HDTV Almanac - Is Broadcast TV Going Away?

[alfredpoor]

I mentioned topic this in passing during my discussion of the dustup over wireless broadband vs. GPS, but I think the time has come to officially recognize this as a subject of interest.
Here’s the situation as I see it in a nutshell. Some 8% to 15% of the U.S. population relies on the free terrestrial [...]

Read Column

[Roger Halstead]

I'm still trying to find your comments on LightSquared trying to pull a fast one by operating a ground based system in the satellite downlink spectrum and it's proven interference to GPS.

But at-any-rate, I don't expect to see broadcast go away *except* due to temporary financial conditions. I do expect to see several shifts in the Internet though. I expect to see streaming video replaced by downloads which tie up less bandwidth and allow you to pause, back up, or even take a break. I also expect to see much or most of the free video content disappear. The timing will determine the effect on OTA TV. OTA TV can offer local news and weather that is expensive for cable and satellite to provide. BTW those are about the only programs I watch from the networks. Due to one sided reporting I've pretty much given up on national news particularly from the 3 major networks and I find the 4th to be too much on the argumentative side as well as depressing. I guess it's too much to expect people to be polite enough to let each state their opinions without interruptions.

[gartrste]

Broadcast TV going away isn't, I don't believe, an option. Even the cable companies know that an increasing number of Americans are being forced out of the cable market: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/ ... IA20110614

Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt, however, was one of the executives focusing on the hazards of a bad economy.

"There clearly is a growing underclass of people who clearly can't afford [cable]," he said. "It would serve us well to worry about that group."

I should say, of course, that broadcast going away "should not" be an option...one of our political parties would see forcing millions of Americans into the void to be "just business".

I believe they're called "Republicans".

[Roger Halstead]

I doubt either party would see an advantage in a large percentage of the public losing their OTA TV. On the contrary, I think both would want to keep the local outlets which is the main source for local news, weather, and emergency response.

[gartrste]

I doubt either party would see an advantage in a large percentage of the public losing their OTA TV. On the contrary, I think both would want to keep the local outlets which is the main source for local news, weather, and emergency response.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have thought dismantling America's industrial infrastructure in favor of a "service economy" - and then dismantling that service economy by exporting tech jobs - would have been a goal of either party.

I.e., what the average American thinks is good for America hasn't been what those political parties have been delivering, so me? I wouldn't rule out one or both parties working towards or cooperating in the elimination of OTA broadcasting.

lolll..at least one of those parties surely loves monopolies.