Re: [IRCA] Dump AM IBOC, Move the AM Band, re:HDTV comment

[Scott Fybush <scott@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Russ Edmunds wrote:

> I'm still not betting against another extension.

I am. The process is too far along at this point, complete with 
negotiated channel elections for the stations that will move to 
permanent DTV assignments from their interim ones in 2009. Much of the 
spectrum that will be vacated by those interim assignments (like my 
locals on 58 and 59) has already been resold, and the new owners of that 
spectrum won't want to wait to get at it. (Qualcomm, which bought 
channel 55 nationwide, is already paying stations to vacate the channel 
early.)

And for all the negativity about "useless" TV sets, I continue to 
maintain that many consumers - most, even - won't notice the end of OTA 
analog. I've already noted that I have only one set in the house that's 
OTA-only (not counting the DX rig), and it will be gone before 2009. My 
parents, who are hardly tech-savvy, have only one 5" B/W portable that's 
not hooked up to cable. My 91-year-old grandmother has both her sets 
hooked up to cable. My sister has both hers hooked up to Dish Network. 
Nothing will change for any of them in February 2009. The last stats 
that I've seen put US cable/dish penetration at well over 80% of 
households. Even adding in the "kitchen OTA TV" factor, I'm still 
convinced that more households will glide past the deadline without 
noticing it than will lose any service they've been using. We'll see, 
one way or another, in two and a half years...

s
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