure how to get through to people other than making the switch and clean up afterwards. This delay is only going to delay the inevitiable in my opinion. | |
|  | | | Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready I say let them remain unprepared.
They have had more then a YEAR! | |
| | | | | |  n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
 ·Optimum Online
| said by chitchatjf:I say let them remain unprepared. They have had more then a YEAR! More like three-plus years. The original transition date was back in 2006! | |
| | | |  BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready said by n2jtx:said by chitchatjf:I say let them remain unprepared. They have had more then a YEAR! More like three-plus years. The original transition date was back in 2006! Actually the original date was supposed to be in 2002. its been pushed back several times. | |
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1 edit | I SAY FUCK THIS DTV BULLSHIT! T.V. stations should broadcast in both but DTV should NOT BE A FORCED transition. There are many like myself, who live in areas with poor reception. I bought a DTV box and I get like 3 stations. With rabbit ears, at least 10. The problem with this digital crap is you EITHER get it or you don't.I even tried shelling out 40 more dollars for an amplified antenna. It's why I get 3 vs 0 now. My taxes go to pay for my ability to watch tv. IE we pay for the FCC etc. Why in the hell should I be forced to get cable to watch television now. People here FAIL to take folks like myself into account. Stupid government. This shouldn't be delayed but STOPPED all together. Broadcast the two simultaneously. Yet, we know that's not possible now. They sold off the spectrum. Morons. | |
| | | |  tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:5
 ·Fairpoint Commun..
 ·Hollis Hosting
| Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready Your situation may get better after the transition since some stations will be moving back to VHF and some will change power/antenna. Also once analog goes away there will be less cochannel and adjacent channel interference.
We are in a rural area 42 miles away from Boston stations, and nearer to our two NH stations. Due to distance and topography have a roof top antenna. Upgraded our system since it was about 20 years old. That improved reception somewhat but being in a rural area cannot get away from digital cliff effect.
I have noticed there is significant difference in Digital TV tuners. We have converter boxes and PC TV tuner cards. The converter box is able to pick up more stations then the PC card.
There are significant advantage going with digital but there is no doubt it will negatively impact some.
You might want to checkout the TVfool web site. It allows you to model expected signal levels. You can check out current situation and then post-transition.
/tom | |
| | | | | | | Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready Well I am in the suburbs of a major metropolitan city but still doesn't seem to help. I get Telemundo and thats about it for clear and unabated tv watching. Yay? I have tried checking my zip and address. All claim I should have an ample signal, but I don't. I live in an apartment and it's not like I can go mounting an outdoor antenna anywhere I spent 40 on an indoor amplified one, best I could do. As I said, now its 3 wonderful stations (got to play with rabbit ears to get them still) vs 0. Not much of a viewing experience. | |
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| KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | no matter what our law makers do, the stations in the biggest broadcast areas should power down their analog totally and go full digital on the feb 17th date. that will drive home the message that the time is now, not summer.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
| | |  cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:5
 ·Frontier FiOS
| Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready Stations could care less about driving any message home...analog or digital. All they are going to care about is advertising revenues which is determined by the number of viewers. If they power down prematurely before they have to, they will lose viewers and therefor income. Therefore, barring equipment failure, there is ZERO chance little markets, let alone big markets, are going to turn off analog before they have to. | |
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| | | said by Coolbrz:People wont be ready in June either. More money is going to be wasted to continue advertising to people that seem to have not grasped the concept yet, after a year as the article above states. Im not sure how to get through to people other than making the switch and clean up afterwards. This delay is only going to delay the inevitiable in my opinion. I agree. People that can't understand this are complete morons. These idiots should not have a television in the first place. These are the people calling my wife at work everyday wondering why their checks bounced when their balance was $14 and they wrote $200 in checks. | |
| | |  braynesPremium
join:2005-03-14
Waterville, ME
1 edit | Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready "People that can't understand this are complete morons. These idiots should not have a television in the first place. "
But that what made them Morons perhaps it is fitting.
Bruce
edit spelling bar | |
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|  espaethDigital PlumberPremium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
kudos:2
 ·Clear Wireless
| said by Coolbrz:Im not sure how to get through to people other than making the switch and clean up afterwards. This delay is only going to delay the inevitiable in my opinion. If anything it's going to make it worse. After seeing crawlers and warning notices on the analog channels for the last several months if their TV doesn't stop working on 2/17 they'll probably think they don't need to do anything anyway.
Not sticking to the date will just bring more confusion to the transition. Not only that, but it screws everyone else who prepared for the switchover and is dealing with crappy digital signal strength because the broadcasters can't go full power until their analog signal is shut off. | |
| | | | | Re: People that arent ready, wont be ready said by espaeth:said by Coolbrz:Im not sure how to get through to people other than making the switch and clean up afterwards. This delay is only going to delay the inevitiable in my opinion. If anything it's going to make it worse. After seeing crawlers and warning notices on the analog channels for the last several months if their TV doesn't stop working on 2/17 they'll probably think they don't need to do anything anyway. Not sticking to the date will just bring more confusion to the transition. Not only that, but it screws everyone else who prepared for the switchover and is dealing with crappy digital signal strength because the broadcasters can't go full power until their analog signal is shut off. I agree 100% with everything you said, another delay is just going to cause a lot more confusion.
I have a small 5" B&W TV in my laundry room, I went out and got a box with my $40 coupon, connected it to my 5" TV, and waited for the February 17 transition. We have cable throughout the rest of the house, but we're already paying for 5 cable boxes and it isn't worth the additional cost for the laundry room.
Then I decided to go out and buy a 19" flat screen (great sale) with built-in digital tuner so I could get rid of the box; I gave it to my neighbor who needed one. So here I am, as you said dealing with crappy digital strength and a couple of stations that are still analog (eg, FOX) that come in even crappier, and find out that the transition is going to be delayed yet again.
I would have been better off just sticking with my old 5" B&W TV until the changeover actually happened. My mistake for believing it would actually happen as advertised and wanting to be prepared well before the transition date.
I understand that this is "just" television, but I'm stuck at home most of the time taking care of my chronically ill husband, so it's a good diversion for me. Blanket statements some are making about the "morons" who are complaining about the transition or the delay in the transition should think outside of their little holier-than-thou boxes. I'm intelligent, I'm middle-aged (not "elderly"), I'm not a technological idiot, I keep up with national and international news, and I live in a major metropolitan area---so there go all of the stereotypes people are throwing around (this is not directed at espaeth or Coolbrz).
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When one door closes, another opens... | |
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|  MadnessLike a flea circus at a dog show
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
kudos:1
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by Coolbrz:People wont be ready in June either. Just what I said in a previous one of these news threads: "If Granny isn't ready by February, she won't be ready in June, either." | |
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Reviews:
·ProLog
 ·DIRECTV
| Better not F- up cable's plans I just hope a OTA DTA transition doesn't F- up cable's plans for digital migration.
Currently they agreed to wait until one month after the OTA transition. So systems like mine which are 750 MHz and MAXED OUT will never see DOCSIS 3.0 or more HD, because there's so much analog hogging up the spectrum.
If we have to wait until JULY to migrate analogs, then that's 7 months of not one iota of system improvements from Comcast. I hope Cable operators can still migrate analog channels to digital to free up the much needed bandwidth. As we know they don't want to spend the time and money running FTTH or 1 GHz upgrades. | |
| |  baineschile2600 ways to livePremium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI
·Comcast
 ·magicjack.com
| Re: Better not F- up cable's plans Comcast is doing a digital migration, seperate from the OTA one (though, they appear to try and coincide it, with so many people asking about their TV sets). In some parts of Michigan, you need an STB (or tv with dig tuner) to get B2 and above.
So, no, I dont think this will affect comcasts, time warners, rcns or any other cable companies plan. | |
| | | | | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans said by baineschile:Comcast is doing a digital migration, seperate from the OTA one (though, they appear to try and coincide it, with so many people asking about their TV sets). In some parts of Michigan, you need an STB (or tv with dig tuner) to get B2 and above. So, no, I dont think this will affect comcasts, time warners, rcns or any other cable companies plan. Cable's plans are to F the customer big time.
My cable company requires a (rented from them) set top box for every tv just to get basic digital.
I have analog- and already I'm seeing "if you would like to keep receiving this channel, please contact your cable company..." messages on the stations above 52. That means the ones I like like Food TV, History, Travel, TCM, and several others.
I'm not stupid. The handwriting is on the wall. They plan on moving these channels to digital only thus forcing customers to upgrade.
I say they should delay the transition or put some kind of protection in place so that cable customers don't get screwed. | |
| | | | baineschile2600 ways to livePremium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans Cable companies cannot require you to rent a STB to get cable; what they can require is a digital tuner so you can recieve digital channels. This is most commonly a STB, but you can also use cable cards, or TV's with the proper tuners built into it. | |
| | | | | | | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans said by baineschile:Cable companies cannot require you to rent a STB to get cable; what they can require is a digital tuner so you can recieve digital channels. This is most commonly a STB, but you can also use cable cards, or TV's with the proper tuners built into it. The problem with this is the fact that you will still be required to rent something from the Cable Co. Just because they transition to digital does not mean you will be able to see it with a digital tuner. They will do the same thing Verizon does with FiOS and enable the encryption on all premium channels forcing you to rent a box or cable card from them just to be able to watch TV. Most likely all you will see without a box or cable card in the future is the local stations which you can get with an antenna anyway. | |
| | | | | | | said by baineschile:Cable companies cannot require you to rent a STB to get cable; what they can require is a digital tuner so you can recieve digital channels. This is most commonly a STB, but you can also use cable cards, or TV's with the proper tuners built into it. Cable companies are not required to keep any analog signals whatsoever. It is optional for them.
If they do decide to keep an analog stream, there is no requirement other than a minimum one that they must carry certain local stations. They can begin moving the more desirable channels to a digital only tier, leaving the customer with a couple of local stations and a bunch of crap. And all for the same price.
My cable company's signal is NOT compatible with CableCards, or built-in digital tuners in the new tv's.
My cable company's digital tiers require the use of STB's because the signal is scrambled.
This is my bone of contention. To keep the channels we have now on extended basic analog, will require us to upgrade to extended basic digital. Extended basic digital requires the use of STB's. The STB rentals are a cash cow for my and many other cable companies that they are reluctant to give up. And there is no protection for the consumer against it. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans said by jazzlady:The STB rentals are a cash cow for my and many other cable companies that they are reluctant to give up. And there is no protection for the consumer against it. While that may be true, would you rather fork over $500 to own the box outright? Better yet, would you rather drop $2500 on the latest flat panel display only to find out later that it isn't compatible with YOUR cableco's system because it is lacking a specific tuner? Not all TVs include the same components. The STB ensures compatibility with a wide range of TVs AND provides enhanced services (on demand). If you choose to run without a STB, don't bitch when your shit doesn't work right or channels start to disappear as network enhancements are made in the name of PROGRESS. | |
| | | | | | | | | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans The commercial says if you have cable TV, you're ready for digital which makes it sound like it you won't need a separate box to get basic cable channels.
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| | | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans said by fonzbear2000:The commercial says if you have cable TV, you're ready for digital which makes it sound like it you won't need a separate box to get basic cable channels. Where did they SAY that? You're really pushing hard into make something out of nothing.
First off, no one has stated that Tier2 basic is going all digital. Your's and many others's mistake is that you're equating the possible 2-09 switch over with something cable is doing.
As of 2-2009, if the cut off happens, NOTHING for cable customers will change. THAT IS A FACT. You have this notion, as many others do, that cable is going to move everything digital, which they are not. This is purely false.
The commercials are accurate.
Further - if you all get off the "this is a cash cow" c.s. argument, the conversation will make sense. There is more than one side to this story. This isn't welfare.. this isn't socialism play out.. this is a business for profit. You GOT what you wanted as a consumer, you have the right to purchase your own set top box. Go buy on. Sorry your option right now is Tivo or a high end TV that will likely become outdated in cable cards soon as well. Obviously the industry that demanded to have access opened to the STB business doesn't really see the need to rush into the business of making boxes either, or your local WalMart, Target, and Best Buy's would be stuffed full of them. (They're not, what does that say?)
As others have posted, someone has to put up the upfront investment in the box.. so long as cable providers are doing it as they always have, you're going to rent them and they're eventually going to make money. Too bad they make some return on their investment.
But anyway, this digital transition has nothing to do with cable. They will still take the local channels and keep them on their analog tiers until they move to go all digital as Satellite is.
The reality is that cable WILL eventually, soon, move to an all digital model.. I applaud them. Satellite has been doing it since day one for obvious reasons, but you never heard people complain. In fact, what you DO hear from everyone is how much better and superior satellite is FOR being all digital. So, becuase someone people want their old technology to continue to work, they should require the rest of the cable world out there to suffer with sub-par service as well?
It's time to evolve and get over the non-sense.. analog is on the way out eventually, but for right now, and on Feb2009, or June or next year even, the only thing that's going to go away is analog OTA. | |
| | | | | | | | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by fonzbear2000:The commercial says if you have cable TV, you're ready for digital which makes it sound like it you won't need a separate box to get basic cable channels. that's for OTA digital signals not cable digital. the commerical is correct if you have cable then you don't have to worry about OTA digital signals since you get your TV from cable. The fact that cable may also being going digital is a competely different issue. and an OTA digital converter won't do anything for your cable digital signals. DirecTv and Dish Network requires you to have a STB so how is cable requiring you to have a STB any different? | |
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| | | | | | | | said by sharksfan3:said by jazzlady:The STB rentals are a cash cow for my and many other cable companies that they are reluctant to give up. And there is no protection for the consumer against it. While that may be true, would you rather fork over $500 to own the box outright? Better yet, would you rather drop $2500 on the latest flat panel display only to find out later that it isn't compatible with YOUR cableco's system because it is lacking a specific tuner? Not all TVs include the same components. The STB ensures compatibility with a wide range of TVs AND provides enhanced services (on demand). If you choose to run without a STB, don't bitch when your shit doesn't work right or channels start to disappear as network enhancements are made in the name of PROGRESS. Oh please. Give me a break.
Do you think those boxes are much different from the OTA converter boxes that can be had for under $50?
$500 for a converter box? What planet do you live on?
Do you think the cable company pays $500 for them? They're mass produced and probably cost the cable company $20-30 a piece.
I'd pay $50 for one, like I did with my cable modem so I could stop renting it for $10 a month.
Better yet, they could simply not scramble the signal in the first place for those with just basic digital service, or put a single descrambler out on the pole that would take care of every set in the house.
YES- they COULD- but NO- they WON'T. Ka-ching, ka-ching.
Just another way to screw the consumer. Progress my ass. | |
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2 edits | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans said by jazzlady:said by sharksfan3:said by jazzlady:The STB rentals are a cash cow for my and many other cable companies that they are reluctant to give up. And there is no protection for the consumer against it. While that may be true, would you rather fork over $500 to own the box outright? Better yet, would you rather drop $2500 on the latest flat panel display only to find out later that it isn't compatible with YOUR cableco's system because it is lacking a specific tuner? Not all TVs include the same components. The STB ensures compatibility with a wide range of TVs AND provides enhanced services (on demand). If you choose to run without a STB, don't bitch when your shit doesn't work right or channels start to disappear as network enhancements are made in the name of PROGRESS. Oh please. Give me a break. Do you think those boxes are much different from the OTA converter boxes that can be had for under $50? $500 for a converter box? What planet do you live on? Do you think the cable company pays $500 for them? They're mass produced and probably cost the cable company $20-30 a piece. I'd pay $50 for one, like I did with my cable modem so I could stop renting it for $10 a month. Better yet, they could simply not scramble the signal in the first place for those with just basic digital service, or put a single descrambler out on the pole that would take care of every set in the house. YES- they COULD- but NO- they WON'T. Ka-ching, ka-ching. Just another way to screw the consumer. Progress my ass. Any way you look at it this whole comcast moving channels from analog to digital is gonna require some more money outlay from subscribers who just have basic or extended basic. If they don't then eventually all you will get is the local network channels and still pay for basic or extended basic service. Unless the cable companies will lower the price (after moving all the cable channels from analog to digital except the local channels) for basic cable. I agree with the other poster that those set top boxes can't cost them a lot. If they would maybe rent them for an extra one or two dollars per tv for a time period so the customer could see the digital lineup for maybe a few months then they would revert to regular price or customer would just keep basic with local channels.
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| | | | | | | | | | said by jazzlady:Do you think those boxes are much different from the OTA converter boxes that can be had for under $50? Do those OTA converter boxes include a hard drive and provide on demand ordering and other interactive capabilities? Do you really think TIVO makes a profit selling their boxes for $99-$199?
said by jazzlady:Better yet, they could simply not scramble the signal in the first place for those with just basic digital service, or put a single descrambler out on the pole that would take care of every set in the house. This would be a nice solution if cable service theft wasn't an issue. STBs attached to the cable plant are much like computers attached to your employers network. Network Admins can push security policies and encryption/decryption keys to each device and update them periodically to prevent unauthorized access. What would prevent someone from stealing and replicating that descrambler device? How would you regulate service to apartments or other high density population areas? | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans Not to mention the high license fee's for Dolby, Macrovision, MPEG2, CableLabs, etc... | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Re: Better not F- up cable's plans said by cypherstream:Not to mention the high license fee's for Dolby, Macrovision, MPEG2, CableLabs, etc... This is my issue when people spout off these numbers. Yes, it may not cost a whole lot to manufacture these things. But what about all the research and development that goes into it? | |
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| | | | | | | | | | said by sharksfan3:said by jazzlady:Do you think those boxes are much different from the OTA converter boxes that can be had for under $50? Do those OTA converter boxes include a hard drive and provide on demand ordering and other interactive capabilities? Do you really think TIVO makes a profit selling their boxes for $99-$199? said by jazzlady:Better yet, they could simply not scramble the signal in the first place for those with just basic digital service, or put a single descrambler out on the pole that would take care of every set in the house. This would be a nice solution if cable service theft wasn't an issue. Those converter boxes I will have to rent do NOT contain a hard drive. They are simple boxes not much different from the OTA converter boxes.
Sorry- they are not worth $7+tax to rent every month for each and every tv. I have 4 TV's.
I don't want TIVO. And I don't want an interactive box because I have no interest in renting overpriced movies from my cable provider. That's what Netflix is for.
My newest tv is 15 years old. I will upgrade them when they die. Yes, maybe that makes me a dinosaur, but I just don't have the need to spend $120 a month to watch tv. I just want to keep the stations I have now. Extended basic- that's it.
Already on the channels above 52 I am seeing onscreen notices advising "...if you want to keep receiving this channel, please contact your cable company..."
The handwriting is on the wall. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that they are going to be moving these stations to a higher digital tier.
So for the same money, I could possibly go from 78 channels down to less than 50. And most of the 50 will be stations I don't watch anyway.
I live in a rural area. Theft of service is not a big problem here.
Yes- they could do a single box that would feed out to other sets. If they are worried about theft of service it would be possible to install it inside the customers house.
You know, just because you have big bucks state of the art equipment and want HD and digital and the rest of it doesn't mean we ALL want it too.
All I want is to keep the stations I have now. If my cable company can do that for me, for the same price, great. You know, it ain't like they're giving it away free. They charge me top dollar for service which at the best of times- sucks rotten eggs.
And if you can't understand my viewpoint- then you can bite me. | |
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| | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Homework, thought hated, was issued to you in school for a reason. The box that cable puts out isn't simply a conversion tuner. And, for the record, a little over a year, I recall paying about $250 for one at Circuit City.
However, the cable box isn't just a "conversion tuner".. they are mini computers with tuners, (many still with both analog and digital tuners inside) decoders, security modules, decoders that they have to pay license fees too, modems, etc. (How much did you pay/do you pay/can you pay for a modem in the store? (There's about $79 of your fee right there.)
Seriously, it's nice to rant and it makes you feel good to cry out that 'the man is holding you back' and 'screwing us' becuase a box simply can't cost that much.. You also forget that R&D costs, programmers make a lot of money, the cost of production rose sharply over the last couple years with high energy costs.. etc.
Also, please describe, IN GREAT DETAIL, how they can, as you said, "simply put a de-scrambler at the pole" would you?
Let's break THAT one down to logic.. (omg, logic!!) Take the DCT 700.. it's rather small.. but it's only a digital tuner box, no analog tuner in it. How much space does the guts take up? It's also not passive, rather active, so it needs power. How do you suppose they get power to this simple device? Now, add in the fact that that you'd need to add in some sort of splitter where it can easily allow the flow of all the channels to leave on their own digital frequency so that any tuner in the house can pick up on the channel IT wants to look at. Oh, and, lets make sure that the device can pass back interactive services like cable modems, OnDemand service, and telephony. That's just ONE 'decoder'... now, lets' look at the "pole" or as what you're really referring to... the tap! Some taps only have two ports which handle two homes.. others have 4 ports, some have 6 ports, and there are also 8 ports as well! Just imagine how "simple" that must be to get ALL that equipment up on the "pole".. and how expensive to maintain it would be. And, when the service needs an upgrade, you willing to take an INCREDIBLY HIGH rate increase to rebuild the plant?
A few other points. I don't remember any cable company renting modems for $10.. and if they did, it certainly wasn't the rule, rather, the exception, and if it was long ago at $10 a month, modems weren't $50 then either. Are you coating it up a little bit? .. pouring on the dramatics?
Also, they could simply not scramble the signal in the first place? How do you intend they control the tiers then? Traps? Have you seen a trapped service yet? Have you seen how you bleed off about 2 or 3 channels of signal as they get fuzzy until you lose service all together? ... that's just in analog where it's 1 channel to 1 frequency. Many systems are pushing out 6 to 8, sometimes 10 channels per frequency. You "simply not scramble" the service and trap instead, which is what they'd have to do, and you're have a 3 channel bleed, and you'd loose up to about 18 to 30 digital channels on either end. Still think that will work?
So, to say it easily..
NO - they CAN"T - and they WON'T and it's not about Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching.. it's about much more than care to think about since it's all about an evil corporation just trying to squeeze money from people. There are FAR more things that go into running ANY network, be it cable or phone, that people don't care to even think about.
-Cable Operator's own survival.
-The people who actually OWN the content expect it handled properly.
-Politics.
-The Consumer.
-The Investor, who puts money into the company. (They DO want money BACK you know.. they're not in it for charity)
-And then there is simply logistics of it all.
It's time to take the conspiracy theory hat off and throw it away. I'm sorry if the truth hurts, but IT'S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE CONSUMER.. it takes two to tango here. With out the company, there is no consumer, and with out the consumer there is no company. What does that say? .. it says that both sides have to be given consideration..
.. but if you want to be 'screwed' please go right ahead. But so far, in your post, you said nothing that was accurate, or close to it. | |
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baineschile2600 ways to livePremium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI Reviews:
·Comcast
·magicjack.com
| Please No. Cmon grandpa, youve known about this for ages.
We have dumped so much of our tax dollar into advertisements for the Feb date, changing it now would just confuse everyone. This will free up a ton of bandwidth for much more important things; emergency services will get top priority. This has already been delayed thrice, and whose to say when May rolls around, they wont push it back to December? Time to get with the times. | |
| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: Please No. said by baineschile:Cmon grandpa, youve known about this for ages. We have dumped so much of our tax dollar into advertisements for the Feb date, changing it now would just confuse everyone. This will free up a ton of bandwidth for much more important things; emergency services will get top priority. This has already been delayed thrice, and whose to say when May rolls around, they wont push it back to December? Time to get with the times. actually the money comes from the spectrum auction. Your points may be valid but if you use incorrect facts they don't ring true. you can make your points and still use correct facts. | |
| | | | said by baineschile:Cmon grandpa, youve known about this for ages. "Grandpa" isn't the target of the DTV Obamalypse, it's the urban 'po people, the demographic of choice for the liberals.
You know, those inner city people with the giant LCD TV's, $200 athletic shoes and slammed Escalades that have full spectrum digital cable... 
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 Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
join:2002-03-03
USA
kudos:4 |  Confusion will be the result of staggered cutovers
With one final cutover date in Feb, at least everyone would have been on the same page. And all the ads highlighting the cutover were consistent. Now we will have a situation where each TV station can decide whether or not to go early. That way, an area could have a station cutting over each month or week and the truly clueless won't have any idea what is going on - with some stations disappearing from their sets on an irregular schedule.
I think the stations that have put in a lot of time and effort getting ready for Feb 17 will go in February anyway. Only the small minority of stations that were having issues won't cutover early.
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| | | | Re: Confusion will be the result of staggered cutovers said by Romney2012:With one final cutover date in Feb, at least everyone would have been on the same page. And all the ads highlighting the cutover were consistent. Now we will have a situation where each TV station can decide whether or not to go early. That way, an area could have a station cutting over each month or week and the truly clueless won't have any idea what is going on - with some stations disappearing from their sets on an irregular schedule. Yes, this voluntary delay allowing stations when to decide to shut down analog up to June 12 will make a messy process a much bigger mess. There have been a small flood of silent STA filings with the FCC by stations who state they want to shut down analog on February 17. The current estimate is that over 170 stations have already shut down analog and over 250 in total have previously filed for shutdown prior to February 17.
So 100s of more stations could go dark on February 17, but not all. Some stations are likely to be left twisting in the wind for months because they can't fire up their post-transition digital channel or go to full digital power until another station shuts off their analog broadcast. With stations going off on different dates, there will be stations changing their digital channel on February 17 and others possibly scattered over the months to June 17. Now they will have to put out new PSAs about the need to rescan - every few days? Good grief. | |
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Ligtel
join:2005-12-07
Ligonier, IN | Excellent. Goverment at work....... The Law was on the books for five years. We already have tower crews scheduled to install our WiMAX gear for Feb. Guess we will just have to leave the transmitters turned off for another four months......... Wonder if we'll get a partial refund on what our license cost? Wonder if we could charge the TV stations for the use of "our" license? | |
|  JahntassaWhat, I can have feathersPremium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
kudos:4 | Oh, come on... Stupid stupid stupid.
What is the point of this? Who is this aimed at helping that it will actually help?
This is going to cause more problems than it could hope to solve. As others have said, everyone has been hammered with the February date. What happens on that day? A lot of people are going to say "I don't see a difference" and start complaining because the switchover didn't happen.
As i've said before, what is more time going to fix? Unless they're using the time to drive converter boxes to those people that somehow don't know about the transition, its only a waste of time and money. | |
| | Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA | Re: Oh, come on... said by Jahntassa:What is the point of this? Who is this aimed at helping that it will actually help? This isn't really about helping people but is for the partisan political purpose of beating up the former administration. Sure Obama and the new Congress have far more important things on their plate but they make this a priority just to get another dig at Bush in. | |
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| | How can anyone still not know about this? I find it baffling that anyone can still be ignorant of the coming change. I live in central Ontario (Canada) and only watch a few hours of TV per week and even I see at least 4 DTV transition ads per week. Anyone who isn't aware of this yet obviously isn't too concerned about TV and thus shouldn't really be considered.
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| BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | What if all the stations decide they are ready? according to the compromise it says they can turn off the analog on Feb 17. So if most switch off the analog( and I hope they do ) what good is the delay? | |
| | | Not ready after 4 or 5 years. If people are not ready after 4 or 5 years, what makes even the typical do gooder think that the extra 4 months will make a difference, or will the plan have obama dispatch people to change antennas and install converters free of charge? | |
| | | Vote To Delay DTV Transition Next Week If the people haven't gotten ready in the last year they are the ones that won't be ready if you delay it for 4 years. They are just the slackers that want to complian.. | |
| BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
1 edit | Things that they aren't taking into account channel 5 digital in nashville is channel 56 it's suposed to move to channel 5 after the cut off. The reason is channel 56 is supposed to be for emergency responders. So now the saftey of the people of Nashville is now compromised for 4 months because of lazy fucks. | |
| | | | Re: Things that they aren't taking into account Oh, it gets worse than that. What about a channel that can't switch to their digital allocation until an analog channel goes dark (IIRC channel 62 moving to channel 12 in the Boston-Providence area)? What about channels like 57 (PBS) and 40 (ABC) in Springfield that were forced to go all-digital earlier? Will they be able to claim that they were inversely impacted by the delay through a loss of viewership and potential advertising dollars (less of an issue for a PBS station, I understand).
What about the gentleman with the post a few above this one who is ready to install Wimax equipment in February? Should he be compensated for his potential losses? | |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | just going to cause more confusion first everyone who has a brain knows it's Feb 17. Now it's being cut off June 12, but not for all. Since stations can switch anytime after Feb 17 people are going to be pissed if their favorite station is all digital on February 17 and they thought they had until June to get ready. | |
| BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | 25 days away is too late to ask for delay if they wanted a delay they should have passed this bill MONTHS ago. | |
| |  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: 25 days away is too late to ask for delay said by BF69:if they wanted a delay they should have passed this bill MONTHS ago. Never misunderestimate the government's ability to screw things up.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! | |
| | |  DarkLogixPremium
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX
kudos:3 | Re: 25 days away is too late to ask for delay said by pnh102:said by BF69:if they wanted a delay they should have passed this bill MONTHS ago. Never misunderestimate the government's ability to screw things up. Exacly they will find a way to do worse than you think
they'll delay it forever and at some point there will be a lawsuit | |
| | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: 25 days away is too late to ask for delay Wow.. great picture! 
While I normally agree with this.. don't you think, doesn't everyone think, that it's a little stupid to make such comments?
You have every right to run for an office and make a change... just about everyone here does.. Yes, people love to sit back and bash the Government.. if people took as much time in making these stupid photos and coming up with these sayings and put their money where their mouth is, run for office and come up with "the solution".. then there would be no more bitching right?
.. or do you just not have faith in the system of government? If that's the case.. leave the country. Find another government that works for you.
Get involved, or accept what you get. | |
| | | | | Reviews:
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| Re: 25 days away is too late to ask for delay said by fiberguy:Wow.. great picture! While I normally agree with this.. don't you think, doesn't everyone think, that it's a little stupid to make such comments? So, your solution to the bloated beast we call the Federal Government is .... more government?
Crikey ... they pretty much caused the market crisis we are in and are trying to spend their way out of it by printing money they don't have.
How is that not exactly what the poster is talking about?
said by fiberguy:You have every right to run for an office and make a change... just about everyone here does.. Yes, people love to sit back and bash the Government.. if people took as much time in making these stupid photos and coming up with these sayings and put their money where their mouth is, run for office and come up with "the solution".. then there would be no more bitching right? Do you honestly believe what you are writing? If you don't agree with the government, then your only option is to run for office? :uh:
My votes go to those that are most closely aligned with my ideology. I only for "for" a candidate, never "against" one. Regardless of who wins, I make sure that my thoughts on different topics are known to my representatives.
said by fiberguy:.. or do you just not have faith in the system of government? If that's the case.. leave the country. Find another government that works for you. If things keep going the way they are going, you might get your wish without having to move! | |
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| They will figure it out. They will quickly figure it out when the TV doesn't work.
I am pretty sure Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City (Maybe get them on discount at CC) all have the converters in stock. So what if they have to pay for them. They have had plenty of time to get the coupons for the free converters. How does the saying go you snooze you lose.
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Any unauthorized use of your own judgment is strictly prohibited. | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
| | By all means... Let's allow the procrastinators to continue to delay the transition yet again... and again, and again, and again...
(Here's hoping that EVERY market transitions early--holdin' my breath here... not.)
(/sarcasm) | |
| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: By all means... said by mod_wastrel:Let's allow the procrastinators to continue to delay the transition yet again... and again, and again, and again... (Here's hoping that EVERY market transitions early--holdin' my breath here... not.) (/sarcasm) Considering that delaying 4 months will cost stations in excess of $100K each I'm pretty sure many will switch as soon as possible. | |
| | |  Jim GurdPremium
join:2000-07-08
Plymouth, MI | Re: By all means... said by BF69:Considering that delaying 4 months will cost stations in excess of $100K each I'm pretty sure many will switch as soon as possible. I'm betting almost all of them will. They've prepared for a drop dead date of 2/17 for too long to change their plans now.
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Calling an illegal alien an undocumented worker is like calling a crack dealer an unlicensed pharmacist. | |
| | | | | | Re: By all means... said by Jim Gurd:I'm betting almost all of them will. They've prepared for a drop dead date of 2/17 for too long to change their plans now. Sure they're all going to switch - unless they're blocked by someone else who hasn't. It's costing huge $$$ to keep BOTH those transmitters on the air.
Look, this whole "We need to pass a extension law." BS is just so the new controllers of government can say 'Hey, we TRIED to help you out and extend that horrible Republican deadline...', come election time.
Politicians, working for you.........to get re-elected.
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1 edit | Are we working in geologic time on this issue? I've always thought that since there was a deadline, and it has been advertised more than when the finale of American Idol will air, that it should be kept. Once the laggards saw their televisions didn't work, they would run down to Best Buy and get their converters. Television debuted in the late 1940's, and people managed just fine before that without the boob tube. The world didn't come to end before the invention of TV.
I'm assuming the deadline will be pushed back to June 12th. But if I was betting on this, I bet that date will eventually get pushed back even further. Government is working in geologic time on this issue. The dinosaurs probably will be returning before the DTV transition ends. | |
| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
1 edit | Re: Are we working in geologic time on this issue? said by burgerwars:I've always thought that since there was a deadline, and it has been advertised more than when the finale of American Idol will air, that it should be kept. Once the laggards saw their televisions didn't work, they would run down to Best Buy and get their converters. Television debuted in the late 1940's, and people managed just fine before that without the boob tube. The world didn't come to end before the invention of TV. I'm assuming the deadline will be pushed back to June 12th. But if I was betting on this, I bet that date will eventually get pushed back even further. Government is working in geologic time on this issue. The dinosaurs probably will be returning before the DTV transition ends. Part of this deal is that there isn't to be any more delays after June 12. Also part of this deal is that stations can shut off analog before June 12 and after Feb 17 if they feel they are ready. I suspect many will do this. So no there won't be anymore delays. | |
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2 edits | Re: Are we working in geologic time on this issue? The stations are ready to switch. It's the public that apparently isn't ready. What good would it do to pass a bill to delay this because the public isn't ready but the stations can still pull the plug because they are ready? Of course this is the Government, so maybe I shouldn't ask such "complicated" questions. | |
| | | | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: Are we working in geologic time on this issue? said by burgerwars:The stations are ready to switch. It's the public that apparently isn't ready. It's SMALL minority of the public that isn't ready. actually 98% of the population is ready. | |
| | | | |  wilbilt Pronto ResurrectedPremium
join:2004-01-11
Oroville, CA | Re: Are we working in geologic time on this issue? said by BF69:said by burgerwars:The stations are ready to switch. It's the public that apparently isn't ready. It's SMALL minority of the public that isn't ready. actually 98% of the population is ready. I live in a rural area, and I have been ready for years. Pull the plug already and get it over with.
This cutover has been delayed year after year. A deadline is a deadline. Get over it.
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We were taking a vote when the ground came up and hit us. | |
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 gimme5
join:2002-12-23
Kissimmee, FL | This is how it should be done Just do it as expected, on the date that everybody knows about. Yeah, some people won't know about it...big deal! Their TV doesn't work, and they're told they need a converter. They don't have TV for a few days, it's not the end of the world, right? Same thing would happen in June anyway.
Then for the coupon issue, make the coupons redeemable over the phone. If you don't get it in time, you spend $50 on a receiver, you receive your coupon, call the number listed on the letter and they mail you a $40 check. | |
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approval from:
dentman42
| Delay? Let's just cancel this whole stupid thing. The entire thing is for spectrum use - right? It's easy enough to move all the channels using the high end VHF (7-13) and the low end UHF (14-36). There is enough room in that entire range to broadcast all the stations in the US with room to spare. In ANALOG. And analog is sure good enough. | |
| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: Delay? said by Forestryee :
Let's just cancel this whole stupid thing. The entire thing is for spectrum use - right? It's easy enough to move all the channels using the high end VHF (7-13) and the low end UHF (14-36). There is enough room in that entire range to broadcast all the stations in the US with room to spare. In ANALOG. And analog is sure good enough.
you aren't too bright are you? Analog is very inefficient. And generally sucks. | |
| | | | Speak for yourself. Analog sucks and if you like crappy television, so be it. I'm kicking a 42 inch plasma with a HD DVR and Blu-Ray and it's awesome. If you don't like the conversion, don't do it. | |
| | | | said by Forestryee :
Let's just cancel this whole stupid thing. The entire thing is for spectrum use - right? It's easy enough to move all the channels using the high end VHF (7-13) and the low end UHF (14-36). There is enough room in that entire range to broadcast all the stations in the US with room to spare. In ANALOG. And analog is sure good enough. No, there is not. Even with more frequency space efficient digital broadcasting where the efficiency comes from allowing co-located stations to have adjacent RF broadcast channels and most stations using 7 to 51, the stations are pretty tightly packed in the mid-Atlantic and southern CA markets. WPVI-DT ABC 6 in Philadelphia ended up selecting low VHF 6 for post-transition because they lost out on getting a UHF channel in the 14-51 range to broadcast on. One problem is that UHF 16-20 is used in some of the most crowded areas for land mobile communications.
With a good antenna setup, digital TV broadcasting can provide high quality pictures and more choice than analog. I get 18 digital stations over the air, many with more than 1 sub-channel (although 2 or more SD subs with a HD sub is a bad idea) and should get > 20 digital stations OTA once the analog shutdown is done. | |
| | | MadnessLike a flea circus at a dog show
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Delay? Where I live, analog reception is awful (& I'm right outside of Boston!). Think the clearest channel I get (out of about a dozen) is one (62) that usually has a home shopping program or infomercials running! Can't, BTW, put up an outdoor antenna & don't want to pay for cable, so rabbit ears are all I'm using.
Got my coupons early last year, went up to Radio Shack & got a pair of those Digital Stream boxes. Now get 22 DTV channels clear as a bell w/ the same pair of cheap rabbit ears. I've gotten quite attached to watching PBS World & Create. | |
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 joshmerdDoctor JoshPremium
join:2004-04-22
Summerville, SC | No! If people aren't ready by February, they won't be ready in June. There is no reason to postpone this. I used to sell televisions and have been telling people for the past 4 years to get ready for this. Don't keep wasting money advertising the switch. Let the lazy people do without TV for awhile.
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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. -- Thomas Edison | |
| | | No..bad idea. No, no, no, no, no, NO!
If people haven't figure out DTV yet, let them not have TV reception after 2/17. Honestly, we've been doing outreach, running crawls, playing DTV transition PSA, etc. for over a year, and now, less than 30 days to DTV they want to change it to June?
Now, let's also remember, too, that in this economy, how many stations have the ability to pay to keep their analog on an extra 4 months? Most stations' budgets for 2009 were made with turning their analog transmitters off on 2/17 and saving thousands, if not tens-of-thousands, per month on their electric bill. And were do you think they'll get the money to stay on another 4 months? Sell more ads? In this market? Nope..it's by cutting the staff, which is NOT something we need more of. Trust me.
Keep DTV on 2/17!!! | |
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