[opendtv] Re: Pew Research, Luxuries and MVPD Subscriptions
- From: "John Shutt" <shuttj@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:19:29 -0400
In a similar vein (ignore the part about OTA being uncompressed!):
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=475052
Antenna Makers Put Free TV On Radar Of A Pay-TV Society
By PATRICK SEITZ, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILYPosted 04/24/2009 05:39 PM ET
The lowly TV antenna is making a comeback, and bringing free TV along with it.
Sales of over-the-air TV antennas jumped last year thanks to the digital TV
transition, as users upgrade their gear for better reception.
At the same time, some consumers looking to save money in today's economy are
dumping cable and satellite pay TV services in favor of free broadcast
television.
Makers of antennas, as well as local broadcasters, hope to drive more viewers
to free television by touting its merits.
Besides being free, broadcast television offers the best high-definition
picture quality, because it's uncompressed. Cable and satellite operators
compress their HD channels in order to squeeze in more channels on their
bandwidth, which degrades their quality.
Plus, most local broadcasters are now multicasting, with each providing up to
six extra subchannels for viewers to enjoy.
Even if they can't persuade pay TV customers to switch to broadcast-only,
antenna makers and broadcasters hope to get them to at least use antennas on
secondary televisions in the home. Once households experience free TV, they
might be willing to make the switch at some point, people in the industry say.
"We're seeing a huge uptick" in TV antenna sales, said Lou Lenzi, senior vice
president of product management for Audiovox 's (VOXX) antenna manufacturing
unit. "Some of our customers are reporting anywhere from a 50% to 100% increase
in sales over the past 12 months."
Audiovox of Hauppauge, N.Y., makes RCA and Terk-brand antennas. Audiovox's
accessories business, which includes antennas, accounted for 26% of its 2008
sales.
June 12 Deadline
Most of the sales increase is because of the digital TV transition, Lenzi says.
U.S. TV stations are set to cease analog broadcasts on June 12 and go digital
only.
Households that use over-the-air antennas must buy converter boxes to continue
receiving programming if they have analog or early model digital TV sets.
Cable, satellite and telecom TV services are not affected because they provide
their own set-top boxes to subscribers.
Last year, most customers buying over-the-air antennas were videophiles who
wanted the best possible HD video for their high-end home theater systems, says
Richard Schneider, president and founder of Antennas Direct, a St. Louis-based
maker and distributor of antennas. Lately, more customers are buying antennas
for economic reasons, he says.
"A lot of people are rethinking spending $50 to $100 a month on pay TV," said
Grant Whipple, national sales manager for antenna manufacturer Winegard, of
Burlington, Iowa. "People are talking about not going out to eat or cutting out
this or that, but I can save a lot of people well over $1,000 a year by putting
up an antenna."
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