Subchannel Discussion Thread

What's ironic about my media market vs. Wausau, is that Wausau is a smaller market, yet they nearly double the subchannels of my market, although not quite as many as LaCrosse/Eau Claire, Madison or Milwaukee, the largest media market in Wisconsin.

I find it crazy for a sports-obsessed mid-sized city (whose football team won 13 championships and four Superbowls) to develop its digital subchannel infrastructure at the speed of molasses. I should expect more from a city like Green Bay, and I always hope to see new subchannels with different types of programming.
 
What's ironic about my media market vs. Wausau, is that Wausau is a smaller market, yet they nearly double the subchannels of my market, although not quite as many as LaCrosse/Eau Claire, Madison or Milwaukee, the largest media market in Wisconsin.

I find it crazy for a sports-obsessed mid-sized city (whose football team won 13 championships and four Superbowls) to develop its digital subchannel infrastructure at the speed of molasses. I should expect more from a city like Green Bay, and I always hope to see new subchannels with different types of programming.

Some station owners have rules about how many subchannels their affiliates can have; KCTV is like that. They only have one. This is to preserve the HD signal quality of their main channel (CBS)
 
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KCTV5 is a Meredith station so is KSMOTV.
My local Meredith station (KPTV) has one 720p feed (Fox) and two 480i feeds (COZI and Laff). Their sister station (KPDX) in the same market has one 720p fee (MyTV) and three 480i feeds (Escape, Bounce and Grit).

In view of this, I don't sense an overwhelming corporate tendency towards limited subchannels.
 
I think the superior PQ and AQ will keep optical discs in business for many years to come. There are enough of us out there that want the quality and the lack of commercials and the security over that stuff “owned” online that might disappearing day.


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Which is unfortunate, if you value quality over quantity.
I don't think anyone who fancies subchannels should ever be accused of picking quality over quantity.
I think the superior PQ and AQ will keep optical discs in business for many years to come.
The pundits say you couldn't be more wrong. Disc sales are relatively dismal and the pattern started in 2015 or early 2016. Sales in 2016 were down 14% (after dropping 10% in 2015) and disc rentals were down 17%.

Of course we can't ignore the issue of the dearth of compelling content... Even PPV viewing is down more than 10%.
 
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No, the PQ and AQ is superior. I know sales have declined. But my point is, I don’t think they will go away entirely because there are enough of us to value the option.

I recall reading that it is way cheaper to make an optical disk than a VHS tape. Moot, today. But low costs can help to keep the media alive.


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But my point is, I don’t think they will go away entirely because there are enough of us to value the option.
They said the same thing about 8-track tapes and LASER discs and HD-DVDs. There may be someone in a tiny shop in Germany or Japan that is still producing SACDs but not with music composed in the last 35 years and in many cases with a master of insufficient quality to justify the effort.

Whoda thunk that Blockbuster could ever go away?

In this day and age of mass production and complex licensing, things go away a lot easier than they used to.
 
I don’t recall ANYONE, EVER saying 8 tracks were here to stay. I avoided them and went with cassettes. Even my friends with 8 track collections hated them from day one. 8 tracks were NEVER about AQ. They were convenient. Period. And not much more convenient than the higher AQ cassettes.

Laser discs had potential, but never caught in, I think due to price.

EVERYONE knew either HD-DVD or Blu-ray was going to fail.

I’d love to buy more SACDs and DVD-As, but it is what it is.

I have hundreds of BDs and DVDs. I think I even still have some old video CDs (VCDs) with kiddie shows on them. They were quite popular in SE Asia and will still play today on most DVD players. I’m sure I’ll be buying more UHD BDs in the future. I only have one at present.

There’s actually a resurgence in vinyl records. I suspect BDs will be a much larger market than the vinyl market is today, for at least the next 10 or 20 years.


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8 tracks were NEVER about AQ. They were convenient. Period. And not much more convenient than the higher AQ cassettes.
Yet due to double the tape speed, 8-tracks were superior to all but the highest quality C-type cassettes with the fanciest recorders using deposited metal tapes and sophisticated noise reduction systems.
Laser discs had potential, but never caught in, I think due to price.
That's perhaps the issue here too.
EVERYONE knew either HD-DVD or Blu-ray was going to fail.
Nonetheless, it is substantially gone even though some have significant collections.
I’d love to buy more SACDs and DVD-As, but it is what it is.
At my age, I can no longer discern the difference. That's the reality for most over the age of 50.
I have hundreds of BDs and DVDs. I think I even still have some old video CDs (VCDs) with kiddie shows on them. They were quite popular in SE Asia and will still play today on most DVD players. I’m sure I’ll be buying more UHD BDs in the future.
I'm not sure on which there have been more titles produced, 3D Blu-rays or UHD Blu-rays. I think it is probably leaning towards 3D Blu-rays pretty heavily.
There’s actually a resurgence in vinyl records.
That's a touchy-feely thing rather than a matter of AQ. There have been several articles recently that spoke to the relative absence of fidelity with LPs (cross-talk issues, limited dynamic range (<70dB) and other mechanical problems associated with the technology). LASER LP players ($$$$) can address some of those issues, but not the dynamic range.

Snobbery is clearly taking a back seat to good enough and truly superior digital content delivered on media that you can't really lay your hands on. Most don't buy the superior content because their equipment or senses can't really make effective use of it.
 
I still use my graphic equlizer 10 band i still enjoy it. I have more fiber optic cable now. I couldn't stand cassettes, CD's i love.
 
I couldn't stand cassettes, CD's i love.
Back in the day, it was hard to beat a TDK SA-C90 High Bias cassette for recording vinyl to tape. I used to buy them by the box of ten at the college book store. Of course back in the day, LASER video disks and Compact Disc had just been announced as technologies.

Cassettes were durable whether inside or outside their cases and didn't skip when your car went over a bump. The skipping problem took about ten years to fix.
 
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I see we had the same taste in blank cassettes.
While Maxell tried to blow us away with their UD-XL2 advertising, the TDKs were the clear tape of choice.

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