Latest DTV delay stuff

[Force Commander]

Without bragging and self promoting myself, let me share a conversation I had today in regards to DTV with a major player in DC. I found the information in regards to the DTV delay interesting and I have no reason to believe this person made this up. Here are the bullet points of the converstion:

Congress plans to again bring the delay up for a straight up or down vote again next week.

The new stimulus package does have more money for DTV coupons. Congress leaders want the delay because they believe the money won't get to citizens in time for the 2/17 cutover. This person is angry that the goverment used 3rd class mail with no internet option to get coupons out to people.

In the delay bill (if passed) there are provisions that will make all television stations continue to simulcast DTV and analog. There will be no exception beyond the few that have already been allowed to switch early. The bill will force tower owners to continue to allow TV stations to rent at current rate the analog space. This even if the current lease ends soon due to the formerly expected switchover date. If tower owners try to force stations off their towers before June 12 (current new date), the station impacted is to call their congressman who will send the authorities (don't know who will enforce this) who will order the tower owner to stop any eviction action immediately. The eviction will be considered violation of federal law. Television stations that do not continue to broadcast in both formats risk license revocation. Again no exceptions beyond what already exists.

Obviously things can change in government. However I do believe as of this writing, my source is correct as to where things stand. What do you think of this?

[AmpedNow]

I say the next stop is all-digital AM/FM radio...

...in a perfect world.

[Arp2]

Without bragging and self promoting myself, let me share a conversation I had today in regards to DTV with a major player in DC....

...angry...make...continue...no exception...allowed...force...call their congressman who will send the authorities...order...stop...immediately...will be considered violation...risk license revocation. Again no exceptions....

What do you think of this?

Welcome to life in the new United States of Socialist America.

[Force Commander]

Welcome to life in the new United States of Socialist America.

I think that says it all Arp.

[Greg Goodfellow]

Well, after speaking to the dude that runs Windjammer, saying he would sign over the system for a dollar, then finance the dollar, my wife sent letters to Rockefeller and Byrd, along with Michael Copps. NO ONE wants to touch our cable system, and without a bailout from DC, I can't blame them.

Call me a socialist if you will, but if you want to really upset a West Virginian, take away his or her cable. The Windjammer guy said our facilities were dead last in their assessments. I know that he's shutting down about 40% of what he bought. I'm not a smart man, but does that make any sense at all?

Also, he told me that Friendly was in the Parkersburg DMA, while I always thought we were in the Steubenville-Wheeling DMA. He also said that WTAP could uplink signal, but it would cost 5-10 large a month. Anyone with any information? Why do we even have cable in the 21st century, with home dishes sprouting like mushrooms after a spring rain? The guy admitted that he can't compete with sat tv.

I don't care what Congress or the president say about any delays. Once February 17th comes, analog goes bye bye, and what they produce is just more bluster.

I know-showing high levels of ignorance, but any information would be helpful.

[Hoosier Daddy]

My cable (Time-Warner) here is beautiful, frozen southeast Ohio is the best deal for the dollar. Great picture quality, a decent selection (75+) of channels, even on the extended basic plan we have, reliable service, the fastest internet service available around here by far, and for a price that equals or is less than composite packages from Verizon, DirecTV, Dish, WildBlue, Hughes, or whoever else you want to include. Maybe it isn't true everywhere, because I hear lots of grumbling about cable providers. But I've had some of the other stuff, and it sucks compared to what I have now. My $0.02.

[sportsvoice]

Time Warner here is overpriced compared to satellite. I was able to get DSL internet much cheaper and without the frequent outages that TWC internet service had. Mileage may vary elsewhere however. I'm in a suburban area, so DSL distance limits aren't an issue for me.

[Lester]

Extended with 1 premium channel and high speed Internet. It just went up to $140 per month.

What's TWC charging in your area, HD?

[Hoosier Daddy]

77 standard package channels, high speed internet at 15mbps = $94

[Big Media]

Here's what you are up against, as a small town cable operator in WV. Take a look at this link:

This is a Colane Cable headend just south of Madison, WV. Three satellite antennas and a shack. There is a "mountain line" which runs about a mile straight up the mountain to an inaccessible tower (more like a mast) which contains their antennas for TVRO.

This is planned to be their main headend hub for all of their subscribers. They just purchased systems from both Bradley and Bowen cable, who used to serve home in the same area. Mr. Bradley died several years ago and his daughter inherited his systems. I believe Mr. Bowen is in his 80s.

This is common in WV as most CATV systems were originally designed to be just that----a community antenna service. This was in the days before CNN, HBO, ESPN, and the like.

Most of the Windjammer headends are small and serve only a few hundred homes at best. They are not interconnected by fiber and they have 0 expansion capability. Windjammer has 20 or more headends. The K-Tech units that most headends are buying cost about $1200 each.

[genlock]

My father started the Colane Cable in Omar in the 1950's.
5 channels (woay,wchs, whtn,whis, and wsaz.) Tube type headend and line gear.
Maverick, cheyenne, red Skelton, Gleason....Good times then.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I have faint memories of the CATV system in MackDowell County from when I was a child. My grandparents weren't fortunate enough to live in metropolitan Welch, but relied on one of those true community antenna systems attached on a mountaintop telephone pole. I remember getting channels 4, 6, and 9 fairly well, and 7 and 10 from Roanoke with some ghosting. Channels 3 and 8 were also included in the lineup, but both signals had some snow and were occasionally wiped out by god knows what. I hated losing Channel 3 because I felt my lifeline with home had been severed. It was neat to watch the Roanoke stations, though. It was obvious to me as a child that 4 and 6 were technically inferior to everything else on the dial. From the station IDs to the local commercials to the design (and age) of the news set, it was kind of a visual late 50s/early 60s time warp.

[Big Media]

My father started the Colane Cable in Omar in the 1950's.
5 channels (woay,wchs, whtn,whis, and wsaz.) Tube type headend and line gear.
Maverick, cheyenne, red Skelton, Gleason....Good times then.

Damn... I believe they still have a headend there. I believe they are just about to collapse it into Low Gap, though.

I have faint memories of the CATV system in MackDowell County from when I was a child.

Homer Hickam, in one of his memoirs, talks about the old CATV that the owner of the town of Coalwood had installed for his residents. That would have been in the late 40s or early 50s.

[Mr. Jones]

Sinclair Sticks To Feb. 17 Analog Cutoff:

http://digitalvideoreport.blogspot.com/ ... utoff.html

[CoolBreeze]

It was announced on WSAZ this morning that Congress rolled-back the digital date to June.

The House voted Wednesday to postpone the end of analog TV signals until June 12. The move is meant to address concerns that more than 6.5 million Americans with older TVs would not be ready by Feb. 17, the originally mandated deadline. But, the bill does not mandate that stations keep their analog signal on until a certain date.

Then WSAZ stated (in so many words) that it didn't matter what Congress did... WSAZ was going digital and cutting off Analog next week or so.

First... I don't blame them. These stations have been gearing-up for the Feb deadline for well over a year. Some it appears, (WOWK) has already done so. In the meantime, I guess those Johnny-come-latelys have more time to get a box.

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/39114122.html

[wvengineer]

don't blame them either... looks like the delay is not mandatory......

from what I have also heard is that all West Virginia media stations are also
not planning to delay... they will go as planned on the 17th and yes wowk has already have..

The catastrophic failures on both of their analog transmitters caused them
to switch early i don't blame them either for not dumping tens of thousands of dollars just
to get the analog back up for a few weeks...

just think for a second if all stations in the us switch on the 17th just look at the additional electrical
capacity our national electrical grid will get back. i cant begin to imagine what the total
megawatts it would add up to...



$.02

[fearpeddler]

JMO, but cable woulda been killed by the sat companies years ago if it hadnt been for the internet sevices they're able to provide...

[Big Media]

I believe most stations will follow Sinclair's lead. No sense in prolonging this. Consumers have no one to blame but themselves.

[Force Commander]

Now that this passed, I decided to call my source again and go over what has transpired. Allow me to share the conversation, along with scoring how accurate this person was last week. Latest thoughs below in red.

Congress plans to again bring the delay up for a straight up or down vote again next week. This certainly was true.

The new stimulus package does have more money for DTV coupons. Congress leaders want the delay because they believe the money won't get to citizens in time for the 2/17 cutover. This person is angry that the goverment used 3rd class mail with no internet option to get coupons out to people. The new stimulus has not passed as of yet. We will see.

In the delay bill (if passed) there are provisions that will make all television stations continue to simulcast DTV and analog. There will be no exception beyond the few that have already been allowed to switch early. The bill will force tower owners to continue to allow TV stations to rent at current rate the analog space. This even if the current lease ends soon due to the formerly expected switchover date. If tower owners try to force stations off their towers before June 12 (current new date), the station impacted is to call their congressman who will send the authorities (don't know who will enforce this) who will order the tower owner to stop any eviction action immediately. The eviction will be considered violation of federal law. Television stations that do not continue to broadcast in both formats risk license revocation. Again no exceptions beyond what already exists. I was told none of this happened, mainly due to pressure from owner groups and the NAB. These provisions were in the House bill but was cut out in the Senate and remained cut in the compromise bill. It appears more and more this bill was put on the table to deflect the public incase of a backlash from the current analog users. "See? We passed something to help you and the mean old TV station turned off the analog transmitter anyway. It's the TV stations fault, call (and blame) them and complain!

June 12th is voluntary, TV stations are supposed make sure the vast majority of their audience is prepared before deciding to switch off the analog transmitter. My guess is the Charleston/Huntington TV market is ready. Otherwise why would WOWK already have switched?

All seriousness aside, I imagine most TV stations in the country will decide their market is "ready" for the switch. Too much money on the table to do otherwise. What score would you give my anonymous friend?

[Hoosier Daddy]

It looks like the extension will benefit that handful of stations not quite ready to flip the digital switch in two weeks, and the handful (less than 4.5%) of viewers who are not hooked up to a digital converter box. The politicians wasted some good time passing a piece of neutered, feel-good, do-little legislation. Stations are free to go digital anytime between right now and June. There really aren't any losers here, just a lot of hot air and political puffery.