[opendtv] Re: Performance Report: Zenith DTT900

  • From: "Adam Goldberg" <adam_g@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 09:46:46 -0500

One issue with what Craig wrote:

"programming info. And there is no unified program guide with ATSC - 
you ave to tune to each station to get IT'S guide.  With cable and 
DBS you get a unified program guide that typically goes out a full"

It's not a problem that a receiver needs to look at each broadcast to
collect up guide data (via PSIP).  It's less convenient to a receiver, to be
sure, but to the viewer it doesn't matter (a receiver can gather guide data
overnight in an active-standby state ... just like satellite receivers do
for data many days away).

-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:31 AM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: Performance Report: Zenith DTT900

At 4:56 PM -0500 2/5/08, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>
>  > And as i recall, you can get 30 channels of free OTA TV in
>>  Germany.
>
>Whatever the number, I'll bet I can beat it already today. And that's
>without any concerted effort from the broadcasters. Although on a
>brighter note, I finally saw my very first 2/18/2009 PSA just last
>weekend! Yoohoo! I think it was on Fox. It's only been just under one
>decade since DTT began here.

Give it up Bert, you're not even close.

You have duplicate channels because you are between two markets that 
are close together. In terms of high value content you get less tan 
10 choices. At "some" times of day you get more syndicated programs, 
but even these are duplicated in the two markets, perhaps at 
different times.

You do not have access to any cable networks.

In Germany the DTV system carries the same channels as the cable 
systems. They had 27 DIFFERENT channels at launch,

>
>>  The reality is that cable and DBS STBs dominate the market in
>>  the U.S.
>
>And again, in Germany, the cable/DBS subscription accounted for a
>whopping 91 percent of households before DTT was even introduced. And
>yet, you didn't see CE vendors shying away from the market, did you?

No, because there IS a viable market in Germany, where you can get 
virtually the same channels on cable, satellite AND DTV.

>
>What I'm saying, Craig, is that your analysis is lacking in some very
>key elements. Vendors do not develop markets by shying away timidly, or
>by pricing their product way above what the market will bear. Retail
>stores do not promote sales by hiding product categories.

Retail stores shy away from products that have a very limited market 
and the potential for a high rate of returns. You bought you Acurian 
at a Firesale- it had been on the market for a year and these boxes 
were NOT selling at Radio Shack.

The main reason why, Bert, is that the vast majority of viewers in 
the U.S. gave up on free OTA TV by 1990. DTV offers little more than 
analog, just a prettier picture. People are interested in content 
Bert - stuff they cannot get from the broadcasters.

>
>You can't market an OTA PVR for $1000, completely fail to promote it,
>and then use that as an excuse that there are "no customers." These are
>the tactics used by those with a secret agenda.

Once again Bert, there is not conspiracy here. The vast majority of 
those who still rely on OTA are in lower income groups that would not 
be in the market for a PVR. This is exacerbated by the terrible job 
that U.S. broadcasters are doing with PSIP. It is difficult to 
program a PVR when stations offer no more than 24 hours of 
programming info. And there is no unified program guide with ATSC - 
you ave to tune to each station to get IT'S guide.  With cable and 
DBS you get a unified program guide that typically goes out a full 
week - but more important, you get networks that you might actually 
want to watch.

>
>So, I don't buy your explanations.
>

Nothing new there. You rarely if ever have...

been right.

Regards
Craig
 
 
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