RIP Analog TV

[Scott Campbell]

After a nice run, analog TV is officially gone. There are probably a few bewildered people that won't have TV for a few weeks while they figure out how to set up digital converters.

[Fosco33]

Apparently many good folks in Los Angeles didn't put their hand out for the govt handout to watch TV.

How great would it be if people weren't watching TV all the time? More time with the family, time outdoors getting exercise.

Yet again, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars so people could have an easier time watching TV.

[Scott Campbell]

I like TV. Without it I'd have to travel 1230 miles to watch a game.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Digital TV has turned into a massive (although perhaps temporary) screw job for rural and poorer people. Almost everybody needs to pay for cable or satelite now.

I had no clue that the broadcast digital signals would be so weak and fragile.

Analog signals that used to reach hundreds of miles outside of cities now drop-off at 25 miles or some such distance. Within cities, buildings block the digitial signals for many (most?) people who were fine before.

What happened is that the government sold-off too much of the available bandwidth, they didn't leave enough for the public air waves. Interference is a problem if they allow the TV stations to broadcast at higher power.

I've read that there will be a better version of digital broadcasting in the future. Not sure how that will work. But I consider this switch to digital to be a fiasco.

[MJZiggy]

And here I sit with a spare digital converter...

[Partial]

Apparently many good folks in Los Angeles didn't put their hand out for the govt handout to watch TV.

How great would it be if people weren't watching TV all the time? More time with the family, time outdoors getting exercise.

Yet again, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars so people could have an easier time watching TV.

Typically I'm a conservative and agree with you, but I do not in this case.

The switch to digital was forced on people after years and hundreds of dollars of equipment purchases.

OTA TV is probably a good way that a lot of the poorer people get news. With the WHO declaring a global pandemic for the first time in 41 years, I think now is a pretty big time for news alerts, etc.

That said, I don't think I will have cable TV again until I have kids, so I ordered two coupons for myself, two for my girlfriend, and two for my mom. A lot of websites are selling converted boxes with nice features like 24 hour menu, etc for free after coupon. I'm definitely going to take advantage.

[Scott Campbell]

Apparently many good folks in Los Angeles didn't put their hand out for the govt handout to watch TV.

How great would it be if people weren't watching TV all the time? More time with the family, time outdoors getting exercise.

Yet again, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars so people could have an easier time watching TV.

Typically I'm a conservative and agree with you, but I do not in this case.

The switch to digital was forced on people after years and hundreds of dollars of equipment purchases.

OTA TV is probably a good way that a lot of the poorer people get news. With the WHO declaring a global pandemic for the first time in 41 years, I think now is a pretty big time for news alerts, etc.

That said, I don't think I will have cable TV again until I have kids, so I ordered two coupons for myself, two for my girlfriend, and two for my mom. A lot of websites are selling converted boxes with nice features like 24 hour menu, etc for free after coupon. I'm definitely going to take advantage.

I got the coupons too. I don't consider this your typical handout. The FCC generated a ton of revenue by reselling that spectrum, and its only fair that they pay people for obsoleting their TV's.

[SkinBasket]

Now we know why those poor people couldn't get their coupons earlier this year.

[Scott Campbell]

Now we know why those poor people couldn't get their coupons earlier this year.

You snooze, you lose.

I'm kind of hoping I get laid off. Obama wants to cover 2/3rds of COBRA payments as long as you're a married couple making less than $250K per year. If it happens, I'll write a few paragraphs titled "What I did on my (Obama sponsored) summer vacation".

[Freak Out]

I like the switch....sure I had to upgrade rooftop antennas but I love the HD broadcasts and the far superior audio that comes with most of the new programing. The cable company up here is expensive and sucky and I am unable to get a SAT signal so am very happy with the upgrade. There are some downsides especially if you are rural...but most rural folks here didn't have TV to begin with or have SAT....most rely on radio for news and such.

[SkinBasket]

Now we know why those poor people couldn't get their coupons earlier this year.

You snooze, you lose.

I'm kind of hoping I get laid off. Obama wants to cover 2/3rds of COBRA payments as long as you're a married couple making less than $250K per year. If it happens, I'll write a few paragraphs titled "What I did on my (Obama sponsored) summer vacation".

You can always ebay those cable boxes for some spending money too.