At 9:16 AM -0400 10/22/04, Mark Schubin wrote: >Terry Harvey wrote: > >>If US broadcasters really cared about the future of their industry, they >>would have promoted digital OTA, pushed harder for better production >>quality and extended services etc.(the often upconverted MPEG-NTSC >>mutilation is dire), To date the broadcasters have not done so and as a >>result US terrestrial DTV continues to languish. >> >I would like to suggest a perfectly good reason why broadcasters had not >done so previously. > >Until the 5th-generation LG receiver (which is not yet available to the >public) was tried in my home, I had selective DTT reception. In one >antenna location (not merely orientation), I could receive only Fox. > So, if other broadcasters were to promote DTT to viewers like me, they >would potentially be driving audience to their competitors. > >It is significant, I believe, that Sinclair began promoting DTT in >earnest after their testing of the 5th-generation LG receiver. > >As for production, it takes time to justify a change of recently >purchased equipment, but, as technical supervisor of many broadcast >shows, I can assure you that more and more of my work is in HDTV. > >TTFN, >Mark Both arguments are completely valid. Yes, the lack of viable receivers did provide a good excuse for doing nothing. But is the corollary necessarily true. That is, will the existence of receiver that work cause broadcasters to start promoting DTV? Singling out Sinclair as an example is kind'a ironic. It is clear that they are the Mavrick of TV land. I doubt that they would have a huge impact on DTV uptake if they ran promotional ads for DTV 24/7 on all of their stations. What matters is whether Joe Six-Pack is going to give up cable or DBS and rely on an antenna. Yes, some brave souls will put up an antenna to supplement their MPVD service, especially those with DBS. But this is not enough to bring about a significant change. I see no evidence that the broadcast networks (like those that Sinclair stations carry) are going to start promoting DTV at the expense of NTSC. I see no evidence that most local stations are going to promote DTV. The one area where 5th Gen receivers are likely to have a positive impact is with USDTV. This makes their service much more viable from a technical perspective. The jury is still out on the viability of the business model. Regards Craig P.S. Having said all of this, the pending FCC ruling on digital cable carriage is likely to have a larger impact on the future of DTV than 5th Gen receivers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.