Bert wrote:
Bert, it's been a decade already. Outside the relatively small group of engineers and techhies -- readers of forums like this and AVS -- people will NOT experiment with DTT any longer. And why should they? Does it provide all the channels they want? No. Does it have a usable EPG? No. After 10 years of experimentation and "the next generation products will be better," your arguments are becoming very quaint. The gorgeous high-def video that consumers increasingly want IS available, for a larger number of the channels they watch, with a working EPG, from at least 2 sources and sometimes 3 sources in most urban areas. Yes, those are pay TV sources, but most people are accustomed to paying for quality and service in most areas of their lives -- the idea that TV must be free is a leftover from an earlier generation. And DTT isn't exactly free anyway -- it still requires a one-time investment in new equipment, just to do the "experiment."As I said, people WILL experiment with DTT, but to encourage that, you have to start with an attractive price. Then that will in turn lead to more interest in more expensive sets. This seems SO OBVIOUS.
The only demographics where U.S. DTT as it exists today might be a viable business is (a) low-income households, where economic reality is more urgent than wish fulfillment, and (b) middle & upper income households that don't watch very much TV and/or are perfectly satisfied with only a handful of content options.
A CE company would have to be crazy to invest in those niche markets at the expense of investing more in developing products for the much larger market of pay TV households.
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