To most of us the term "9-11" connotes the terrible events surrounding the infamous date of September 11, 2001. However, to all of us who salute HDTV, the date of September 11, 2007, is one of celebration. For on that date the FCC adopted a significant ruling affecting not only HDTV but also the digital transition in general. In short, the FCC (unanimously) ruled that...

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When I read about cable companies maintaining service to analog TVs, I read that as they could provide cable boxes to allow analog TVs to view digital channels and that they could charge their traditional federal "reasonable rate of return."

Ed,

You say that in 2009 "Cable systems must carry broadcasters' HDTV digital streams"

Does this mean that if Comcast offers a sports package (say, major league baseball, with 8 games per day) that any game being originally broadcast in HD must in fact be delivered to me in HD by Comcast?

This past season, most games noted at the start that the program is broadcast in HD, but Comcast almost always downconverts the signal to dreadful.

Thanks

Les R.

Cable Companies are not currently required to carry OTA broadcast digital signals unles they have turned off the OTA analog signal. When the OTA analog signal is turned off the must-carry rules roll over to the digital signals. In theory the OTA broadcast signal can't be degraded by the cable company, except under new rules that state cable comps. must support analog TVs through 2012. As I understand it, they can do this via analog cable signal or a cble box that will provide a analog signal to a TV.

Thw sports packages are cable packages and not OTA broadcast packages, although many of them originate for OTA use. Comcast can likely show them as SD if they like, and will likely do so until it becomes advantageous for them to do otherwise (which is likely to occur when they have SDV implemnented in your local cable system.

I'm reasonably sure this only applies to local channels that broadcast OTA, not any special cable only channels.

"What the 9-11 ruling signifies in the on-going spectrum "chess game" is the second codified regulatory nod that paves the way for the eventual migration of HDTV carriage exclusively to multi-channel distribution systems. So, sometimes 9-11 means something good."

HDTV exclusively on multi-channel distribution channel systems....(i.e. no more broadcast OTA 8VSB?) This sure sounds reminescent of his comments last month about the current HDTV spectrum being used to support other than HDTV content....not going to happen in your life time Ed. Too many of us have recently put up rabbit ears and are enjoying our new found technology.