Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition 318
An anonymous reader tips news that the US Senate has passed another bill to delay the transition to digital TV. This is the second such bill to pass the Senate; the first was narrowly defeated in the House. The new version has an important difference — it would allow the transition to take place gradually over the four-month period between the original transition date (February 17th) and the extended date (June 12th). TV stations around the country could choose when they wanted to make the change, allowing those who have already begun plans to stop analog transmission to continue their shut-down operations.
Oh, yeah, that'll work (Score:5, Informative)
Firstly, there's a pigeonhole problem here -- in order for some stations to take up their final digital frequency assignments, other stations will have to move theirs (usually back to their analog channel). This is one of the main reasons it was to be done all at once in the first place.
Secondly, this is going to be even MORE confusing. OK, so the person living in a cave for the past few months who comes out turns on their TV on February 18 would have gotten nothing. But at least they'd have some clue that something is wrong. With a gradual transition, maybe they'll lose CBS but not NBC and Fox... then the next month they'll lose Fox but keep CBS, etc. That's not making things any simpler.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Informative)
Some people took action, but didn't get one.
I was in the store in the early days of the coupon thing looking for digital tuners to compare. Best Buy and the other stores were totally out of them. If I gotten my coupons back then I might not have been able to get one because the coupons expire in 30 days.
Right now a lot of people have applied for coupons, but they are out. So although those folks took action and applied, they won't be getting one until the govt decides to print out another batch.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Informative)
Uh, they've already sold off the old frequency used by the analog stations to Verizon. They aren't moving the digital stations.
Because of the analog stations still in operation and the interference issues from so many (digital AND analog) stations being on at once, some of the digital transmitters operating now are on temporary channels and WILL move again at transition time. That certainly applies to the stations using channels above 51.
Although your digital receiver probably displays a number with a decimal after it as the channel, much of the time that number is the old analog channel not the channel actually being used for the digital transmission.
With stations shifting around and a few new ones appearing, viewers will need to use the scan-channel or add channel functions to get the new/moved signals. So even those that think they're already set up have a little work left to do to see everything that their equipment can get.
Re:Oh, yeah, that'll work (Score:4, Informative)
All our local channels say they aren't delaying, no matter what the congress decides. There are reports last time this came up that some stations have already switched.
Imagine you're running IT/electrical for one of these channels. You've been planning for months to shut everything off on a certain date. You're planning on rolling out digital channels in early Feb and cutting the analog mid Feb, it'll cost a ton to just switch that plan up.
The old bill allowed analogs off early too. (Score:4, Informative)
The original bill [loc.gov] didn't require analog stations to stay on until June either.
(if the link breaks, try this PDF link [gpo.gov])
See Sec. 4, paragraph (a) which states in part: "Nothing in this Act is intended to prevent a licensee of a television broadcast station from terminating the broadcasting of such station's analog television signal (and continuing to broadcast exclusively in the digital television service) prior to the date established by law under section 3002(b) of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 for termination of all licenses for full-power television stations in the analog television service (as amended by section 2 of this Act) so long as such prior termination is conducted in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's requirements in effect on the date of enactment of this Act,.."
(typical government wordiness)
What it means is that before this bill was introduced, stations could sign off their analogs before Feb. 17th upon giving 30 days notice to the FCC and the viewers. Should the bill pass into law, paragraph (a) ensures they can still sign off before June 12th, again provided they give 30 days notice.
Several hundred stations have already given such notice. Including most of the major-network affiliates in Nashville, New Orleans, and Wichita among other cities.
The proposed new bill [loc.gov] (PDF version [gpo.gov]) contains the same paragraph.
Re:ONE question (Score:3, Informative)
No, Clearwire isn't involved in the DTV transition.
Clearwire and Sprint have a near-lock on the 2500-2690 MHz band. Nextel and Sprint (before the merger) had been buying up licenses there, some of which were originally MMDS "wireless cable" (an early-1990s failure). They also have leases on some of the educational channels there (held by universities, schools, and churches -- the Catholic Church is the largest holder).
The 700 MHz bands were auctioned off, with Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, and other cellular/mobile providers being the major buyers. VZW and ATT bid them up high in a desperate move to keep newcomers from getting the licenses. Also, Qualcomm bought two TV channels (55 and 56) for MediaFlo.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:1, Informative)
If everyone had been more proactive, nothing would be different. We would still not have enough money for everyone to get a tuner.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Informative)
"Why is everyone entitled to a coupon?"
Because the government sold a public resource, the airwaves, to private companies. The funds from that sale go to provide the money for the coupons.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:2, Informative)
Yes it works, but what benefits did we truly get from switching so early?
(I'm really asking for your opinion of what's better, not trying to flame.)
Terrestial feed is so crowded that the quality of signal is barely watchable on a 26" flat screen.
( Did you see Tekniikan Maailma's review this summer?)
Cable is a bit better. Practically the only difference is electrical TV-Guide, news are still brought by Text-TV and I can't come up with anything else.
Well, u can remove subtitles and change the audio language, though the language part was possible in analog tv. I don't use either feature, though some of course might.
Now we have a nation full of Digital tuners that are not capable of HD feed... ...and I really think switching to HD is going to take forever because of this.
No politician is going to commit the political suicide of "Remember how we forced you to switch to Digital TV just a couple years ago? Well, we are going to do it again."
Our switch was rushed and in retrospect IMHO for all the wrong reasons. The technological advances that were part of the initial reasons for the switch never came to life and the switch date was kept because it had been set without considering if it really was the right time.
Re:No digital TV conversion ever... (Score:2, Informative)
How did this post get modded as "Insightful?" It's loaded with misinformation and displays a keen lack of insight. A troll, perhaps?
It is nevertheless your opinion.
Been asleep for a while? We passed the verge nearly a decade ago.
Ever heard of radio?
Funny, I thought NASA was still in business. For starters, they've launched dozens of satellites and probes in the last few years, are scheduled to embark on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in the next few months, and they perform a considerable amount of research related to studying our own planet.
No problem, as long as it is informed and honest. Keep trying.