Switzerland Is Doing Away With Over-the-Air TV

[osu1991]

Switzerland Is Doing Away With Over-the-Air TV. Could the U.S. Do the Same?

The Swiss government has given the country’s public broadcaster approval to turn off its digital terrestrial TV (known as over-the-air to most people) by the end of 2019. It will be the first nation in Europe to do so.

 

[DJdish]

Makes sense, cost-benefit wise.

I lived in Switzerland, and in the area I lived I dont't think there wasn any OTA signal, I think because of the geography.

So in Switzerland most homes have either cable or sat service. I had cable myself with the basic service carrying channels from most of Europe in about a dozen or more languages.

Articles mention only 1.9% of the population get their TV signal OTA.

Glanced at some Swiss news websites and without investing much time I couldn't even find a report on the topic, which I take it to mean:

No big news, no big deal for most of the Swiss people.

 

[edisonprime]

Did you say PUBLIC broadcaster? That's not the same as the commercial ones. (BTW, DO they commercial OTA stations in Switzerland?) I won't get into the politics on this one, but this doesn't surprise me.

 

[DJdish]

Yes the note is regarding the Public Swiss TV, in their different networks in the three official languages spoken in Switzerland, (French, German and Italian).

Are there any commercial TV channels OTA in Switzerland?

Good question, I don't think so, because again, the people who get their TV signals over the air is a minimal percent of the population.

In the time I lived in Switzerland and traveled in the country, I don't remember seeing any regular antennas for OTA signals.

Rarely, some satellite dishes, but most of the people (including myself) would get the TV via cable.

 

[harshness]

I lived in Switzerland, and in the area I lived I dont't think there wasn any OTA signal, I think because of the geography.

Topography is the big issue.

Geography-wise, Switzerland is about the same area as Vermont+New Hampshire and that's certainly doable.

 

[Peter Parker]

I doubt that many Swiss would consider an OTA aesthetically pleasing---and that would be a big deal there.

 

[harshness]

I doubt that many Swiss would consider an OTA aesthetically pleasing---and that would be a big deal there.

Hiding an OTA antenna is much easier than hiding a satellite dish.

 

[edisonprime]

Hiding an OTA antenna is much easier than hiding a satellite dish.

Yes, if it's an indoor antenna, but they suck.

 

[harshness]

Yes, if it's an indoor antenna, but they suck.

These are the compromises that one makes when one enters into a contract forfeiting their conventional "rights". There's another popular thread going right now that talks about HOAs and a "Wi-fi antenna". The problem there is that OTARD doesn't cover broadband antennas (whether microwave dish or Yagi)... yet.

Outdoor antennas have been used for years in attics with the understanding that you have to step up the gain substantially to compensate for the loss of hiding them.

The aesthetics of the antenna probably isn't the issue here. It likely has much more to do with the utility of an OTA antenna in such a topography as exists outside the few significant flat spots of Switzerland.

 

[Tampa8]

To answer the OP... Not in the near future for sure. Millions (Billions?) in several different ways has been spent in the most recent years getting ready for ATSC 3.0 Even without it the proliferation of sub channels shows what is possible (with maybe better content) with far more possibilities with the new protocol. Channels will be easier to receive even if mobile and much more. If anything it could be a further push for cord cutters.

 

[navychop]

Is this where we should start a poll on how much you think the first (widely marketed) stand alone ATSC 3 tuner boxes will be?




Edited to add “widely marketed. IOW, the first one sold to the general public and not a onesy here and there to bleeding edge types.

Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[harshness]

Is this where we should start a poll on how much you think the first stand alone ATSC 3 tuner boxes will be?

Outside of the fact that we already know that number (given that one poster has one), ATSC 3.0 deployment isn't mandatory save maybe in South Korea. ATSC 3.0 broadcast isn't even permitted in all but a few countries.

Since there is an active movement in Switzerland to do away with OTA, how they will broadcast in a post-OTA environment surely isn't a topic of significant discussion.