What year will television networks be required to broadcast in HDTV?

Answer 1

antennawiz is correct in that there is no requirement for a station to broadcast HDTV; they must use digital transmission, but not necessarily the highest quality standard. I have to disagree, however, with the statement that only 10% of broadcast is in HDTV. If you take the major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox) almost ALL of their prime time programming is in HDTV. The only programs I can think of that are not are the reality shows like Survivor, Big Brother, etc. Everything else is in HD: the CSI shows, Without a Trace, Medium, Numbers, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, Cold Case, 24, American Idol, and i could go on and on. You name it, and there is a 90% chance it is in HD. Even the independent networks have programs in HD, such as Smallville, Supernatural and others. Not as many as the networks, and their production quality is not as good, but still better than standard TV. I haven't even mentioned sports. Every major sports event and many minor ones are in HD, including the Olympics, World Series, Super Bowl, Basketball final. Monday Night Football (now on ESPN but formerly on ABC0 has been in HD for some time. Whoever says that there isn't much HDTV on the air is living in ancient times (a few years ago).

Once a station switches to digital, it does not take much additional effort to broadcast their network feeds in HDTV. So while technically they are not required to do so, in fact almost all will transmit HDTV made available to them.

Answer 2

Already have to. All Networks are required to broadcast in HDTV. Very few actually made the deadline. They are still required to do so. But what you have to take into consideration is the minimum requirement required.
TV has a beam of light that passes across your screen very fast many times to produce the picture . The more lines that zip across the clearer the Pic.
The Amount HDTV has is far greater than regular TV but there are also different degrees of quality depending on the amount of "Lines" produced by individual makes and models.
This is also relevent to what standard of HDTV produced by the individual Networks

Answer 3

Actually they are not required to broadcast in HDTV. Today only about 10% of available programming is available in the HDTV format. I think what you mean is digital. All stations have been encourage to get their digital signal up and going as soon as possible and most have. The only deadline I'm aware of is the February 19 2009 analog shutdown date.

Answer 4

2009 is the extended deadline.
I think 2006 was the original deadline.