[opendtv] Re: --FCC OKs WiFi between TV channels
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 20:11:00 -0400
Tom Barry wrote:
> I've sometimes thought that but that alone doesn't explain why they
> seem to want to hold the duplicate spectrum forever. I've been
> corrected a number of times on this by people associated with or
> sympathetic to the broadcast industry. The broadcasters spend a huge
> amount of money on power and duplicate effort continuing the
> drawn out dual TV transition.
>
> And yet they give every impression of wanting to continue in this
> fashion, so I assume that is what they choose for some
> reason. If all
> they wanted was must carry rights on cable and satellite then
> it seems
> they would support a faster transition, even if they didn't believe
> anyone was yet watching it digitally.
>
> I can offer no good explanation for this but it seems the
> broadcasters
> strategy is two pronged: Hang onto spectrum and hang onto must carry.
Tom, what other recourse do broadcasers have?
From their point of view, even if the numbers only add up to 15
percent of their viewership, the *only* OTA worth preserving at
this time is NTSC. They need that NTSC channel with or without
the DTV channel. But the DTV channel is compulsory, so they must
retain both frequency allocations.
The odd thing about this transition is that walking into a store,
no one would ever guess it has been taking place for the last 6
years plus.
We have recently seen a couple of cases where stations were willing
to give up NTSC. In each case, IIRC, the rationale given was that
they wouldn't lose much viewership anyway. The rationale was *NOT*
that they would promote their DTV channel, and would save energy
costs in the process.
Imagine how successful UHF would have been, had UHF receivers
continued to be only an external converter, costing upwards of
$100, and only available if buyers made a concerted effort of
finding anyone who would sell them. My guess is that cable would
have taken hold a lot sooner than it did, under such
circumstances. That's precisely how this DTV transition is
turning out.
Bert
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