[opendtv] Re: Technology years
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:19:38 -0500
At 8:50 PM -0500 1/18/07, flyback1 wrote:
Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Dale Kelly wrote:
However, the one aspect of this long discussion, which I
simply can not comprehend, is the notion that the eight
years lost awaiting the development of workable VSB
receivers is of little consequence to the OTA industry.
I agree. Eight wasted years. COFDM would not have changed that.
COFDM would have changed everything because it would have worked
right out of the box,
right off the bat.
Maybe Bert and Cliff are both correct.
There can be little doubt that most U.S. broadcasters could care less
about DTV - they are focused like a laser beam on redistribution via
cable and now DBS and Telco, for one reason:
The ability to get paid TWICE for advertiser supported programming.
COFDM would have done NOTHING to change this.
BUT...
Please note that I said "most U.S. broadcasters." I did not say all.
Some, like Sinclair, recognized the potential to develop new
businesses in the spectrum with COFDM. Some would have tried to
figure out how to make more money with COFDM; NONE have figured out
how to use 8-VSB to make more money.
And this is critical to the discussion.
With 8-VSB, broadcasters are locked into their current business
model. The only change is that they can to a limited extent try
multicasting, however, there are virtually no receivers to multicast
to. With COFDM they could have launched new services with receivers
that actually worked. Services that they could use as leverage with
their current content providers.
Building a new business from the ground up is not easy, but there are
people like Ted Turner and John Malone who proved it could be done.
Perhaps David Smith at Sinclair might have taken even bigger risks,
if the company could have used COFDM to create an alternative to
today's broken broadcast business model. Instead, they were forced to
join in the death march to the digital cliff.
Regards
Craig
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