At 8:52 AM -0500 3/31/05, Bob Miller wrote: > >Things are changing possibly. What I am hearing is that they agree with >all the issues and will get on board if I can show that others will be >there with them. > >You are right about the need for a plan. But there is real interest. > It's kind of like those car commercials with the mechanic saying..."you can pay me now or pay later. " The little guys all know that they are going to be squeezed out eventually. They would like to see the rules of the game change, but they do not have the lobbying clout to wage a real figth for their survival. If you really want to be serious, you need to work in the trenches. You need for the stations to set up meetings with the Congressional representatives for their market(s). Forget the Senate, these guys run statewide and even nationally now, and have fewer concerns about the possibility that local stations might go away. You need to scare the hell out of guys who run every two years; the guys who depend on those local news casts to stay in front of the voters. The key is for the local station guys to propose something meaningful. Just complaining won;t help. They need to have a real story about REAL COMPETITION. They need to tell their representatives that there is plenty of spectrum to compete head-to-head with cable, but the entire broadcast system needs to be overhauled creating a real marketplace for the distribution of digital media content. And they need to emphasize that a properly designed system can deliver new digital media services to fixed, portable and mobile receivers - services that include EVERYTHING that can be represented with bits. They will get NO SUPPORT from the NAB, large station groups, radio broadcasters, or the networks in this effort... Regards Craig ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.