This is so dumb. It costs these stations somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 a month to keep their analog signal going. The new antennas are better, cheaper to operate, and will reach more people once they flip the switch and devote all their power and budget to digital.
So while the delay helps Ma & Pa Kettle save up $10 a month so they can get a converter box in May or June, it causes the stations to spend more than $60,000 over the budget they set for themselves this year.
I encourage any and all station owners to make the switch on the 17th of this month. Let the people who have had YEARS to get their shit together and buy a $40 - $50 converter box twist in the wind. THAT is the only way they'll get off their ass, readjust their budget to divert this relatively small amount of cash, and spend that money on their TV watching instead if it's so important to them.
The rest of us have been ready for a while now, and we're not rich either. I'm sick of the half-assed signal strength, and would like to see the region's stations go full digital ASAP, so I can actually tune things in without having to treat my antenna like it's some sort of puzzle game.
be careful what you wish for. digital is not analog. more is not always better.
increasing signal strength may make your reception issues worse, if they are caused by reflections/multipath.
if your antenna isnt VHF as well as UHF, you may also lose some of the major networks when they turn off analog and shift the channels.
if it is just a signal strength issue, you could fix it yourself now with a cheap signal amplifier on the antenna.
but then you'd have to get off your backside, like you want ma and pa kettle to do. you know, rather than wait for the govt to help you out, by increasing the signal strength.
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This is so dumb. It costs these stations somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 a month to keep their analog signal going. The new antennas are better, cheaper to operate, and will reach more people once they flip the switch and devote all their power and budget to digital.
So while the delay helps Ma & Pa Kettle save up $10 a month so they can get a converter box in May or June, it causes the stations to spend more than $60,000 over the budget they set for themselves this year.
I encourage any and all station owners to make the switch on the 17th of this month. Let the people who have had YEARS to get their shit together and buy a $40 - $50 converter box twist in the wind. THAT is the only way they'll get off their ass, readjust their budget to divert this relatively small amount of cash, and spend that money on their TV watching instead if it's so important to them.
The rest of us have been ready for a while now, and we're not rich either. I'm sick of the half-assed signal strength, and would like to see the region's stations go full digital ASAP, so I can actually tune things in without having to treat my antenna like it's some sort of puzzle game.
@zercorpse
be careful what you wish for. digital is not analog. more is not always better.
increasing signal strength may make your reception issues worse, if they are caused by reflections/multipath.
if your antenna isnt VHF as well as UHF, you may also lose some of the major networks when they turn off analog and shift the channels.
if it is just a signal strength issue, you could fix it yourself now with a cheap signal amplifier on the antenna.
but then you'd have to get off your backside, like you want ma and pa kettle to do. you know, rather than wait for the govt to help you out, by increasing the signal strength.