Mark Schubin wrote: >> They probably lost a lot of people in the >> meantime, to cable or DBS, but then again, >> the stations probably prefer it that way. > > Please explain why broadcasters would prefer > to lose audience to cable or DBS. It's because the major network affiliates can demand a percentage of the MVPD subscriber fee, per household, per month, making more revenues than they supposedly do from just the OTA ads. It's not like people can't get their signal, even if they don't get it OTA. And the must-carry stations, which aren't able to extract anything back from the MVPD subscription fees, still benefit in the sense that they can get lazier about the adequacy of their RF coverage. They use the must-carry rule to piggyback on someone else's distribution pipe. Craig has been saying this for a long time. I think he may be correct on this, simply because broadcasters seem loathe to advertise anything about their OTA signals, or even to make the best use of their OTA channel. OTA use is entirely left to the resources of the most stubborn consumers. Possibly, maybe, something might change in this regard, but only with respect to M/H users, is my bet. Bert _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.