I have heard that eventually in order to watch Tv you will have to pay.
2007-06-21 12:14:57 · 7 answers · asked by peanutbulls 4 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TVs
The short answer is no. At this moment there are large number of corporate gopher's waiting on the front porch of the FCC. When the change over from NTSC to ATSC occurs the gophers will buy up all the available bandwidth that will be freed up with the conversion to ATSC broadcasts. This will go into effect on February 17th 2009. Now all those new stations will go to all the big corporations and sing out "I have available air time for sale!" Then of course instead of the 3 networks we had in the 1950's we will have hundreds. Over the air reception is not going to disappear. It will change though and when it does you will either have to shell out $80.00 dollars for a set top box to go with older TV or bite the bullet and get a new set.
P.S. by the way Congress also passed a bill full of money that U.S. cite zens can claim to offset the cost of this Congressional mandated conversion to ATSC.
2007-06-21 13:42:22 · answer #1 · answered by Andrew E 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No time soon. The only thing that will go away is analog broadcasts. Right now you can get alot of tv off the air including HD broadcasts. Almost all programs filmed in HD are shown on the major networks. What you need is a TV with a built in digital tuner and a good antenna and you can get many channels. In my area there are 4 pbs channels alone with one of them being the pbs HD channel all broadcast over the air. The good thing about digital tv weather its HD or regular digital is that if your tuning in with an antenna you either get it of you don't there is now static or snow like with an analog station once you tune in and find it your good to go.
2007-06-21 12:38:44 · answer #2 · answered by Dan 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It really comes down to politics and money. In larger markets, over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts are not likely to go anywhere anytime soon. However, in smaller markets with a small audience, when the FCC mandate to switch to digital goes through, they might not view it as financially plausible to spend a million dollars plus upgrading their tower and transmitters to broadcast a HD signal for the ten people with terrestrial antennas. With more and more people switching to cable or satellite broadcasts, the demand for OTA broadcast is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
2007-06-21 14:42:47 · answer #3 · answered by Steve B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are on the right track. Matter-a-fact most people with cable, dish, or satelite tv already pay for local channels. There is a plus in having more than local channels. Your viewing of channels are many. Come on my friend into the 21 century with the rest of us. You are missing out on a lot of action.
2007-06-21 12:52:25 · answer #4 · answered by Al Feel GoodH 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i am about to cancel my cable tv... there is not much need for it any longer, as I have my PC connected to my HDTV and stream all of my video from the internet.. .
http://stage6.divx.com
dvd quality video....
many tv stations have online content...
iptv is going to be more a part of the future then anything else.. FTTP is leading that revoloution with verizons FiOS service... (while it appears as cable in disguise) cable, and satelite providers are going to have to come up with better ways to make customers stay, when there is so much content on the internet, and the technology is available to stream the internet in your livingroom... (it was one of the motivating factors in developing windows vista)
I will actuallay need to accuire an hdtv antenna to connect to my PC so that i can still recieve OTA hd channels...
i do not see OTA broadcasts going anywhere in the future... the broadcast stations still recieve higher ratings and advertising revenues then most cable channels...
2007-06-21 18:20:41 · answer #5 · answered by joe r 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Standard Television Broadcast are being converted to a Digital Signal the old analog is being phased out by congressional mandate. You can however buy a converter box for your current set If your planning to buy a new set all old boxes should have a consumer warning that it isn't digital ready. Hey isn't it time you winged your self off the alphabet channels once the Simpson's are gone there's not much left to watch ow that's right there's still Okra.
2007-06-21 12:58:00 · answer #6 · answered by Lewis C 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no one can accurately predict what will happen in the future. We all like wireless internet, wireless phone, etc. We also like cable tv because it is clearer than analog broadcast tv.
We also have digital wireless (satellite) tv which has decent reception. We may find this popular in the future. It is hard to say.
2007-06-21 12:24:26 · answer #7 · answered by GTB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋