So. After seemingly endless special call-in programs and reports, the day TV stations pull the plug on their old analogue signals is at hand. It is estimated a couple of million U.S. residents may suddenly wake up to a screen like this one.
Where they've been during the deluge of publicity about the switch to digital I have no idea. Asleep on the couch? Reading a book? Someday a book will be written that will tell the complete story of the backroom deals that went into providing broadcasters with the frequencies for free (with the provision that they give up the old signals, which in theory the government will sell for a profit to non-broadcast entities.) One wrinkle that many of us will discover when the first hurricane threatens is the fact that those battery operated combination TV/Radio/Flashlight things sitting in the Utility Closet will be worthless, at least for TV watching. You'll still be able to use them as a rather clunky flashlight or a rather heavy radio. And that may be one little silver lining: folks who own analogue radio stations, even if they're just picking up the audio of the TV weather coverage, should have a larger audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment