Rabbit-Ear Users Don’t Know The End (of Analog TV) Is Near
This from a post on the NY Times Bits blog:
In less than 14 months, any traditional television set still connected to its antenna will receive nothing but static, as the broadcasting industry cuts over completely to its new digital frequencies.
A recent poll by the marketing arm of the cable industry shows that most people still have no clue this is going to happen.
In a telephone survey in November of 1,017 people, only 48 percent said they had heard about the switch to digital television. And only 17 percent correctly identified 2009 as the year that analog television will be cut off. (The survey had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.)
Did you know this? I didn’t! Not that it really bothers me – I’m all digital at home (DVR included) – but this may be a shock to people like Dan and others I know who don’t have digital cable.
Related posts:
This only impacts those getting television signals over-the-air (a.k.a. “rabbit-ears”):
To the best of my understanding, analog cable service is unaffected — at least by this mandate from the FCC to turn off analog over-the-air broadcasting. Personally, I like analog cable service because until recently digital cable service required a cable box, and the tuner I have in my TV and VCR does just fine. (And our household doesn’t see the need to have Pay-Per-View movies and other features which require two-way communication with the cable company’s head end.)
Note: Digital broadcasts make use of the old UHF bandwidth. So, those with an existing ‘loop’ or a Yagi antenna do not have to buy a “digital’ antenna. Many electronics dealers try to convince you otherwise. Get a digital tuner or converter and hook it up to your old antenna and you are ready to go.
DTV signals are highly directional. To tweek your reception check out http://www.antennaweb.org/ to locate the location of your local broadcast antennas in relation to your home.
This only impacts those getting television signals over-the-air (a.k.a. “rabbit-ears”):
To the best of my understanding, analog cable service is unaffected — at least by this mandate from the FCC to turn off analog over-the-air broadcasting. Personally, I like analog cable service because until recently digital cable service required a cable box, and the tuner I have in my TV and VCR does just fine. (And our household doesn’t see the need to have Pay-Per-View movies and other features which require two-way communication with the cable company’s head end.)
Note: Digital broadcasts make use of the old UHF bandwidth. So, those with an existing ‘loop’ or a Yagi antenna do not have to buy a “digital’ antenna. Many electronics dealers try to convince you otherwise. Get a digital tuner or converter and hook it up to your old antenna and you are ready to go.
DTV signals are highly directional. To tweek your reception check out http://www.antennaweb.org/ to locate the location of your local broadcast antennas in relation to your home.
Just got this in the mail from Circuit City: http://tinyurl.com/2aukdg . Obviously there is a sales pitch, but it’s useful information if you’re wondering what you might have to buy.
Just got this in the mail from Circuit City: http://tinyurl.com/2aukdg . Obviously there is a sales pitch, but it’s useful information if you’re wondering what you might have to buy.