We Don't Need No Stinkin' DTV Delay → Re: Just pull the plug on OTA video

said by tschmidt:

---

said by rec9140:

Time to just pull the plug on OTA, already.

Why is that? I much prefer spending $500 every 20 years for a fringe area outdoor antenna then spend $50-100 a month for Cable or Satelite.

---

OTA is a waste of spectrum that is needed elsewhere such as public safety, which the DTV transition will provide in the 700MHz band.

I am a very happy Dish user, and OTA is not going to provide:

1) West feeds of NBC/ABC/CBS/FOX/WB/CW
2) HBO/Showtime/Starz etc..

$99+ tax/fees gets me the AEP from Dish and I am ready, along with my PVR722 to record stuff.

DBS is a far better means to send this stuff to the consumer.

HD means nothing to me, so if the channel is HD, or not I really don't care. So that falls on deaf ears. I've had my LCD screen for a large PC screen longer than its been used as a TV. It just happens

One of the BIG, HUGE problems is that the purpose and reason behind DTV is not HD, but a move to digital. The HD hype especially from the best buy drones drowns out the reasons for this change.

DTV is NOT HD

HD is just a feature of DTV.

Try to get that accross to the average Joe.

Heh...$99 just to watch TV is a waste of money, but knock yourself out...

Not everyone can get satellite TV, and the 700 MHz band is only a small part of the broadcast television spectrum. Another four months is not going to end the world, and much of the new services planned for that band can go ahead and construct (and in some cases turn up) even with this delay.

Glad DBS is working out for you. My family has no interest in items 1 and 2 that are important to you. We have no interest in spending $50-100 a month to watch TV. I agree DBS is an effective way to distribute TV programs. I'd argue it is going to be a short-lived service. As broadband speed improves viewers will migrate to a demand-based viewing model. Broadcasting (one-to-many) is a business model driven by technology limitation; Internet will eventually transcend that limitation.

I agree there is a lot of hype about DTV but that is no different then any other new consumer item. Our job is to help friends and relatives understand the reality and ignore the hype.

Just to nit pick a little. FCC has removed TV channels allocated to TV multiple times in the past. That is why your tuner begins at Channel 2, and if you are old enough to remember UHF used to go to Channel 83.

Reassigning channels 52-69 to other services is not the direct result of transition to digital TV. FCC could have removed them from TV service even if it had remained analog. Having the extra channels available came in handy to accommodate simulcasting analog and digital because it doubled the number of channels in use. Personality I wish they had also removed Channels 2-6 as VHF low is not well suited for TV transmission.

All in all once the inevitable teething problems are resolved I think folks will be happy TV has gone digital.

/tom