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FCC Requires ATSC tuners!!

Started by tenth_t2, Thursday Aug 08, 2002, 10:22:00 AM

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borghe

In response to my... um.. response :P I found this info on NAB's site:

 
QuoteMyth: Only a small percentage of Americans use an antenna. Therefore, a tuner mandate is not needed to advance the transition. Instead, the FCC should concentrate on cable carriage and universal plug-and-play interoperability standards.

The Facts:
• 81 million television sets- roughly a third of the television set population- currently gets their
signals over-the-air. Without a tuner mandate, the millions of sets Americans purchase each year
for over the-air-reception will be left behind during the digital transition.
I like this fact. What the CEA isn't telling you is that while eighty some percent of America subscribes to a multi-channel service, there are still cmany low power hannels out there which you can't get over your cable system.

 
Quote• Relying solely on cable as we move into the digital television world runs contrary to the U.S.
system of free, over-the-air broadcasting. One of the unique aspects of America's system of local
broadcasting is that it is free to consumers. Anyone with a set and an antenna can receive the
benefits of local news, weather, and other programming over-the-air. In the analog world,
manufacturers do not build television sets without analog tuners. Similarly, in the digital world, we
should not be building sets that are incapable of receiving a digital signal off-air. The U.S. system of
free, over-the air broadcasting is the envy of the world and protecting it should be an integral
priority to any DTV transition policy.
Exactly!!! What sense does it make to force or encourage people to go over to cable?? I should be able to buy a TV and, reception permitting, watch TV for free without the need to subscribe to cable. Granted that's not exactly what the CEA is saying, but it is where the argument logically ends. It makes sense that if you are not allowed to build an analog TV without a tuner, you shouldn't be able to build a digital TV without a tuner.

 
Quote• Finally, digital television changes how consumers watch TV. Broadcast digital signals do not
have any snow or "ghosts." This means that many more consumers may be willing to utilize overthe-
air reception in the digital future and this option should be available to them.
This is something that my previous post alluded to. The rabbit ear antenna has gotten a bad rap over the years, and rightfully so. There are probably very few places in this country where you can stick a relatively unobtrusive antenna on top of your TV and get a clear signal on all channels. While OTA DTV doesn't necessarily fix it, it sure goes a long way to doing so. I've said it before and I'll say it again, once I can timeshift OTA HDTV, my locals on DirecTV are gone. I will actually consider switching to Dish depending on the exact PVR capabilities of the Dish PVR921.