[opendtv] Public Safety Implications During Analog Shutdown
- From: "Stephen W. Long" <longsw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 09:49:17 -0400
Craig,
I am troubled by your comments about he poor described below, but I am not
going to debate that issue on this forum.
A point that is lost in almost all of these discussions is the role over
the air television plays in broadcasting public safety information during
times of crisis. When the cable goes out (every rain storm in my
neighborhood) and the DirecTV goes out (during heavy snow or
thunderstorms), with OTA analog broadcasting I can still get a picture to
see the local weather and similar information. If 50 million Americans do
not have working OTA TV reception because of lack of receivers, that is a
security problem, not just a matter of someone not willing or able to pay a
cable bill.
To misquote a FCC staffer, when I asked these same questions back in ~1998
(99?) when 8VSB reception was observed to be so problematic, the staffer
said - let them eat cake - radio would be used during emergencies. Radio
does not show me where the tornados are on a map so I can relate the threat
to where my family is. Other than in my car, I do not listen to radio
anymore - there is little on the music radio channels that appeals to me
anymore, so I do not have a "relationship" with any radio broadcaster, such
that I immediately think of listening to station Z to get my news and
information. I now listen to XM radio in my car, since there is 24 hour
news and traffic and music I want to listen to.
We are essentially guaranteeing a public safety melt down if people can not
receive OTA television broadcasts. I hope someone has a plan for the
months following shutdown - remind me to be way far away from urban centers
when the transmitters all shut down. The "bring back my TV" protest
marches alone will tie up traffic for days.
I am going to try to buy a DTV receiver today. I have little faith it will
work at my house (no 8VSB receiver to date has been shown to work for even
50% of the stations I should be able to receive), but I will at least have
a more current receiver with "miracle" chips - maybe it will work. Note
that I recently installed an older DirecTV/8VSB receiver (my brother no
longer needed the receiver once he got an HDTV Tivo). During setup, I
watched the signal meter on each 8VSB channel. Signal strength changed
from 60% to zero almost constantly, on most all channels, which is further
evidence known for some time now that there is some sort of wicked
multipath going on in my neighborhood.
My comments are my own. SWL
At 08:20 AM 10/10/2005 -0400, Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>At 6:44 PM -0400 10/9/05, Stephen W. Long wrote:
>>How is it also possible for stores to be able to continue to sell analog
>>only TV sets. The stores are full of them.
>
>Because they can.
>
>Because there is STILL a huge market for them. And these sets will
>KEEP WORKING after the NTSC transmitters shut down, no matter what
>the source of signal:
>
>- analog cable tiers
>- subsidized digital STBs for cable and DBS
>- Telcos anxious to grab subscribers from cable and DBS
>
>>
>>This is going to be ugly. To really put the icing on the cake, we should
>>shut off the analog transmitters on the Saturday midnight of Super Bowl
>>weekend. At nice touch don't you think? SWL
>>
>
>I think everyone is making a big deal out of a mole hill here.
>
>Are millions of illegal aliens going to march on the Capitol
>demanding that NTSC service be restored? Are the poor, who do not
>currently subscribe to a multi-channel service - a very high
>percentage do as they need something to do while sitting home all day
>waiting for their government checks - going to start voting for
>Republicans?
>
>The reality is that the television landscape has changed forever. The
>media conglomerates are the ones calling the shots theses days, and
>they understand that the era of "Free TV" will FINALLY come to a
>close when the NTSC transmitters are shut down. The conglomerates
>know that people will pay for TV, even the poor.
>
>The thing one needs to be asking now is: "What is the strategy of
>broadcasters to help move these millions of NTSC laggards to DTV?"
>
>Does anyone here believe that cheap set-top boxes, which only work
>with an antenna, and offer no improved services over what the NTSC
>laggards get today, is going to retain these viewers and help the
>broadcasters to grow their market share?
>
>Even government largess is not enough to protect those who seek to
>control a marketplace that is undergoing fundamental changes.
>
>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.
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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: