[opendtv] Re: Marketing HD
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 08:45:46 -0500
At 1:19 PM -0500 2/21/05, John Shutt wrote:
>I have been to many viewer's homes over the years to help with reception
>issues. I have done so when I worked for an ABC affiliate, and I have done
>so working with my current PBS affiliate.
>
>Believe me, if you call with a reception problem, we follow up and will
>visit the home with a spectrum analyzer if necessary. And by "we" I mean
>both my current and previous employer.
I commend you and your employers for taking this issue seriously. It
is good to know that there are some broadcasters who are willing to
put at least some resources into this effort.
But I think even you can see the shortcomings of this approach. The
infrequent calls to provide help are not much of a nuisance. It may
even give the engineering staff a good excuse to get out in the field
and see what's going on.
Now flash forward a bit to whatever date that NTSC is turned off and
the Government starts handing out ATSC receivers. How may of these
service calls can you support per day? Five, Ten?
What if you get 100 calls per day for assistance?
The truth is that reception is only one small part of the problem.
Receivers are getting much more complex. There are multiple ways to
screw things up. My family cannot even figure out how to switch
inputs from cable to DVD, or how to select between the different
screen accommodation modes.
What happens when the consumer plugs in that new ATSC STB and it
scans for services. Will you work with the customer to help them
create an antenna scheme that will pull in all of the stations in the
market, including your competitors?
Your competitors are rolling trucks with service people who have
(barely) enough knowledge to establish reliable service, with systems
where reception is not an issue. You have antenna guides on the web
that predict what the customer will need to establish service.
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.
Other related posts:
