DTV Readiness Test

[woodyrr]

The poor little blue-haired old lady is at it again!

Spike Feresten Takes on the DTV Delay | BC Beat | Blog on Broadcasting & Cable - 10809

[traxx]

True on #3, there's plenty of blame to go around.

The whole thing stinks though. The expiration was too short. Now they have to spend thousands more to add computer programming to their system to keep track of and re-issue expired, unused coupons and all that stuff.

It's just typical government, just like everything else we hear about lately. They try and put together a "stimulus package" for our economy; we've got people starving to death and losing their houses and their life savings, and some idiot in Congress is putting pork into the bill pertaining to condoms. News flash: We've already been screwed, I think it's a little late for condoms.

Gee, maybe they'll issue coupons for those too, with an expiration date and only two allowed per household. I can hardly wait!

You're not gonna make me feel sorry for people that overextended themselves on a house or owned 2 houses because they thought it be fun to flip and who thought credit was the answer to everything.

I live in a house I can afford and don't use credit. I am not feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

Maybe instead of an economic stimulus package we should get people an economic education package -- "Gov't. was never meant to be our daddy and bail us out when we make stupid decisions. Credit isn't magic...at some point you have to pay the piper."

[drumsncode]

You're not gonna make me feel sorry for people that overextended themselves on a house or owned 2 houses because they thought it be fun to flip and who thought credit was the answer to everything.

I live in a house I can afford and don't use credit. I am not feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

Maybe instead of an economic stimulus package we should get people an economic education package -- "Gov't. was never meant to be our daddy and bail us out when we make stupid decisions. Credit isn't magic...at some point you have to pay the piper."

I agree with everything you're saying! The thing that is killing so many people is stock market fraud; that's what wiped out the savings of so many people, people who "did everything right" according to the rules of investing and diversification, but still lost huge sums over the past twelve months. It's hard to play the stock market "game" when it's rigged with lying, cheating, stealing CEO's and brokerage firms.

I too, have no sympathy for people that bought 500k houses on a 200k budget. My main complaint (among many) is putting pork on all these bills lately. It's insane.

Anyway, about those converter boxes. As of 11am at WalMart on Santa Fe and Danforth, they had about 14 Magnavox ones left on the shelves. If you need one, hurry.

[TaoMaas]

It looks like Congress just voted to push the transition date back to June 12th.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Assinine. Completely.

[danielf1935]

I agree this delay is assinine, all we have heard for the past 1--1 1/2 years is that "change is coming". On June 12th, there will still be several not ready and asking for more time.

But then again, when has, the Federal Goverment ever met or kept a deadline.

[TaoMaas]

Here's what I'm wondering....Cox's website says they're committed to feeding standard def signals for at least the next 3 years. Okay...then what? Is that going to be the end of standard def or is there a good chance they'll extend it beyond that? Will everyone who is currently on cable and have been told over and over that they don't have to do anything for the transition suddenly need digital tuners or have to upgrade to digital cable?

[Marko]

Assinine. Completely.

Completely.......Part of the problem is "people" are buying the boxes with the coupons then.....are you ready for this?

Taking the boxes back to the store so that they can get the full refund for the $40 plus whatever they may have paid for the box? Please tell me this is untrue? Anyone?

[bluedogok]

Here's what I'm wondering....Cox's website says they're committed to feeding standard def signals for at least the next 3 years. Okay...then what? Is that going to be the end of standard def or is there a good chance they'll extend it beyond that? Will everyone who is currently on cable and have been told over and over that they don't have to do anything for the transition suddenly need digital tuners or have to upgrade to digital cable?

More than likely that will be what is required. Cable companies have always pushed their own converter boxes.

[BB37]

Reportedly, KFOR has announced that they're killing their analog signal on 2/17 as originally scheduled. Hopefully the other local stations will follow suit.

[Thunder]

All of the stations need to go ahead as planned. Ignore what Obama begged for. No need to burden the stations with more costs.

[oneforone]

Here's what I'm wondering....Cox's website says they're committed to feeding standard def signals for at least the next 3 years. Okay...then what? Is that going to be the end of standard def or is there a good chance they'll extend it beyond that? Will everyone who is currently on cable and have been told over and over that they don't have to do anything for the transition suddenly need digital tuners or have to upgrade to digital cable?

I would like to think by that time cox will have a basic digital box for the basic cable subscribers that will rent out for minimal fee. (IE:$3-$5)

I would hate to think that Cox will slam the door on people who just want basic TV service. Cox's low cost service at one time catered to the people with rabbit ears who had fight analog reception problems on 4 and 5.

[woodyrr]

Reportedly, KFOR has announced that they're killing their analog signal on 2/17 as originally scheduled. Hopefully the other local stations will follow suit.

Please refer to:

RabbitEars.Info

Four lines from the top:

“For stations ignoring the potential Congressional delay of the transition date, please click here.”

The link is to a nationwide list, that is updated daily, of stations and the dates that they are scheduled to cease analog broadcasts.

According to the list, and a MS Excel spreadsheet that is available on the linked page above, as it stands now irrespective of the June 12 DTV delay, in Oklahoma, the following stations have notified the Federal Communications Commission that they will terminate their analog signal as originally planned:

On February 5, 2009: KXII 12 in Ardmore.

On February 17, 2009

KFOR 4 Oklahoma City
KWTV 9 Oklahoma City
KWET 12 Cheyenne
KETA 13 Oklahoma City
KOKH 25 Oklahoma City
KOCB 34 Oklahoma City
KAUT 43 Oklahoma City
KOCM 46 Norman
KOET 3 Eufaula
KOTV 6 Tulsa
KOED 11 Tulsa
KQCW 19 Tulsa
KSWO 7 Lawton

To date, KOCO TV 5 is not on the list. KSWO 7 in Lawton supposed to kill their analog signal so, assuming that KSWO shuts analog transmissions down, and provided that KOCO has approval to do so, channel 5 can boost the power of their digital signal to post analog cut off power. Their digital antenna is not at the top of the tower, unfortunately, and it is not scheduled to be relocated until 2010 so there are still likely to be channel 5 coverage issues, but those issues would be the same after a June 12 analog cut off regardless.

We just need to watch and see how many of those follow through, which are considerate enough to announce it in advance, and how many just quietly throw the switch on February 17. It looks like the prudent course for anybody in Oklahoma who receives television over the air from a full power analog television station and for whom television is important is to have – something – with a digital tuner before February 17. Those that are DTV ready will need to rescan the television spectrum on February 17 to find those stations that flash-cut from one frequency to another.

[SoonerDave]

More than likely that will be what is required. Cable companies have always pushed their own converter boxes.

Methinks I read somewhere that the cable companies and the FCC came to a quiet agreement that they will provide a cheap, basic analog cable service for something like three years after the DTV transition time.

[traxx]

Please refer to:

RabbitEars.Info

Four lines from the top:

“For stations ignoring the potential Congressional delay of the transition date, please click here.”

The link is to a nationwide list, that is updated daily, of stations and the dates that they are scheduled to cease analog broadcasts.

According to the list, and a MS Excel spreadsheet that is available on the linked page above, as it stands now irrespective of the June 12 DTV delay, in Oklahoma, the following stations have notified the Federal Communications Commission that they will terminate their analog signal as originally planned:

On February 5, 2009: KXII 12 in Ardmore.

On February 17, 2009

KFOR 4 Oklahoma City
KWTV 9 Oklahoma City
KWET 12 Cheyenne
KETA 13 Oklahoma City
KOKH 25 Oklahoma City
KOCB 34 Oklahoma City
KAUT 43 Oklahoma City
KOCM 46 Norman
KOET 3 Eufaula
KOTV 6 Tulsa
KOED 11 Tulsa
KQCW 19 Tulsa
KSWO 7 Lawton

To date, KOCO TV 5 is not on the list. KSWO 7 in Lawton supposed to kill their analog signal so, assuming that KSWO shuts analog transmissions down, and provided that KOCO has approval to do so, channel 5 can boost the power of their digital signal to post analog cut off power. Their digital antenna is not at the top of the tower, unfortunately, and it is not scheduled to be relocated until 2010 so there are still likely to be channel 5 coverage issues, but those issues would be the same after a June 12 analog cut off regardless.

We just need to watch and see how many of those follow through, which are considerate enough to announce it in advance, and how many just quietly throw the switch on February 17. It looks like the prudent course for anybody in Oklahoma who receives television over the air from a full power analog television station and for whom television is important is to have – something – with a digital tuner before February 17. Those that are DTV ready will need to rescan the television spectrum on February 17 to find those stations that flash-cut from one frequency to another.

I hope this is true but I wonder if it'll change after Obama signs the bill. I would love for the Lawton station to go ahead and vacate the analog frequency and for KOCO to boost their digital signal. Channel 5 is the only one I can't get OTA.

[woodyrr]

I hope this is true but I wonder if it'll change after Obama signs the bill. I would love for the Lawton station to go ahead and vacate the analog frequency and for KOCO to boost their digital signal. Channel 5 is the only one I can't get OTA.

That’s why I included the link. I look at it every morning to see who has been added. We might find that over the next few days Oklahoma City stations might be deleted, at least while they take care of the paperwork needed to reinforce to the FCC their intention to discontinue analog on the 17th.

Both KFOR 4 and KWTV 9 ran stories this evening (Thursday) reiterating their intention to shut down analog broadcasts on the February 17th regardless of the delay.

[BB37]

It'll be interesting to see which stations don't switch on 2/17. And even though the bill just passed by Congress gives stations the option to switch on 2/17, I wonder if BO and his FCC try to pressure stations to honor the delay?

[woodyrr]

Below is an AP story posted this afternoon.

The good news is that in Oklahoma City, among others, KWTV 9 and KETA 13 (the two stations in the market that will need to flash-cut to a different frequency after analog shut down) have now said that they plan to shut down analog on February 17. In the case of KWTV and KFOR at 1 pm. Those of us with OTA digital tuners can rescan the band at some point on February 17 or 18, and move on with our lives (yippee!) leaving the digital transition behind and leaving those other stations that are already broadcasting on their final digital channel assignments to run analog until they are bankrupt if they so desire. The other good news is that KSWO 7 in Lawton plans to discontinue analog as well clearing the path for KOCO 5 to increase their power.

The bad news is that KOCO is not mentioned in the article and I read in another thread that Hearst / Argyle (which owns KOCO) has agreed to keep the vast majority of their stations broadcasting analog until June 15. Whether or not KOCO is one of those stations remains to be seen and if they are the question becomes, will they be able to increase their digital signal without interfering with their analog signal. If KOCO holds back, those in fringe KOCO digital reception areas with early model converter boxes than don't have analog pass through are going to find themselves in a bind (that is if they want to watch channel 5).

Anything can happen, of course, but I infer from those interviewed (both in the AP article and the engineer at KFOR in their story today), that they seemed pretty adamant that it would require extraordinary circumstances to prevent analog shutdown at their stations on February 17 - and I can't say that I blame them.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-tv-statio...ad_story_title

[Buickcarnut]

All I can say...hats off to all the stations that go ahead and make the transition on the 17th. It appears that 4, 5, 9, 13, 25, 34 and 43 are going to make the jump. Congress and especially Senator Waxman should have their head examined by pulling the rug out at the last minute and creating viewer confusion. Let OKC show'em how it's done!!!

[TaoMaas]

Remember when the Nielsen ratings were revised because the viewers from KFOR's digital signal weren't being counted? I wonder if that is playing into KOCO's hesitation to commit to a Feb. 17th changeover. If all the other channels switch, that would leave KOCO as the only channel who would have both analog and digital viewers to be counted. Could they be thinking that their analog numbers might jump once the other stations quit providing that service and could possibly account for enough rating points to move them ahead in some newscasts? Nielsen has suspended their ratings period for Feb., so the next one would be May. Since the July book isn't taken that seriously, if KOCO made a significant gain in the May book, they could enjoy that gain until the Nov. ratings. Eh...it's a thought.

[drumsncode]

Remember when the Nielsen ratings were revised because the viewers from KFOR's digital signal weren't being counted? I wonder if that is playing into KOCO's hesitation to commit to a Feb. 17th changeover. If all the other channels switch, that would leave KOCO as the only channel who would have both analog and digital viewers to be counted. Could they be thinking that their analog numbers might jump once the other stations quit providing that service and could possibly account for enough rating points to move them ahead in some newscasts? Nielsen has suspended their ratings period for Feb., so the next one would be May. Since the July book isn't taken that seriously, if KOCO made a significant gain in the May book, they could enjoy that gain until the Nov. ratings. Eh...it's a thought.

Interesting points. KOCO definitely needs all the help it can get.

Are you sure the next ratings period isn't March? Here's my source:
Nielsen Ratings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They moved it from February to March so that certain special TV events would not skew the ratings. (I assume that 's the Grammys and such)

[TaoMaas]

Are you sure the next ratings period isn't March? Here's my source:
Nielsen Ratings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They moved it from February to March so that certain special TV events would not skew the ratings. (I assume that 's the Grammys and such)

You could be right. I thought they'd suspended it all together. However, I think the reason they changed it is because of the digital transition (not tv special events). The CBS stations are screwed up all during March because of the NCAA basketball tournament and have been for quite some time.

[woodyrr]

It is my understanding that it was the sweeps rating period that was delayed so that it didn't occur during the analog cutoff.

I believe that Nielsen is metering households as usual.

[BB37]

You could be right. I thought they'd suspended it all together. However, I think the reason they changed it is because of the digital transition (not tv special events).

That explains why the February programming has been so blah to date. My favorite network show (NCIS) opened February with a rerun, which normally never happens. Normally during a sweeps month, the local news programs run all these shocking 'exposes' of various subjects (especially KFOR), but so far, just the normal guns and car crashes.

[bsmall]

Remember when the Nielsen ratings were revised because the viewers from KFOR's digital signal weren't being counted? I wonder if that is playing into KOCO's hesitation to commit to a Feb. 17th changeover. If all the other channels switch, that would leave KOCO as the only channel who would have both analog and digital viewers to be counted. Could they be thinking that their analog numbers might jump once the other stations quit providing that service and could possibly account for enough rating points to move them ahead in some newscasts? Nielsen has suspended their ratings period for Feb., so the next one would be May. Since the July book isn't taken that seriously, if KOCO made a significant gain in the May book, they could enjoy that gain until the Nov. ratings. Eh...it's a thought.

I just noticed that KOCO has updated the message they scroll across the screen to the June date. There are now 127 days remaining of KOCO's analog broadcast.