RadioBanter - The Wonders of HD Radio.

On Feb 6, 11:39*am, D Peter Maus wrote:
Mark Zenier wrote:
In article ,
D Peter Maus wrote:
* 4) There was also no mandate to update television to digital
technology. It was all to be 'voluntary' and market driven. Expectations
were that the public would suck up HD TV receivers at record rates, and
that analog would be turned off only at 85% of market penetration. And
that was to be market by market. There were no mandates. However, the
market didn't respond, in precisely the same way the market hasn't
responded to HD.

Remember that the plot changed in there. *Back when,in the early 1990s,
the idea was that the consumers would clamor for HD was before the
Internet hit big. *Before the new Communications Act. *Before there
were a zillion dot.com spawned Wireless ideas all grabbing for bandwidth,
and pumping up the prices in the spectrum auctions.

The mandate came because the Feds are impatient to get their hands on
the dollars they can get for all those kilohertz*square kilometers of
"protected area" caused by the poor interference rejection of analog
video. *A demand that wasn't there when they first came up with this
DTV stuff.

* *The demand still isn't there. And wouldn't be there save for the
mandate. Which was my point. The technology is there, but there isn't as
much interest as there needs to be for the 'voluntary' conversion to
work. And while the spectrum auction is a big motivator, the amount of
spectrum being auctioned is not very large. *A larger motivator, by far,
is the lobby pressure to force uptake of the DTV technology. Again, and
enormous investment in R&D, testing and broadcast installation wasn't
about to be left to the voluntary whims of the mass for return.
Broadcasters took a big lesson from the failure of AM Stereo and the
waffling by the FCC in that matter.

* *There was talk of mandating a conversion to DTV from well before the
implementation of the first HDTV installations.

* *Not that the Feds didn't smell money. They did. No question.

A mandate was necessary to drive conversion and speed
the uptake of DTV technology. *It wasn't until the mandate...it wasn't
until the date was set and publicized...that DTV sales blossomed.

I disagree. *ATSC is a gold plated monster, and they had to wait this
long for Moore's Law to catch up and the semiconductors get cheap
enough for a box somebody would buy. *Europe just went with SD digital
telvison and they've already finished their conversion. *Boxes there
are something like $25 and have been available for several years.
Ours are $50-$70 and are only becoming available NOW.

* *I wouldn't be so eager to compare European broadcast to our own. The
rules are different and have been since inception. Conversion in Germany
can take a fraction of the time due to the nature of the
broadcast/government relationship. And the quick adoption of new
technology that's a part of their culture.

Add in media consolidation, and penny pinching at the stations
(when a lot of their advertisers and audience went to new media) *
that put them on the air only 3-5 years ago. (At least around here).

And the competition from cable and DBS at the retail outlets. *Even
while ATSC has been on the air here for a few years, you had to really
search for something that could pick it up, and not get steered to
the Direct TV display at the local big box store. *The local stations
would have trouble matching whatever "sale incentives" the subscription
services could provide.

It's going to be interesting when these cheap DTV converter boxes
start to get sold and a bunch of cable/satellite subscriptions get
dropped. *(http://www.dtv2009.gov to see how to get up to two $40
coupons/gift cards from your government). * What is going to
happen to the subscription services' stock prices.

* *All good points. I myself have been receiving ATSC for a while, now..
And I nearly had to build what I needed. There was nothing out there
that would meet my requirements. Still isn't much. I've made the
conversion without investment in a new receiver. At least not yet.

-*But I'm hearing a lot of conversation among pretty involved
- and informed individuals who don't really understand the
- 2/17/09 deadline, or what it really means.

They just spent a kilobuck on a new TV a few
years ago, and have no intention of buying a new set. There's also been
a LOT of misinformation about DTV muddying those waters. Of 7 people at
the table, last night, only 2 of us understand that neither satellite,
nor cable are necessary for DTV reception.

* *ATSC is selling well. Now. But not so before the conversion deadline
became public fodder. Until that time, resistance was high. I'm even
hearing bitching at the local Best Buy that 'only these damned HDTV sets
are out here...I just want a TV for the
bedroom/office/kitchen/garage...I don't need a damned theatre.'

* *Many just do not understand.

* *Without the mandate, the uptake would have been much slower than it
is now.

* *Inertia is a part of our culture.

* *Which again, is my point about HD radio. The uptake of the technology
is slow. Virtually dead. There is no way, absent effective education
about the content possibilities to drive public interest, short of a
mandate.

* *And having the best Congress and FCC money can buy, I wouldn't rule
out a mandate to force the conversion.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

DOH ! - Why the 17 February 2009 Analog TV is Dead-Line ?
Can We All Say - = ? D E A D L I N E ? = - aka : Black-Out !
[ And Just What Do It Mean? ]

Hint - It comes after the 2008 Christmas YV Buying Season
and the Greatest New "HDTV" XMSS Sale Event-in-History !

Hint Hint - It comes after the 2009 SuperBowl TV Buying Season
and the Greatest New "HDTV" SPORTS Sale Event-in-History ! ! !

The Challenge : "Meeting the Digital TV Deadline"
http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...128_135558.htm

* U.S. Consumers have just over a year to get ready for the
Government-Mandated Switch to Digital HDTV from the
{Evil} Less Efficient [Decades-Old] Analog TV System.

* It's a Matter of Public Safety - Federal Officials say the
Upgrade to All Digital "HDTV" will free-up big chunks of
valuable Broadcast Airwaves for Public Safety Providers,
such as Police and Fire Departments, and First Responders

* Plus for American Consumers {TV Watchers} it will provide
a Sharper, more Vibrant, and Trouble Free Picture.

* HDTV Sales are Fueled by Fear of the Great Analog Black-Out !

* HDTV Retailers 'Strategize' to Sell Consumer "Up To" :
New and Improved HDTVs that are not only Digital but . . .
+ Bigger then Ever
+ Brighter then Before
+ Colors that are Rich and Vibrant
+ Featuring Dynamic High Contrast

Give HDTV Retailers Two Shots At Selling Consumers a
New HDTV and Growing the US Economy in the process.

it's a 'vision' thing ~ RHF