CEA calling for auction of digital OTA freqs

[dpeters11]

http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=12105

They say that since 8% of households get TV OTA, auctions should be allowed to allow the free market to find "the best purposes for underused broadcast spectrum".

I don't use OTA myself, but think this is a bad idea. Maybe if all the cable companies had a free local only package, but I don't see that happening, and not everyone who can get a OTA signal can get cable.

[SayWhat?]

I'll probably be dropping Dish either this year or next and going OTA only.

With the economy the way it is and cable/sat prices continuing to rise unabated, I see a lot more people doing the same in the near future.

[phrelin]

This could turn into a battle to protect the poor in the inner cities, particularly the older poor. It's a bad idea even though I profess to hate the broadcast channels.

[Davenlr]

It would be a disaster, literally, for people in tornado prone areas. We rely on the live radar weather reports during impending storms. Those same storms that block out satellite signals when you need the information the most. Very bad idea.

Cable Tv? Here is the usual. Watching local broadcast station. Showing radar, field spotters, ham radio guy monitoring spotters net. Someone sees something. Weather alert radio goes off with Warning for the whole county. TV weatherman gets info, and starts zooming into the street level of people directly affected... BEEEP - Screen Blanks out - BEEEP Please tune to channel 18 for important information, repeat, repeat. Ch 18 btw, has a recording of the weather radio announcement. By the time the box goes back to live TV, you missed it, or worse. Its awful. I immediately turn off cable, and tune in to the local station with my rooftop antenna when a storm is approaching.

[SayWhat?]

That's assuming you still have a rooftop antenna. Or a roof.

The FCC proved it wasn't interested in disaster information to the public when it dropped analog TV and rendered millions of portable TVs useless.

[James Long]

That's assuming you still have a rooftop antenna. Or a roof.
One could lose both in the storm ... but at least if one could find the accurate information before the storm hit they could take cover so they are not gone with the antenna and roof.

I'm finding the internet to be a good option. There are people who use GRLevel3 (only $99) to download and control official NWS information on their own computers. This software (or upgraded versions) is used by many chasers and The Weather Channel. If one wants to see what storms are bearing down on their home/business it is a great option. (In my neighborhood OTA will probably be out before Internet.)

For a "free" option one of our local stations has an Android app that shows the radar and storm tracks. It is completely zoomable so the USER can find their location and do the weatherman thing on their phone. I have not tried it while IN a storm yet, but I did use it last weekend when the core of a storm passed 20 miles south of where I was (I was in the fringe of the storm with some wind, rain and lightning but nothing severe). It was good to see the tracks.

The latter is the kind of example the CEA likes. If there is a GR3 app for Android I'd probably buy it (although in my area the TV station's app works). It is interesting to see the TV station supply an app that helps me not watch their channel.

The FCC proved it wasn't interested in disaster information to the public when it dropped analog TV and rendered millions of portable TVs useless.
I wish ATSC Mobile TV would improve ... it is available in some areas. It is a great way of "filling the boxcars" and providing a needed service to the community. ATSC Mobile TV, properly configured, makes it easier to view ATSC on a portable device.

[scooper]

ATSC M/H has it's own problems....

[James Long]

ATSC M/H has it's own problems....Problems can be solved.

Or one can just throw in the towel, turn off OTA and let CEA win. :D

[paulman182]

That's assuming you still have a rooftop antenna. Or a roof.

The FCC proved it wasn't interested in disaster information to the public when it dropped analog TV and rendered millions of portable TVs useless.

Perhaps the public has radios? Very portable and signal almost everywhere.

[Tower Guy]

Perhaps the public has radios? Very portable and signal almost everywhere.

True, but unfortunately many of the medium and smaller radio stations lack local news and weather. In the larger markets the job is left to a single all-news format station.
WINS, WTOP, WBZ etc

[brant]

i'm sure the cable channels would love to get rid of OTA to limit our options.


two years ago, when i cancelled my sat and went w/ OTA + streaming, I didn't know anyone personally that was doing it.

Now I know several people, and the list is growing, of folks doing this.

Its odd that most people I talk to this about have no idea you can still get TV for free with an antenna. I removed a huge antenna from a customer's property at their request a couple of months ago; they said it was useless since you can't get any channels with it anymore. I told them about my setup, but they had a satellite provider and weren't interested in using the antenna anyway. But still, no idea that in their very location they could receive 20+ channels OTA.

[kenglish]

.......Its odd that most people I talk to this about have no idea you can still get TV for free with an antenna. I removed a huge antenna from a customer's property at their request a couple of months ago; they said it was useless since you can't get any channels with it anymore......

I wish you'd post a photo of it....was it a VHF-only antenna? Many folks got the same idea, that it "all went away".

[brant]

I wish you'd post a photo of it....was it a VHF-only antenna? Many folks got the same idea, that it "all went away".

it was divided into two large VHF antennas, two UHF antennas and an FM antenna.


one of each pointing at two directions; our area is split between two DMA's, and its a common setup to see on houses that had antennas here.

[Glen_D]

Its odd that most people I talk to this about have no idea you can still get TV for free with an antenna. I removed a huge antenna from a customer's property at their request a couple of months ago; they said it was useless since you can't get any channels with it anymore. I told them about my setup, but they had a satellite provider and weren't interested in using the antenna anyway. But still, no idea that in their very location they could receive 20+ channels OTA.
What I've found is that people are generally aware that free OTA still exists, but some seem to think they would need to buy a special "digital" antenna to receive the new digital broadcast stations. Locally, Radio Shack was probably that last place left where you could walk in and buy a traditional directional rooftop antenna off the shelf, and I'm not sure they even stock them in the stores here, anymore.

Some of the antennas I see on rooftops in my area have probably been in place since before we got Cable TV service here in my neighborhood in the early 1980s. I don't think some people realize they could probably still pull in the new digital versions of the stations they were watching pre-Cable days, plus a few added subchannels, with that old antenna. I'm still using my old rooftop antenna from the analog days.