The 6 month delay of changing the TV signal to digital has been portrayed as a way to assist needy people. But that’s not telling the whole story.
I talked to a woman at my local PBS affiliate to complain about the strength of the PBS high def signal. She acknowledged the problem and pointed out something amazing; once they can turn off the analog signal, signal strength for the digital stream will quadruple in strength.
(Elsewhere I read that cell phone providers are losing money by the delay–they had already allocated the extra bandwidth for new services, and that TV networks stand to save money by turning off the analog signal).
What a mess. Two other notes: Over the air stations for local channels are great, especially PBS. The main problem with broadcast TV is the commercials. I know, it’s a common refrain. But the interruptions make almost every show unwatchable (and that’s why getting the PBS signal up is so important). I get to the point where I just download shows from piratebay just to avoid the hassles. Really, I don’t watch TV anymore, maybe 30 minutes per day. I’ve taken to downloading the mp3 of the PBS newshour if I really need my news fix.
Second, Netflix has been offering free streaming on about 12,000 movies as part of the normal base charge for movies. Is that incredible or what. Oddly, I’ve done less movie watching than ever. (Go figure).
The main reason why HD is futile: Charlie Rose Show still doesn’t tell you what talking head is being interviewed.
