The United States government is requiring TV stations to cease
broadcasting analog channels. April 7th, 2009 is the current date the
FCC is requiring U.S. stations to broadcast using digital signals
instead of existing analog signals. With a conversion date slightly
over three years from now and little publicity on the topic, what is an
American consumer to do?
First, let’s take a look at what is driving these changes and then
we’ll look at what options American consumers have regarding their home
television sets.
Why convert to digital TV?
There are three main factors driving the industry change from analog
signals to digital. Standardized digital conversion will create a
common and effective way for TV broadcasters to encrypt their content
and protect against piracy.
Digital content not only provides better content for viewers, but
perfect reproduction for content piracy. No longer is there a “copy of
a copy” effect. Every reproduction of digital content is as clear as
the original. Existing laws and standards don’t allow broadcasters to
protect their content because they have to provide analog versions. The
conversion to digital broadcast will allow encryption to be employed.
The second reason for digital TV conversion is to raise money through the sale of frequency spectrums. VHF (Very high frequency) channels are currently used for TV stations 2-13,
but that frequency range is also used for FM radio, navigation systems,
aircraft communications and two-way radios for police, taxis and marine
communications. UHF (Ultra high frequency) channels are used for all other TV stations that
are not digital. This frequency range is also used currently for cell
phones, cordless phones, wireless networking, ham radio and other
licensed two-way communications (GMRS, FRS) and microwave ovens.
During the mid 90’s the FCC auctioned PCS spectrum frequencies, which current digital cellular phones operate
on and generated over $7.7 billion in revenue for the A and B blocks
alone. When TV stations convert to digital frequencies, the FCC plans
to auction the newly available spectrum to the highest bidder. Revenues
from this auction are expected to exceed $10 billion with $5 billion
legislated to pay down the federal deficit.
The final reason driving the conversion to digital broadcast comes from
providers themselves. In addition to being able to protect their
content, TV stations will be able to provide better content.
Digital TV will be broadcast in higher resolution, meaning your picture
will be clearer and sharper. The aspect ratio, the way the picture is
displayed, will be different…more like the way movies in theaters are
displayed. Think rectangle instead of square. Digital TV will also
supply Dolby digital surround sound. Most importantly though is the
ability to broadcast more than one channel at a time. For instance, HBO currently broadcasts eight channels on digital cable and digital
satellite. Subscribers who have analog cable only receive one HBO
channel.
Is a new TV required?
So what does all this information mean to American TV watchers? First
of all, you won’t necessarily have to buy a new TV. If you’re one of
the less than 30% who still watches TV using only an antenna, your TV
will go blank on April 7th, 2009, but you’ll be able to fix that
situation using a digital converter box instead of buying a new TV. The
consumer electronics industry is hoping the price point of that device
will be less than $70.
For the remaining 70% of American TV watchers who subscribe to cable or
digital satellite services, your current set top box will act as the
converter for your TV. However, some features that only a new digital
TV will have is the ability to display the full digital resolution and
the wide screen aspect ratio.
Another benefit to a digital TV is you won’t need a separate cable or
satellite receiver. Digital TVs have those tuners built in, but you may
need a decoder card to receive subscription based programming. Cable
and digital satellite providers plan on providing video on demand using
these cards instead of a set top box.
Digital TVs are already on the market and you may have one without even
knowing it! All large screen TVs, 36” and above, were required to be
digital ready July 1, 2005. Intermediate sized TVs, 25” to 36” are
scheduled to be digital ready by July 1, 2006 and all TVs above 13”
should be digital ready by March 1, 2007. This should be in plenty of
time to meet the 2009 legislation. Manufacturers are hoping the
deadline will be moved up as are certain members of Congress like
Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Will consumers know the difference?
The adoption of HDTV is a good measure of how consumers will respond to
digital TV. Purchases of HDTVs have been strong, especially with prices
dropping, but there is still a lot of confusion between the different
types of TVs available and the required HDTV services. A December
survey by Forrester Research showed that while 16 million Americans
have purchased HDTV sets, less than half of them have registered for
services that will allow them to view it.
Some HDTV programming is provided “in the clear,” but cable or
satellite customers need to have a special set top box or decoder
(CableCard) to view programming in HD. The biggest reason consumers
gave for not obtaining the proper programming options to receive HDTV
was they felt the picture quality was already improved just by the purchase of the HDTV set.
Cable and satellite providers will be providing consumer education over
the coming year to educate them about the additional requirements for
viewing HDTV. Hopefully, this education programming will help raise
awareness for the Digital TV conversion of 2009 as well.
Digital television – the bottom line.
The 2009 digital TV conversion should benefit consumers in ways they
can’t even imagine. It won’t require everybody to purchase a new
television set. Manufacturers and retailers will continue to provide
analog TVs as the law allows over the next 24 months and new VCRs and
DVD players will be made with both analog and digital tuners. TV
content providers will be able to provide better and more interactive
content for viewers because of a defined digital TV standard. And other
consumer electronic communication devices will be made better because
of expanded frequency availability for things like cordless phones,
cell phones and walkie-talkies of all varieties. Digital TV should be a
very good thing indeed.
