Actually, this bill does not say anything about HD, it only states if you can't get a digital tv signal, you can get a distant digital waiver. So if your local is transmitting digital but not HD, your still SOL.
Dish asks for your help!
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
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Like what could the point possibly be given that there's no real massive surge for HD right now across the board in the US? It is STILL the small percentage early adopters riding this, not the bulk of TV viewers who just want what they want to watch on a nightly basis to come in correctly, never mind a new technology with bells and whistles they don't have the money to take advantage of.
If anything, congress needs to mandate that the programmers and the DBS outfits get it straight and carry everything that the local cable does. Neither DBS service has all the things I want that my local cable operator has on digital. I could care less about HD right now.
But, if that was a point, why is it New Haven Comcast gets NESN when it is ostensibly in the New York market according to MLB while Meriden at the north end of the very same county in the same market is forbidden by MLB from having it, supposedly? If we had NESN HD in Cox land like Comcast I'd only pick up Dish to add adult channels and be done with it.
If anything, congress needs to mandate that the programmers and the DBS outfits get it straight and carry everything that the local cable does. Neither DBS service has all the things I want that my local cable operator has on digital. I could care less about HD right now.
But, if that was a point, why is it New Haven Comcast gets NESN when it is ostensibly in the New York market according to MLB while Meriden at the north end of the very same county in the same market is forbidden by MLB from having it, supposedly? If we had NESN HD in Cox land like Comcast I'd only pick up Dish to add adult channels and be done with it.
charper1 said:
I sent a letter yesterday as this is something I would VERY much like to see happen VERY soon as I can't receive ANY HD (or digital channels) OTA, and the two stations broadcasting "digitally" in my DMA have no plans to increase their power in the next several years. However, today I got a letter from iwantmyhdtv.com stating:
"Even if you have already sent a letter to Congress, we're asking you to send a second letter today to encourage Congress to support this legislation!"
My letter mentioned this very same bill, so would their be any point to sending another letter, or would it just annoy them and negate the "effectiveness" (or lack or) of my original letter?!
~Alan
I totally support *E's efforts to provide network HD for those of us who can't get any OTA channels. It's ridiculous that we have no choice whatsoever to see major sporting events like the Olympics and Monday Night Football in HD. I certainly understand why those with HD OTA would prefer other channels, but please remember it was rural folks who helped get the whole satellite industry going to compete with cable.
Scott,Scott Greczkowski said:
I posted some information I received pertaining to this new senate SHVIA bill in the general satellite forum but you may think it more appropiate to move it here or somewhere else.
Thanks,
WaltinVt
It won't hurt to send it again. Also, everyone should get their friends and relatives to send them too; regardless of being a satellite subscriber or not.
charper1 said:
I may not anyway, as I'm not sure it will do any good since my Senator is not one of the Senators listed on waltinvt\ post.
~Alan
Alan Gordon said:
Send it anyway! The "why bother; I don't count vote" is the only vote that ends up not counting.
charper1 said:
The more I read the above, the funnier it gets! I may send a letter to ol' Zell Miller, and the others again! They might not be in the commitee, but they might be able to influence others nonetheless.
~Alan
Even though the bill doesn't specify HD, Echostar has said on numerous occasions that it intends to broadcast a high defination signal. Charlie made this point at a Senate Judicary hearing earlier this year. I don't think Dish would back down from that. I'd be one of the first to condem them if they do.dispatcher_21 said:
I've also read some posts about if the DBS company is already providing analog locals for a customer's DMA, will that automatically disqualify that customer for the digital distant networks ?
I've been told: "The no distant analog in served local analog markets would not apply for digital signals in the Ensign bill. The distant digital signal would be available to eligible consumers regardless of whether local analog is
available."
We need some of you sharp minds out there reading this bill:
http://www.digitaltransitioncoalition.com/digital/media/Ensign_bill.pdf
and posting some feedback.
My little pea-brain sees it as a good step forward and probably the best we'll get with this SHVIA renewal. If the NAB has it's way, we won't even get this, which is why we need to write custom notes to congress and make ourselves heard.
http://www.congress.org/
WaltinVt
Do you really think Dish would be pushing for this if there was that small a customer base or that the base was likely not to grow much in the very near future ?Wayd Wolf said:
Do you really think the NAB would be so dead set against this bill if it was only going to affect a small amount of viewers ?
I go in electronics stores and most of what I see are widescreen, HD ready TVs, even in Sears and recently Walmart.
This bill, although only addressing networks at this point, has a much more far reaching effect. It has the potential to be the catylyst that will foster a new surge in HD programming competition among the major networks. It will also force any affilliates that are going to stay in the game to not only provide better grade signals but more compelling programming, which would force them to embrace HD.
WaltinVt
waltinvt said:
Yes, because it's a profitable niche. Now for a HD reality check..
This is from June 2003.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/ne...ews8friday.html
Awareness of and interest in high-definition television (HDTV) seems to fall neatly along income lines, according to new research from Leichtman Research Group. Total adoption of HDTV increased to 4 percent this year, with most buyers in a high-income bracket. Just 2 percent of households with incomes below $75,000 have HDTV compared to 12 percent in households with incomes above $75,000. Eighty-nine percent of higher-income households are aware of HDTV, 20 percentage points higher than the lower-income level awareness. Current HDTV owners have an average household income 73 percent above the average level. Higher-income households that have looked into buying an HDTV set in the past six months number nearly three times that of lower-income households, at 11 percent. Leichtman predicts that HDTV-capable households will reach 33 million by the end of 2007. There are currently 275 million TV sets in U.S. households.
Here's another one.
http://www.bigpicture-hdtv.com/industry.html
By 2008, the number of HD-capable displays in US homes will have reached 33.4 million units. Of these displays, 27 percent will be connected to an HDTV service via cable, 14 percent via satellite, and 8 percent via digital terrestrial television. The report identifies the increasing support of cable and satellite operators and their content partners as a key factor in the take-up of HDTV services.
"HDTV has been a long time coming," says David Mercer, Vice President, Broadband Practice, at Strategy Analytics. "But sufficient momentum is now building at both content and operator levels to ensure a successful niche market in the longer term."
US HDTV Forecast: 2008
Total HD-Capable Displays Installed: 33.4 million
Percent with terrestrial HDTV: 8%
Percent with cable HDTV: 27%
Percent with satellite HDTV: 14%
Percent with no HDTV service: 51%
Source: Strategy Analytics Broadband Practice
NightRyder
waltinvt\ said:
Here are the most current numbers I could find.
http://www.ppa.com.tw/IN-STAT/news/040409_MDR.htm
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 5, 2004 - After years of hype andpromises, high-definition television (HDTV) services have finally captured the imagination of a small, but growing, audience of TV viewers who now enjoy HDTV's extraordinary clear and crisp picture quality. With its life-like detail and impressive audio performance, HDTV service is also exciting TV broadcasters and multichannel service providers, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com), a high-tech market research firm. HDTV service, which is becoming widely available in a few select countries, is being marketed as a premium service that has the potential to boost incremental monthly revenues for cable and satellite operators, while also providing terrestrial TV broadcasters with a new weapon in their fight against pay-TV services.
Currently, just over 4 million worldwide TV households receive and watch HDTV programming, although most industry insiders expect that number to climb rapidly over the next few years. Increasing consumer demand for HDTV service is also driving sales of new consumer electronics products, such as HDTV sets and HD-capable set top boxes. However, there are still several market challenges that are reigning in the growth of HDTV services. These include the need for more HD programming, lowering the cost of HD equipment, increasing the availability of HD service, and better educating the public about the benefits of HDTV.
In-Stat/MDR also finds that:
Total worldwide terrestrial, satellite, and cable TV households that are watching HD programming on an HDTV set are projected to rise to almost 6 million by the end of 2004, and ultimately reach 45 million by the end of 2008.
HDTV service remains extremely limited in its reach, with only four countries offering the service beyond an experimental basis. These countries are Japan, the United States, Canada, and Australia. However, a few other countries, mostly in the Asia-Pacific region, are expected to roll out limited HDTV services in the next year.
Japan is leading the HDTV charge with over 2 million households receiving and watching HDTV programming. The US is second with just over 1.5 million households.
NightRyder
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