From: uhclemLOSE.sep08@nemesis.lonestar.org   
      
   Barry OGrady  wrote:   
   : It was to have gone away this year but take up of digital has been too slow.   
   : Will now probably remain until 2010.   
      
   In the USA our greedy Congress could not wait to auction chunks of   
   the old television broadcast spectrum to cell phone companies, most of   
   whom are saying "Who wants a cell phone with a foot-long antenna?".   
      
   Undeterred, Congress enacted rules a few years ago that forces a hard   
   end date for stopping over-the-air NTSC broadcasts in the USA in   
   Feb 2009 regardless of the percentage of the public that is capable of   
   receiving it.  (The original rules from 1996 for NTSC retirement was   
   to shut down NTSC broadcasts Jan 1st 2006, or once a certain high   
   percentage of households were capable of viewing the ATSC signals,   
   whichever date was later.)   
      
   That's why the airwaves are now being flooded with infomercials   
   and "public service" commercials to encourage the public to get your   
   ATSC-to-NTSC converter boxes, or better still, convince you to buy   
   a new TV with the ATSC tuner built-in.   
      
   Of course, no one in Washington wants 20 million AARP members screaming   
   bloody murder to their congress-critters on Feb 20th 2009 when they   
   wake up and suddenly can't watch Matlock reruns...  That's why the   
   promotional campaign for "buy your conveter now" is being cranked up so   
   much lately.  TV stations are counting such messages as public service   
   air-time.   
      
   Most broadcast TV stations are tiring of operating both broadcasts and   
   those that have all their ATSC issues resolved would like to broadcast   
   using ATSC on their old frequency (usually a more efficient one or one   
   with a greater reach) when the end of NTSC comes, as right-now most are   
   broadcasting NTSC on the "better" frequency and ATSC on a less-desirable   
   frequency.   
      
      
   Some cable companies are also exploiting the over-the-air changes as an   
   excuse to force people to buy converter boxes who didn't need them   
   before (usually subscribers to the very basic service level), but the   
   cable company isn't telling the customer that they plan to continue   
   broadcasting those basic channels over cable in NTSC format for a   
   perhaps years so a box still isn't absolutely required for basic service.   
      
      
   Frank Durda IV - send mail to this address and remove the "LOSE":   
       http://nemesis.lonestar.org   
     Sign on back of a Cable TV truck:  "This vehicle makes frequent stops."   
     Written in the dirt underneath:    "Just like our cable service."   
   Copyright 2008, ask before reprinting.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)