
Back To Basics: 200 Days Until the DTV Transition-Part 1 Facts, Myths and Lies
Going forward, HD GURU will occasionally publish articles in a series called “Back to Basics,†that will provide rudimentary information regarding digital television and HDTV.
Part 1 details the transition and exposes the lies major cable providers are telling their existing and potential subscribers to con them into purchasing unwanted, extra-cost services and boxes. Parts 2 and 3 reviews DTV converter boxes and indoor antennas.
Addendum- added August 4, 2008 in Bold At the End of the article
What Is the DTV Transition?
On February 17, 2009 at 11:59:59 PM local time, TV broadcasters must shut off their (high powered), decades old analog over-the-air TV transmissions.
Broadcasters began transmitting digital TV signals in the late 1990s. Today, most broadcasters transmit simultaneously in both digital and analog.
Only high-powered digital TV transmissions will be permitted after the analog shutdown, though limited numbers of low powered analog transmitters or repeaters (generally used for rural areas or small sized broadcasters) may continue to operate.
The Lies of the Cable Providers
After the analog shut-off, cable providers have three options: they can send only digital signals to their customers, thus forcing owners of older analog sets who have basic service and connect their cable directly to their sets to rent digital cable boxes; they can convert the digital signals to analog at their “head end†and send it to analog subscribers who would then be able to view local and basic cable channels (like CNN) without renting a digital set top box, as they did pre-digital transition or they can offer a “passive†basic low cost digital to analog converter box to subscribers that will use their TV’s built-in analog tuner to receive cable programing.
However, there have been stories circulating that some cable companies may be using the confusion surrounding the digital transition to scare customers into renting digital cable boxes.I called NY metro area cable television provider Cablevision, telling the sales representative Jason that I was interested in subscribing to cable, but that I did not want to use a cable box; I just wanted whatever channels I could receive plugging the cable directly into my TV.
He told me that while there currently are analog channels that can be viewed that way, I should get a digital cable box now, because as of February 2009, “due to government regulation,†cable will no longer carry analog channels. He added that the federal government was forcing subscribers into getting digital cable boxes, so I might as well get one sooner rather than later.
This is simply not true. Nothing in the government-mandated digital transition prevents cable providers from continuing to offer customers unscrambled analog signals.
Some cable companies have apparently made a revenue-enhancing business decision and are using the digital transition as cover and the government as a scapegoat to get customers to add digital cable boxes.
Switching customers over to extra-cost digital cable and monthly fee digital cable boxes increases revenue, as does the availability of impulse pay-per-view, video-on-demand and other extra-cost services.
However, while few if any cable providers have announced plans to discontinue providing analog signals, there is an incentive to do so in the future. Each bandwidth-hogging analog channel eliminated frees up sufficient bandwidth to add six standard definition digital channels.
While the additional channels offer increased value to some cable customers, the ones stuck in the analog domain, usually the poorest among them, will end up paying the most since they will then be forced to rent a box.
I called Cablevision’s media relations department and asked why their sales people are using the “government regulation†excuse to get customers to transition to digital (friends and family members of mine currently receiving Cablevision’s analog service have gotten the sales pitch).
The Cablevision spokesman denied that salespeople have been so trained and followed up with this emailed statement:
“There is no direct connection between the digital transition of broadcast television stations that will occur across the nation in early 2009 and Cablevision’s decision to transition away from the duplicate analog feeds of a certain number of channels that we already carry in digital format. Neither our customer service training, nor our customer communications, link the two in any way. Our customers service representatives speak to thousands of customers on myriad of issues every day and it is certainly possible that someone misspoke, and if that is the case we apologize.â€Â
I contacted Time Warner Cable (TWC) NY today and spoke to Gay, a TWC sales representative. Gay said TWC has just dropped all their unscrambled analog cable channels (i.e. CNN, Nickelodeon, Lifetime TBS etc) and has replaced those channels with digital versions that will require a digital cable box for each TV in your home. The rate for this standard service tier remains $14.25 a month, however subscribers must pay an additional $7.35 a month for every cable box they rent. The only channels that remain in analog are the local broadcast stations (CBS, NBC, FOX etc.) reducing the number of channels available without using a digital cable box from 74 to 13 (according to the chart on the TWC website.). She continued, telling me the broadcast channels on TWC will have to go digital in February 2009 “because of federal regulations†requiring all subscribers to pay $7.35 a month for cable box for each television in your home. She added this is by government mandate and not something Time Warner is doing as a company.
Has your local cable company told you that you need to upgrade to digital because of new government regulations? If so, and if you would like to share your experience, please feel free to add a comment below.
Why the DTV Transition?
There’s been a great deal of misinformation written about the DTV transition, which was mandated in a law Congress passed and President Bush signed in early 2006. Despite what’s been written too often in the mainstream press and elsewhere, digital over-the-air broadcasts use the same amount of bandwidth (6MHz) as the analog channels that are being shut down. However, the law strips away the UHF spectrum above channel 51, once reserved for television broadcasting, much of which has been auctioned off for other uses, such as wireless services, (or set aside for emergency transmissions and first responders, etc.), thus providing the government with much-needed revenue ($19.592 billion). The broadcasters that are currently transmitting signals above channel 51 have been reassigned to another TV channel, effective on DTV transition day.
The benefits of digital broadcasting are well known to HD GURU readers: signals are immune to “snow,†“ghosting†and other analog artifacts and of course digital broadcasts can be (but are not required to be) in high-definition.
Who Will Be Affected By the Analog Shutoff and Lose TV Reception?
Contrary to what some cable TV providers have been telling consumers, the only TVs affected are those that receive over-the-air transmissions via either outdoor or indoor antennas. If you get your TV signal from your local cable provider or satellite (DirecTV or Dish Network) you needn’t do anything to prepare for transition day.
If you have an HDTV or standard definition television (defined as a display with a built-in tuner) manufactured after March 1, 2007 your set already has a digital over-the-air tuner built-in and you simply need to scan in the digital channels as per the TV maker’s instruction manual (after connecting to an appropriate antenna) in order to view them. If you have a HDTV made before 3/1/07 it may have a built-in digital tuner (look for a ATSC logo on the front). Consult the owner’s manual or the set maker.
If you have a pre-2007 analog TV and want to continue to view free over-the-air broadcasts you will need to purchase a DTV signal converter (also know as a digital to analog converter box) and attach it to your existing TV antenna (assuming it can receive both VHF and UHF channels) to continue to view over-the-air terrestrial broadcasts.
What Does a Converter Box Cost?
Most sell for $59.99, though there are websites that sell boxes for as little as $42.99, plus shipping. You can save $40 per box using the government subsidized TV Box Converter Program (maximum 2 coupons.)
How Do You Get Converter Box Coupons?
They are available through the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) “TV Converter Box Coupon Program.†Any household may request up to two $40 coupons, redeemable at participating retailers and on-line merchants. $40 will be deducted from the price of each box. You can apply for your coupon(s) either online at ww.DTV.gov or by calling the NTIA program at 888-DTV-2009.
Addendum-I spoke with Ron Parver at the Media Bureau of the FCC. He confirmed cable providers can opt to discontinue all (including local broadcast station) analog channels as of Feb. 17, 2009.ÂÂ
If the providers maintain analog signals on their system, and do not have retransmission agreement with a given a local broadcaster, the cable provider must simulcast an unscrambled analog verion of the station’s signal for three years.ÂÂ
Parver added the cable providers that opt to go all digital and discontinue all analog signals are under no obligation to provide “free” digital cable boxes, they may continue to rent boxes at addtional cost to all customers that want to maintain their respective cable subscriptions.
Copyright ©2008 Gary Merson/HD Guru® All rights reserved. HD GURU is a registered trademark. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.
Greg Tarr
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Our entire community of Ocotilo, Ca., will be placed in grave and danger when our analog signal goes out. The digital signal is simply too weak to be received. We have no cable companies or high speed internet as the large communication companies were allowed to operate in high traffic areas and rural America was craped upon again. One third of our community was washed away in a flood in the late 60s-no one was killed thanks to analog tv that broadcast to us faithfully with the weather and govt. radar warnings. We get very good over the air signals but zero digital signals. We doubt the constitutionality of the FCC to take away our right to these signals and place us in jeopardy. Government should be about protecting all the people -not just catering to the majority at the expense of the minority.
“Contrary to what some cable TV providers have been telling consumers, the only TVs affected are those that receive over-the-air transmissions via either outdoor or indoor antennas. If you get your TV signal from your local cable provider or satellite (DirecTV or Dish Network) you needn’t do anything to prepare for transition day.”
…this statement is not completely true. Often people cannot receive local channels from satellite and are using an attenna for them. So, those in that situation that do not have a digital tuner built into their tv WILL have to take action in order to receive local channels.
Well Time Warner in San Diego still has the legacy Analog network. Only NYC is going all digital. TWC in other regions haven’t announced their plan but they will slowly move those channels to digital.
I received a letter from TWC announcing the “Great News!” that I have to exchange my current cable box (analog) for the digital box by 10/1/08 or I will lose my Standard service and be relegated to Basic service only. This after both print and broadcast advertising repeatedly state that “You will continue to enjoy all your favorite channels and shows”. Sic transit gloria truth-in-advertising. A wondrous racket is TWC. Wish I got away with lying like that.
Looking to get a big screen HDTV. Your topic center around Plasma and LCD type. What is the word on the DLP type. I’m looking at the DLP’s first and the Plasma’s second.
The size will be in the range of larger then 42 and smaller then 56. Any comments.
Thanks
This seems all a great waste of energy. There is so much material to find on the net that is contradictory, the cable companies (at least Time-Warner) do not answer the question, and most cable broadcasts are 480i, so in the end are we not still getting a analog picture from the digital cable? Perhaps the HDGURU will provide a definitive answer.
“Ultimately the FCC is at fault – a body which can’t make a decision (hence they created 18 different digital TV standards for the USA.”
Where do you folks keep coming up with this stuff?
That’s like saying “Microsoft can’t figure out what a computer should be used for, because they all run so many programs”. If you wanted a calculator, you shoulda bought a calculator!
The ATSC standards say that every ATSC tuner or TV should be able to decode (with it’s provided firmware) any of the 18 video formats, and make them viewable. That’s called “flexibility”, not “indecision”.
Comcast, in my area, has been moving channels to their digital tier for years. Their analog offerings continue to diminish. One of their latest attempts to get subscibers to rent a cable box is to move C-Span2 to the digital tier. The analog channel which previously hosted C-Span2 has displayed a test pattern with color bars for over a year now.
Forcing subscibers to rent a cable box evidentally is highly profitable for these cable companies and the FCC has done nothing to eliminate this problem.
My new HDTV requires a cable box because Comcast encrypts its digital channels (Cablecard – is a joke – even if you wanted to put up with the hassles of this imperfect solution you can’t find an HDTV that has a cablecard slot).
Ultimately the FCC is at fault – a body which can’t make a decision (hence they created 18 different digital TV standards for the USA).
Gary,
Actually I’m a FiOS customer and the letter I received indicated the adapter boxes were free of charge. Here is a scanned copy of the letter sent to those in Tampa FL (which goes all digital later this month).
http://www.tampahdtv.com/tpahd-vb/showthread.php?p=38040
You’ll notice towards the bottom to call for your “FREE” equipment.
Ben,
Yes, I received the same letter. It is quite misleading! They leave out the “free” is for a limited time. Once the unspecified (in the letter) “free” period to receive the box is over, (around one month as I recall), you have to pay a monthly fee. In other words, if you never called to get your free basic box within the time frame they offer (it is only implied with the call by xxx to avoid disruption of your service) you pay every month. This is according to a FIOS sales represenitive I spoke with a the FIOS kiosk at my local mall.
Furthermore, if you go to the FIOS website (for my area) as I did yesterday, you will see they list a charge of $3.99/month. I can tell you, according to the FIOS rep, if you did not call within a certain time frame to order your boxes as a legecy customer you will be charged for each basic converter, furthermore all new customers in my area are charged for every basic box they order, according to the sales rep and verified by new FIOS customer I spoke with.
HD GURU
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Gary,
My understanding is that the cable co’s have no choice but to offer a free digital adapter until 2012.
We covered the FCC decision here.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/09/12/fcc-approves-rules-for-2009-digital-tv-transition/
Ben
There is no place on FCC’s website or any place else on the web (I could find) where it states “at no cost” only “provide” for digital boxes. as according to the article you referenced. I will check with the Commission on Monday for verification. Currently Verizon FIOS (yeah, I know its a telco not a cable provider) charges $3.99 a month for its “basic” digital to analog box. (They went all digital a few weeks ago)
Regardless, Cablevision and TWC charge for a digital cable box now and are stating you will need an extra cost digital set top box for the transition.
HD GURU