[opendtv] Re: US switchover awareness 'stuck at 30%
- From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 10:26:46 -0800
In this context, "news" is really entertainment. "Emergency broadcasts"
generally don't mean watching TV in comfort many hundreds of miles from the
trouble.
There seems to be continuing confusion on this. When a big earthquake hits
this region, those in the know tune into KNX 1070 (CBS) Los Angeles. They
quickly go into emergency mode and their reporters call-in on the air to
report what happened in their homes (assuming the thing hits at night or in
the wee hours, which is usually the case). Before a single TV newsperson
can get to the studio and get their makeup on, one gets in a half-hour a
sense of the trouble. (One also usually knows by this time if one has
survived, and in what fashion.)
In the evening, the newscasts will show us the pretty pictures. Long after
all but the most severly affected have moved on.
I'm still pondering 1) how you could have cable TV service yet use OTA
exclusively, and 2) how if you use OTA exclusively that you know your cable
system doesn't carry WNJN. Is "exclusively" still an absolute in your
dictionary?
John Willkie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Mark Schubin
> Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 9:53 AM
> To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [opendtv] Re: US switchover awareness 'stuck at 30%
>
> Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> > What this piece misses is that only 15 percent of US households will be
> > affected by any analog switchoff,
> That's a common refrain -- as common as the old "HDTV can use fewer
> cameras."
>
> I agree that perhaps 15% (or fewer) U.S. households rely exclusively on
> OTA reception. I'm one of them. But I use OTA exclusively for two TV
> sets, and when a retransmission dispute took WABC-TV off my cable feed I
> used rabbit ears for that. I also use a UHF bow tie to pick up WNJN,
> which my cable system doesn't carry.
>
> Somewhere around 30% of U.S. TV households get satellite service, but
> perhaps as many as half of those use OTA for broadcasts, too.
>
> When a storm knocks down cables and blows over dishes, OTA is the only
> TV that's left, and, despite all the sensible statements that radio
> makes more sense in emergencies, survey after survey shows most people
> rely on TV for news.
>
> So it's not an "only 15%" issue. Even if it were, that would be 45
> million people.
>
> TTFN,
> Mark
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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: