Antenna Sales Are Rising, In Another Sign of Churn In TV Watching (startribune.com) 186
Rick Schumann shares a report from Star Tribune: Twenty percent of homes in the U.S. use a digital antenna to access live TV, up from 16 percent just two years ago, according to Parks Associates market research in Texas. The Twin Cities has an even higher antenna percentage. Local antenna installers say business has been rising about 20 percent to 25 percent annually for several years. It's the eighth largest broadcast-only market in the country, with more than 22 percent of homes using antennas to get local TV, according to TVb.org, a local broadcast trade association. Duane, Wawrzyniak, owner of Electronic Servicing in Silver Lake, Minnesota, cites high TV bills every month for the increased antenna sales. According to the report, "In the Twin Cities and much of Minnesota, antenna users can receive 10 to 60 TV channels, often in high-definition quality, over the air at no expense."
You can check the DTV signals that are available at your location here.
You can check the DTV signals that are available at your location here.
Antenna are still worse then netflix (Score:1)
I've never subscribed to cable. I used antenna and Windows Media Center for a long time. I stopped and just use Netflix. It has enough content to occupy my TV watching time. The antenna and DVRs are just too much work to get to a near Netflix experience. Cable's only way to survive is to beat Netflix in the user experience. (No commercials / Binge Watching / Always new content)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I should have known, the next thing the kids would get into would be vintage episodes of Computer Chronicles.
Alternative (Score:2)
At least where I am, the library has an amazing collection of material on bluray/dvd.
Have to wait a little for just-released stuff, but if you are interested in golden oldie genres like Noir, the choice is there.
And no surveillance of your behavior... OTA TV wins there too.
Re: (Score:2)
Netflix is increasingly facing an uphill battle against publishers and content owners for rights to stream. Those people are in the process of fragmenting the market into a million different subcription services with maybe one good thing to watch. For companies that broadcast however, you can just sit there with your digital antenna and get their one good show, skip the ads, and say "fuck you" for as long as it lasts.
My recommendation is a good digital antenna for your environment and tablo, if you don't wa
Re: (Score:2)
of course you're still being the internet connection and paying for the netflix as well.
sure it's just a few tens of bucks per month but that's still few tens of bucks per month.
Re: (Score:2)
If this amount of $$ is a major concern for your household, I would posit that you should spend your time NOT watching TV, but doing whatever it takes to educate yourself so you can get a better job with better pay.
In this day in age, "tens of dollars" a month should not be a show stopper for anyones; household.
Re: (Score:2)
Still the local channels will often offer timely news and weather, while Netflix will not.
At least in my area, if there is a major weather event it will show its progress even with commercials playing.
In terms of getting immediate updates on local news events and weather. Local TV channels are better then the Internet (Where there is a lag to publish), Radio (Which can only cover one story at once), Print media (a full day delay)
Television is more then just entertainment. And News is more then just global
Re: (Score:2)
I *HATE* our local news because living far enough off the coast to avoid many hurricanes while being outside of tornado zones means a heavy rainstorm is a weather event for some of these chuckleheads. I don't know how many times a year they throw up the weather graphic or break into regular programming to update us on... rain...
I'm not saying these storms aren't sometimes dangerous. Some bring high winds or flash flooding (think yards and creeks, not rockslides or cars sliding
Re: (Score:2)
Being that our weather system is new rather screwed up. We don't need hurricanes to cause real damage. In the past decade, houses that have been built hundred years ago, are being washed away in creaks that have diverted hundreds of feet due to heavy rain and flooding conditions overnight. Roads have been washed away to become impassible until a major fix and often adding a bridge where there wasn't one before.
Re: (Score:2)
Only if you have decent speed internet.
And that, I think, is the defining factor. I live outside the US so I only know what I read about in news stories, but it sounds like a lot of you guys have really expensive Internet that would barely qualify as basic broadband in many parts of the world. If everyone had fast, reasonably-priced Internet, would there be any demand at all for having to watch whatever bland crap someone else programs at a given time rather than watching what you want, when you want via streaming media?
Re: (Score:2)
Most anywhere on the coasts, or in medium-to-large cities, you can usually get pretty decent internet. Rural areas are going to be worse (e.g. just DSL, or if you're particularly unlucky, satellite) -- and well, there's a lot of that in the US.
Around here, the cable companies are starting off at 400 mbps for $65/month (although it's $45 for the first year) -- plus local taxes, etc (note, the US has varying sales tax depending on where you are in t
Re: (Score:2)
If it was an advert for a consumer service, it included all taxes in the price. If it was targeted at businesses, then they might quote either the tax-included price, or the no-tax price, but if you tried to pay the no-tax price, you'd have to provide your business' VAT tax reference at the point of sale, otherwise you
How many are making their own antennas... (Score:5, Interesting)
versus buying one. I've made a bunch of Gray-Hoverman style antennas using foam board and foil tape (indoor use only, obviously). These pick up everything in my area and cost less than $5 each.
Re: (Score:2)
Please don't take this the wrong way,...........
but ummm I suspect you're one of the few, by a long shot. (You've got a 5 digit ID for a start,....)
Provide a link? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not intended as a snarky reply, but please do a search for "gray-hoverman antenna". You should be able to find a variety of designs; indoor, outdoor, with or without reflector, and multi-bay designs.
Re:How many are making their own antennas... (Score:5, Interesting)
I've made a bunch of Gray-Hoverman style antennas using foam board and foil tape (indoor use only, obviously). These pick up everything in my area and cost less than $5 each.
I made one out of a piece of wood, six screws, some leftover # 14 wire from a house rewiring project, and a balun (also lying about).
The townhouse is within about a mile of the east end of the Dumbarton in silicon valley. Pretty much ALL the digital signals the FCC says are detectable in my area are on on of three towers: North San Jose on a hilltop overlooking the bay (and a naked-eye object from my front yard), Sutro Tower near the Castro in San Francisco, and one to the east, just over the hills (near Walnut Creek if I recall correctly)
Left off the reflector, since the SF and SJ towers are almost exactly opposite directions at my site. No reflector means I hit them both at about 3dB down from what I'd get from just one with the reflector present.
Did I need to put it on the roof? In the attic? Heck, no. I stood it up it behind the TV -and-audio cabinet on the ground floor of a two-story house. It works just fine right through the wall, insulation, orchard, neighbors' houses, etc. (Also through the TV console to hit San Francisco.) AND it gets the signals from the one over-the-hill in the middle. (Didn't really expect that.)
In fact the only thing it DOESN'T get is the last analog TV signal, a low-power channel-6 station south of San Jose, run by a church (mainly to broadcast their services to their shutins, from what I hear).
For those familiar with analog TV, the channel 6 FM audio carrier is just below the FM band, and many older FM radios will pick it up just fine. That's probably why they didn't go digital.
The Gray-Hoverman is a great (and open source!) design. And while digital TV doesn't carry quite as far as analog (because it suddenly dies when the signal-to-noise ratio overcomes the forward error correction), when you CAN get it it is either just perfect, or (if on the ragged edge) has the occasional freeze, while analog would be "receivable" but horribly corrupted by multipath ghosting and "snow" from noise.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course now that I got it working we don't watch it. B-) At ALL.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I did this once. I intended to use the cable tv cable in the wall of my apartment as an antenna.
After plugging it in and scanning for channels, I discovered the cable was active and I had access to free cable all along.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm in France, where almost everyone has an TV antenna, I've never seen a homemade one being used in practice. Unless by "homemade antenna", you mean a piece of wire sticking out of the RF connector, with no fucks given about the proper shape or dimensions.
I know it can be done easily but at the same time, why bother when you can buy them for 10 to 30€ if you don't find one in a dumpster, unless you enjoy building stuff that is.
Re: (Score:2)
On the other hand, if it's something I enjoy doing, and building stuff is generally one of those things, then building something that costs more than just buying it is perfectly understandable. Recreation has value in and of itself. I just didn't want to build an antenna:).
I'm pretty sure that was your motivation as well. And it is cool to build something that works well.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:How many are making their own antennas... (Score:5, Insightful)
Some people just like to build stuff. There is an inherent satisfaction factor that you cannot buy, in creating something yourself.
Did his post touch a sore topic with you? It rather seems that way.
Re: (Score:2)
And when the thing breaks, you know how to fix it since you made it yourself and understand how it works.
Re: (Score:2)
$5 for a homebrew antenna? That's pure luxury! I make mine from Pringles cans. They were on sale last week at 99 cents per can so I bought 50 of them.
Re: (Score:2)
$5 for a homebrew antenna? That's pure luxury! I make mine from Pringles cans. They were on sale last week at 99 cents per can so I bought 50 of them.
I make my kids hold up some wires and aluminum tubes, and they rotate on command to pick of channels from different directions. They can even get on the roof for those more distant channels.
However, they have incurred more expense than the $5 you mentioned.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's a nice Simpsons reference.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Mylar bag? You were lucky.
We had to make our antenna out of dirt.
Re: (Score:3)
Mylar bag? You were lucky.
We had to make our antenna out of dirt.
Wow, an antenna AND the ground all in one!
Re: (Score:2)
I can't believe all the rich people posting in this thread, openly bragging about how often they have access to potatoes. Insensitive clods, all of you!!
Re: (Score:2)
"I can't believe all the rich people posting in this thread, openly bragging about how often they have access to potatoes"
I hope that you don't seriously believe that Pringles are made out of potatoes.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, you're really wound up! The antennas I build perform better than the cheap patch antennas sold by WalMart (or "As Seen on TV!"). I like making things. I cook my own food (but, yeah, I do eat a Big Mac from time to time...). You can spend your money how you want, I don't care.
Most are crap (Score:2)
Most antennas you can find in the local box stores are crap. They are certainly not worth the money if you have the know-how and resources to build them.
Re: (Score:2)
"Are people really this poor? Can't you afford a Walmart $10 antenna instead of a $5 homebrew one with half the performance? "
How do you know the homebrew has "half the performance?" Some inexpensive commercial stuff works brilliantly. But a lot truly is junk. And the amount of signal one has to work with can vary dramatically over short distances. In practice, a homemade antenna or even a few feet of wire hung off the TV antenna terminal may give one all the signal they need.
The idea that store bought
Re: (Score:2)
The cheapest Antenna that I bought works pretty good but bought two others that were terrible compared to a homebrew made out of coat hangers. I only tried buying outdoor ones because the homebrew is rusting and looks bad. I have repaired it but might just make a new one that is more durable.
Digital antenna??? (Score:2)
Is that a middle finger reference? I am pretty sure that 95% of households use that to communicate with neighbors. There is no such thing as a digital antenna in electronics.
Re: (Score:2)
There is no such thing as a digital antenna in electronics.
Not even an active antenna with a class D amplifier?!?!
Re: (Score:2)
In the good old days, this would be an appropriate comments for Slashdot, News for Nerds. Now look at the pap in the rest of the comments.
Re: (Score:3)
They can receive radio signals, but I doubt the antenna alone is doing the decoding.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure they can. They have a built-in schmitt trigger.
Re:Digital antenna??? (Score:4, Funny)
But no one here knows schmitt.
Re: (Score:3)
Antennae are passive devices.
The "digital" part is located *after* the antenna if the antenna is combined with amplification or signal processing.
Antennae simply receive radio waves. The type of signal or modulation type is independent of antenna type.
does broadcast-only include people with internet? (Score:4, Insightful)
It doesn't surprise me that broadcast-only is increasing especially if it includes people with broadband-only.
If most of your entertainment is coming from netflix but you occasionally want to watch the news,
it makes sense to get an antenna versus paying high prices for a cable service you don't need.
Re: (Score:1)
Sounds good to me (Score:3)
Local news is a cesspool of local criminal influence where I live.
Better than the national cesspool of higher-level criminal influence then. At least local criminals care about the city they live in too.
Re: (Score:3)
I read something somewhere recently... Oh yeah:
Get a job, or move away, or SOMETHING! Don't you like the flavor of food? Why would you live in place like that? ...
Just tell your mom you're sorry, find a real job, and fly her out once you get your first paycheck.
Re: (Score:2)
Virtual +1 BURN!
Re: (Score:2)
I'd bet a lot of sports too.
Since (non basketball) sports are usually on broadcast, and have lower time shift value than other content. Other stuff you can be on the Netflix schedule with your peer group, or Hulu and only be a day behind for a lot of stuff.
Good news for my little Android app about antennas (Score:1)
I thought I would get less and less users in my Android app. I thought anyone is moving away from watching OTA TV. Good news then for my little hobby app that allows you to find which channels are around you... =)
https://play.google.com/store/... [google.com]
OTA fills a perfect niche (Score:4, Insightful)
Streaming video is great, but when it comes to watching news or local sports, having access to the local TV stations is still useful. An OTA antenna can fill in that gap, allowing you to still have access to live TV without an expensive monthly fee
I do wonder how much longer OTA broadcasting is going to be around, though. ATSC is an incredibly inefficient standard (hell, it still uses MPEG-2 video! That's a few codec generations behind) and you just know telcos and others are desperate to get their hands on that spectrum. I'm glad more people are starting to tune in; that means there will be more pressure to preserve it. I just worry that most of these people are getting up there in age, and that this trend will reverse again once we start losing them.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:OTA fills a perfect niche (Score:5, Informative)
ATSC is being upgraded "real soon now" to version 3.0 [wikipedia.org]. On one hand ATSC 3.0 will have up to 4K resolution compressed with HEVC. On the other hand, it's may also have stuff like an effective "broadcast flag", so you may not be able to record your favorite shows, encryption, so you may get OTA pay-per-view or something, and upstream transmission which may be used for Facebook-like spying for advertisers or something.
On the other other hand, there's supposed to be a "lighthouse" station for awhile with the major ATSC 1.0 channels, but they'll be compressed to heck, like Joe_Dragon says below.
Capture the flag (Score:2)
>> an effective "broadcast flag"
Cool, a "capture the flag" contest coming soon, how nice that they entertain the hackers as much as the general public with nice easter eggs.
in the atsc 1.0 to 3.0 switch get ready SD compres (Score:2)
in the atsc 1.0 to 3.0 switch get ready SD compressed so hard so that you have 5-6+ channels all on ONE 1.0 channel if you don't have an 3.0 box and no sub channels just your 4-5 mains + PBS.
Background Noise (Score:2)
For the most part, my family only has the TV on as background noise, paying periodic attention to news or whatever. They don't often attentively watch TV shows. Looking at it that way, why pay a large bill each month for background noise? The quality of broadcast shows doesn't even matter since they functionally equally well as noise. IMO that's what almost all of it is good for anyway.
Furthermore, people's time is worth more now, what with all the media out there, and increased working hours. Why should I
Just wait for the next tech oblivion (Score:1)
I've been enjoying my OTA HDTV solution. Although I think I bought the last two 20 foot antenna masts at my local TV shop. Sad that the local big-box stores told me that they didn't have an antenna mast but I should just break down and pay for electrical conduit. Nope... Nopesauce.
We can all find our way back to OTA HDTV but there is a new push and I don't know the direct source. The new standard is ATSC 3.0 where any TV bought from 1900 to now.. and maybe now + 5 years will be obsolete (tuner-based)
Re: (Score:2)
The new standard is ATSC 3.0 where any TV bought from 1900 to now.. and maybe now + 5 years will be obsolete (tuner-based) when these standards become mainstream. Welcome to SDTV-HDTV where your TV suddenly needs a third-party tuner to become useful again.
I really want you to describe how a 1975 TV works without a third-party tuner when receiving digital TV broadcasts.
Hint: It doesn't. When analog TV broadcasts were shut off in 2009, that 1975 TV started needing a "converter", which is just a third-party tuner (some low power stations could keep broadcasting in analog until 2015, but that's still in the past).
Yes, ATSC 3 could mean yet another 3rd party tuner, but this isn't the first time this has come up.
Content (Score:2)
Lots of oldies and rerun channels like Antenna, MeTV, Movies, Buzzr...
You have to go with premium cable to get a better selection.
Analog (Score:2)
Do they still actually have analog TV signals in the US? That would be the interesting story.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Do they still actually have analog TV signals in the US? That would be the interesting story.
Supposedly, there are some low-power stations [wileyrein.com]. They may yet change things again, but you're right - this was interesting to find out.
Re: (Score:3)
I think this has less to do with churn (Score:3)
Have we missed something? (Score:2)
Obviously, these people have cut the cord. I would think that most of them have cut the cord in favor of over-the-internet streamed media and are supplementing with over-the-air TV. But, is seems unlikely that this 20% is purely a combination of those who never went to cable or satellite and those who have already cut the cord and are choosing to supplement with over-the-air TV. Many cord cutters are either not supplementing (as is my case) or are supplementing using the new cable-over-internet operations l
Re: (Score:2)
We cut cable TV and switched to OTA+streaming because 1) the overall cost was lower, freeing up money for other things 2) streaming services are month-to-month, no lengthy contracts 3) we have two fully paid for TiVos that happily consume OTA and work as streaming devices 4) the hundreds of channels of content on cable tv are increasing filled with crappy, low budget reality content. If I want that, I can get it from YouTube 5) we have the good fortune to live in a town with a community not-for-profit ISP,
Re: (Score:2)
lol. We have an interesting point in common though a different approach I guess. My 2 y/o loves PBS Kids but watches it either on her own via the PBS Kids app on her Fire for Kids tablet or via Chromecast on the TV. She also loves all of the PBS Kids games on her tablet.
As for TV, I cut the cord due to a combination that the programming is no longer worth paying for and because I felt there was nothing on TV worth exposing myself to even one more television ad. I guess I could Tivo the live TV, but I really
Re: (Score:2)
Same. OTA meets most of my needs, and I fill in a little with Netflix/streaming options. Who needs more TV than that? It's already too much content.
Digital antenna? (Score:2)
Sounds like the ads I used to see for antennas for color TV reception. No ordinary black and white antenna would work for color TV!
My only regret about cutting the cord is that... (Score:2)
I started out using cable, but our local provider had terrible signal and service. We experienced complete loss of signal out anytime it rained, go figure. Calling their service line would usually take over an hour of waiting to reach a human, Due to all the problems in our area, their repair teams are spread so thin that they can't arrive for at least a full week after a service call by which point the problem would gone so they can't ever find the root cause to fix it. This
Is coverage increasing? (Score:2)
One of the unfortunate effects of the switch from analog to digital TV in hilly/mountainous areas is that lots of areas that had analog coverage have no digital coverage. My home is in such an area. If coverage were improved, I'd put up an antenna. Perhaps this is happening in other places and driving antenna sales?
Going the other way here (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Here in the UK things are going the other way, almost every household had an antenna (or aerial as we call them). Very few people had any kind of cable, although sky satellite became quite popular in the 90s. It was only with the introduction of broadband that cable started to get more popular, but still a majority get their broadband over some kind of DSL. Now there is a growing movement away from broadcast, people are now choosing what they want to watch and when they want to watch it, using on-line services.
Yep,
A lot of landlords advertise that they have Virgin Media or Sky packages, but some are starting to get rid of them as they're just an extra cost most people done use and in some cases, replaced them with Netflix.
Even the BBC is going online for a lot of content. I haven't used a TV in over 8 months and get my HIGNFY and UC fixes via the iplayer.
Re: (Score:2)
What kind of channels (Score:2)
Over the air 4K... when? (Score:2)
I was going to ask when 4K signals will be available OTA, but I think that the answer will likely be "never".
The broadcasters will probably keep those behind a paywall that requires you to have 50 Mbps or better broadband to access. So, if you don't have cable internet, a fiber connection, or are planning on getting a 5G wireless connection when they become more available... you're stuck with 1080i or 720p.
1080p HDTV antenna or 1080i cable (Score:2)
Lower resolution signals over cable or higher resolution for free over the air with a $40 HDTV antenna that picks up more than 100 channels.
Easy choice.
Re: (Score:2)
The one PBS channel here seems to run thinly veiled sponsored content. Right now *Food: What The Heck Should I Eat?* is playing.
Re: (Score:2)
This.
Or selling investment advice packages, oldies music CD collections, yoga for geezers or Deepak Chopra selling his crap.
A year or two ago, our PBS station had a Spanish language kids sub-channel. It appeared to have lots of science and technology programming. The English language kids channel features a purple dinosaur. I guess we know where our future STEM employees are coming from.
Re:PBS made a big mistake (Score:5, Interesting)
This is false. I have no idea where this is coming from. There are about 20 PBS stations that sold spectrum in the 2016-2017 auction the FCC held to channel share, and considering there are hundreds of PBS stations out there, it's certainly not "most." And among those, most are not "renting" from commercial licensees.
The complete list of such stations and what they're doing follows:
KOCE Los Angeles, CA - shares on KSCI (commercial; no programming was lost)
KLCS Los Angeles, CA - shares on KCET (non-commercial)
KQEH San Jose, CA - shares on KQED (its PBS sister station, which was already airing its programming)
WEDY New Haven, CT - shares on WEDH (its PBS sister station, of which it was a 100% simulcast)
WXEL West Palm Beach, FL - shares on WPBT (its PBS sister station)
WUSF Tampa, FL - shares on PBS WEDU and sold the license to them
WYCC Chicago, IL - shares on PBS WTTW and sold the license to them
WCMZ Flint, MI - went off the air entirely; PBS remains on WTVS/WDCQ
WNJN Montclair, NJ - shares on WNJB (its PBS sister station, of which it was a 100% simulcast; no programming was lost)
WNJT Trenton, NJ - shares on WNJS (its PBS sister station, of which it was a 100% simulcast; no programming was lost)
WPBO Portsmouth, OH - went off the air entirely; PBS remains on WOSU/WKAS/etc.
WLVT Allentown, PA - shares on WBPH (commercial; no programming was lost)
WYBE Philadelphia, PA - shares on WBPH (commercial) and sold the license to WLVT
WVIA Scranton, PA - shares on WNEP (commercial; no programming was lost)
WRET Spartanburg, SC - shares on WNTV (its PBS sister station, of which it was a 100% simulcast; no programming was lost)
WVPY Front Royal, VA - shares on WVPT (its PBS sister station)
WMSY Marion, VA - station was already off the air for financial reasons
WSBN Norton, VA - station was already off the air for financial reasons
WVTA Windsor, VT - station will share on WVER, its PBS sister station of which it is a 100% simulcast, and will refill lost coverage with booster signals that are being built right now
WMVT Milwaukee, WI - shares on WMVS (its PBS sister station)
The vast majority of the above did not have any change in resolution. To the extent there's a change in bandwidth, newer encoders have better performance, and you cannot measure picture quality from bandwidth alone.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
In Seattle and Tacoma (which you can pick up in Seattle) they broadcast in 1080p and also carry 720p and 360p other language channels.
You can get most sports games - pick up the Spanish language channel, turn on the screen captions with Second Language set to English, turn on SAP audio (which is English). Plus, they're way more fun!
Re: (Score:2)
Mr. Rogers was a Republican. Try reading a book sometime, you might learn something, "comrade".
Re: (Score:2)
In this phrase "Sign of Churn In TV Watching", it means is that there's still a continual change affecting how people are watching TV. Historically, the changes been::
- OTA viewing being displaced (and almost fully replaced in many areas) by cable TV broadcast
- Cable TV viewing being disp
Re: (Score:2)
> I'm not a native English speaker, but isn't churn supposed to mean reduction in something?
No. If you actually looked up the definition / etymology of the word you would see that churn is a machine or container in which butter is made by agitating milk or cream.
e.g. Butter Churn [wikipedia.org]
i.e. If 5% cut the cord but a different 5% start their cable subscription then the total number of current subscribers hasn't changed. Churn is just another name for cyclical movement.
The cable industry with its subscribers, fo
Re: (Score:3)
I'd much rather ditch all broadcast TV and push people towards IP services, personally.
Because once you have a decent line for IP transit (however that may happen), everything can be pushed down it - Internet, telephony, video-on-demand, etc.
We need to wake up and realise that IP is a standard that you can use for almost any kind of data distribution in an efficient manner, especially with multicast / broadcast being used properly.
Give people reliable IP, all those old services will be absorbed and made mor
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Nope.
I'd ditch the advert-funded radio that nobody listens to any more to fund a huge spread-spectrum auction benefitting the taxpayer directly (to the tune of billions of pounds if the 3G/4G/5G auctions are anything to go buy), while carving out several more "unlicenced" areas of spread spectrum that could be used to provide mesh wireless and other services.
I'd also attached to the provisions of the spectrum use that they must cover X percent of the country in their cellular/IP coverage, including at least
Re: (Score:2)
Because once you have a decent line for IP transit (however that may happen), everything can be pushed down it - Internet, telephony, video-on-demand, etc.
If you have a 20Mbps TV channel and you replace it with Multicast IP transit, then that same channel will still use up 20Mbps but with TCP/IP overhead on top of that. And that's a best case scenario.
Re: (Score:2)
IP is not suitable for emergency broadcasts because of low reliability. Even satellite broadcasts are questionable in heavy weather but without local OTA, they would not carry local emergency broadcasts anyway.
So there is a reason to keep OTA broadcast stations for both television and radio around but it may not be enough. Who needs weather alerts and emergency broadcasts anyway?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)