DTV Switch-Over To Be Delayed Until 2009?

[BJ_M]

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the FCC and Congress may be looking to a loophole to delay the mandate for broadcasters to switch from analog to digital broadcasts. Right now, TV broadcasters are mandated to have their signals converted to digital (HDTV in most cases) by the end of 2006.

In most major cities in the United States, the main networks already have HDTV versions of their programming being sent over the air (terrestrial DTV). At the same time, satellite providers like DirecTV announced plans to launch a number of new satellites that will be primarily dedicated to local HDTV programming. Cable providers currently offer much of the digital spectrum via their cable services. Both Dish Network and DirecTV offer a limited number of network channels in HDTV, as well as a growing number of national channels of HDTV, including Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, Bravo HD, ESPN HD and many others.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell is quoted as saying at a Senate Commerce Committee meeting in September 2004, “Having a deadline of 2009 will add millions more digital sets to the marketplace before analog signals are turned off." What Powell fails to acknowledge is that the sales of DTV sets are at record highs (400,000 to 800,000 sets per month, according to multiple Consumer Electronics Association studies in 2004) and are literally driving the consumer electronics and home theater business. DTV prices have radically dropped as technology has progressed. An entry-level rear-projection HDTV can be had for around $1,500 and often includes a card that allows for the tuning of HDTV via satellite or digital cable, thereby removing the additional cost of an HDTV tuner.

American consumers are officially aware of HDTV, which is no small feat. HDTV is being promoted viciously on the major networks, yet as an advertising medium, HDTV doesn’t capture an audience that is large enough to earn the big ad dollars. That is, for now. As audiences grow, advertisers will look to the better aspect ratio (16:9 HDTV is wider than traditional TV) and the dramatically superior image quality. While critics argue over whether consumers can hear the fine details in recorded music, nobody denies the impressive difference between traditional NTSC video and HDTV video. The picture is just that much better.

No one is saying that Congress or the FCC should disenfranchise less affluent viewers by forcing them to toss their analog sets with a 2006 deadline. What is being suggested loudly by HDTV enthusiasts and the consumer electronics industry is that the networks should be held to their 2006 deadline for producing complete schedules of HDTV content because, as we learned with the development of the Internet as a true business model, content is the unquestioned king. Without thousands of more hours of HD programming that would directly come with the 2006 deadline, HDTV’s progression to mainstream will easily take five more years, leaving billions of dollars in retail sales for AV dealers and custom installers on the table.

[JohnnyCNote]

They're going to have to get the prices way down on DTV sets if they expect this to catch on without any major hitches. Why pay $1000+ for a TV when there are perfectly adequate ones now for a third of that, or less?

[NiteLite]

Back in 2001 I read that many OTA owners were pushing for a 2010 deadline claiming the expense and lack of programming would make a 2006 deadline unreasonable. I knew the FCC would probably fold to their demands as so many conglomerates have so much power now.
But more repulsive is the likes of DTV and Dish charging extra for digital programming when it's government mandated. What the...???

[JohnnyCNote]

It's called "lobbyists"....

[BJ_M]

yea -- that is a big pissof and rip off , getting charged like 20$ a month for something we were supposed to have .. and it still suxs often ... so many compression artifacts on some stations..

[yoda313]

Hello,

Nice using the Detroit Free Press BJ_M! (though I get the Detroit News ).

Yeah HD needs to drop some more - $800 for the smallest HDTV is still pricey while your normal 4:3 TV is working just fine.

They need to get the converter boxes to under $100 so when the switch is final we can still use older tvs. That would be good for those who won't or can't buy newer tvs.

Kevin