It seems like aeons since the decision came from the FCC to set a date for the cessation of analog terrestrial TV. At the time, it felt like it was just a date chosen at random (it was) and that the majority of stations would have a hard job funding the conversion to digital. And it is now only nine months until when it is all supposed to happen.
Digital TV isn’t actually digital, of course; from my perspective you cannot get any more analog than an RF signal – whatever the modulation used…
And the FCC didn’t actually decide that all terrestrial TV would have digital modulation by February 17, 2009: only the high-power ones. They excluded low-power TV (LPTV) and translators. And in any one State those run into hundreds of transmitters. Have a look at
Oregon, for example.
The latest number that I could find for the number of stations that are now simultaneously broadcasting digital modulation is 1624, out of a total of 1760, that is a 92.3% compliance. Sounds like a good number until you realize that we are talking about 136 high-power transmitters that need to be installed, plumbed and on the air in the next nine months, about 15 a month! I’ve installed a lot of TW in my career and I don’t think there are enough bodies out there to meet that task.
What happens if a station fails to meet the target date? The official line is that your license is in jeopardy, but would the FCC pull it because you couldn’t make the date because of a lack of vendor talent? It seems unlikely for those stations that are trying to comply. It seems very likely for those licensees who have made no attempt to comply.
Why the changeover anyway? The government and industry will tell you that it is all about improving audio and video
quality for the consumer. It isn’t, of course, it is all about spectrum. The hundreds of MHz that will be available will result in incredible windfall money for the US Treasury. Keep track of the
auctions and think Big Money!
In markets (they don’t have areas in TV broadcasting) where all the stations are required to go to digital modulation, viewers currently with an antenna will have three choices: buy a converter box to change the digitally-modulated RF channels to analog-modulated channels their existing receiver can handle; buy a new receiver that has a tuner already equipped for the new channels; change to a cable or satellite provider. For a lot of people a paid service is not in the cards, and this is hardly the kind of economy this year to ask people to buy a new receiver. So the majority of viewers will have to go the converter route.
The government, with no indication of who is actually funding the program, is offering
coupons for a $40 discount on a converter box. A family can request two coupons per household, but they must be used within 90 days and also must be applied for by the February 17 changeover date. There are also pass-through converters available which will allow viewers to switch between the new channels and analog-modulated low-power or translator transmitters. Really that means only LPTV alternates because anywhere a translator situation is involved there is almost certainly no satisfactory reception of high-power transmitters.
Prior to the big switchover someone at the FCC had the good sense to wonder if there might not be some problems on the big day. (Maybe someone remembered the great fiasco in the UK when BBC-2 was launched in the mid 1960s and Battersea Power Station went off line – great way to have a TV party: in the dark.)
One of the markets, Wilmington, NC, is one of a few to have all of its 5 stations operating their stations with digitally-modulated channels. Those broadcasters have agreed to bring the transition date forward to check for any unforeseen problems. On September 8 they will
turn off the power to their analog-modulated transmitters (and be happy to see their power bills drop dramatically) and see what the consumers say and how they react. (The FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin, just happens to be a native of Wilmington.) With the $40 coupon most viewers will essentially get their converters free.
There are peculiar problems in some markets with the channel switching. One of the most complicated is in the San Francisco Bay market – so complicated my brain doesn’t even want to get around it. But one of the most interesting is Tucson, AZ, where a large part of the population cannot receive a terrestrial station anyway because the wrong mountain (Mount Bigelow instead of Mount Lemmon) was used for most of the transmitters not taking into account as to how the city might have, and has, grown geographically. Parts of the foothills are too far under the mountain while other areas are completely blocked by Mount Lemmon.
On my last visit to Tucson (thanks for the new shirt, TI!) my sister-in-law explained that she was going the converter route – which is wise because Cox Cable has a very poor reputation for channel coverage (click on
Tucson) in the city and the house is located in a Bigelow service area. But when I pointed out that her roof antenna (which is VHF and pointing in the wrong direction) had a broken feeder cable she was laconic, “We’ll see how it works.” I advised her to make the move sooner rather than later. February 17 will be a really bad day to be looking for an antenna – and installer. Really.
