Friday, January 12, 2007

The latest attempt to take something away from us...

I don't have cable tv here, or dish, we don't watch tv enough to justify it as an expense, I still have my rabbit ear antenna that we use to watch the news and the few televison shows we do watch. The picture comes in clear, though from time to time when you change channels you have adjust the little dial. However, in two years it appears none of us will be able to have access to the public airwaves anymore. I heard this was coming but in reading the Hill today I discovered:

Congress decreed the 2009 drop-dead date in order to speed the transition to digital television. The goal of the legislation, which passed in 2005, is partly to free up spectrum that the federal government can auction to other technologies, although much of that spectrum will be handed back to broadcasters.

Roughly 19.6 million households receive only free, over-the-air television and 34 million have at least an analog television. If those viewers don’t buy a converter box to facilitate the reception of digital signals, purchase a new TV or switch to cable or satellite, their televisions will go dark when the deadline passes.

The National Telecom and Information Administration plans to dole out up to $1.5 billion in $40 coupons for the converter boxes, and has set aside $5 million to publicize the program.


It seems pretty clear that the days of receiving over the air television is done further creating a situation where to get even basic local news and information it's going to be only by radio, well, until that goes all satellite too...

4 comments:

Scott G said...

I was going to say the radio won't be far behind, but you slipped it in and stole my thunder. We have satellite because most of what we watch is on cable and I am addicted to the History Channel and The Daily Show

Anonymous said...

Technology can only grow when there's more bandwidth. Someday soon there will be a better free technology than air waves but the space must come from somewhere.

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

There are already plans for rebanding all broadcast technologies in order to make even more use of the spectrum.

Their last attempt (cutting down the spacing between same channel stations and issuing more broadcast licenses has IMO, failed miserably.

No comment on the next plan ;-)

Anonymous said...

No, there will be digital terrestrial broadcast...actually its already here. With your digital tuner today you would be getting about 7 free over the air digital broadcasts. Its time to chuck that typewriter for one of the new fangled computer thingies! :-) Go here to check your reception and optimal antenna orientation:

http://www.antennaweb.org/

You SHOULD be able to find a digital tuner that downgrades and converts digital signal to your old TV also if you didn't want to buy both at once.