How good was the DTV transition for you?: Winners & losers in the transition

MY ASSESSMENT OF THE TRANSITION; TIPS ON IMPROVED RECEPTION
The television broadcasters have completed the transition from analog broadcasts to digital broadcasts, by the end of Friday, June 12, 2009.

Some of the stations without very powerful transmitters will suffer a loss of audience.
Two glaring problems that DTV poses: no signal or interrupted signal. In the old days of analog broadcasting, if one received a weak signal the shows came in with visual fuzz (white spots upon the image). Now the problem is more stark: the image does not even come in at all. Factors behind these reduced signals include hills and tall buildings. These problems arise not only in rural areas with stark valleys, but they also arise in urban areas such as New York City, with modest hills and modest valleys.

The second problem is signal interruption. If one is near an elevated train, the image goes into a frozen position while the train passes. Once the train has passed, the signal is restored.
Stations are going to lose a significant fraction of their audience if they cannot reach people receiving free, over the air service. Sure, this portion of the public is 10% nationally, but broadcasters cannot afford to lose this amount. A ten percent reduction of audience does not look good for advertisers. In areas with concentrations of poverty, the proportions that receive free over the air broadcasts will exceed the national average of ten percent.

Now let's consider my situation and see how this impacts the commercial broadcasters.
I am a viewer in Queens, New York. I cannot receive channel 7, WABC, the ABC affiliate for the city, or 41, the Univision affiliate, or 47, the Telemundo affiliate. Of course, it behooves the broadcasters to have more powerful signals. Channel 7 would do well to consider broadcasting from a taller tower. And the Telemundo and Univision stations should contract to broadcast from the Empire State Building. The Spanish language market in Queens is too large and important for these stations to write off.
MY RECEPTION STORY
I am in a low height apartment building, with trees nearby. I had far fewer stations with the transition, compared to before, with my RCA antenna (1500 model indoor/outdoor antenna) in a hanging position. I only received 4 (NBC), 25 (public), 41 (UNI) and 68 (FUT). Then, I repositioned the antenna, to lay flat, atop a bracket, near the ceiling. Now, I receive 2 (CBS), 4, 5 (FOX), 9 (MY), 11 (CW), 13 (PBS), 21 (PBS), 25, 68. The reception is PERFECTLY crisp. If one only wants the basic stations, who needs cable? My only beef: WABC-TV, get a better transmitter. For the time being, I can live without it. Sure I miss Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel; but that is not a huge loss. Charlie Rose and David Letterman come in with phenomenally crisp clarity. Also, a nice plus of getting the digital stations is the collection of bonus stations (or "sub-channels"). 4, 5, 7 (if I could receive it), 9, 11, 13, 21, 41 (again, if I could receive it), 68 offer bonus stations focusing on New York themes, live sports, weather, nature.

LESSON FOR BROADCASTERS
I am able to get the stations because I bought a modest priced ($40) antenna, and I had patience to adjust the antenna. Yet, the broadcasters must project this message in in-store informational advertisements or radio ads, to inform viewers of how to cope with the new signals. Or they must raise transmitters higher or consider pooling in building additional transmitters.

Congress approved a delay of digital conversion, to June 12

Congress approved, yesterday (February 4, 2009) morning, a delay of mandatory conversion of US television broadcasts from February to June 12. The House voted 264 to 158, H.R. 681, the Digital Television Transition Extension Act of 2009.

Nielsen Company, the premier company of audience tracking, estimated that 6.5 million homes lack the conversion device.

As reported by PBS, advocates on the issue of broadcast television access argue that the people that do not yet have the access boxes are low income, elderly or minority.

Click here for the podcast of the PBS News Hour broadcast on the conversion delay.

Cong. Maxine Waters of California gave these arguments for extension:

“Yes, it would be great if everyone had received their coupons, and if everybody understood the transition to digital, but they don’t,” Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, said Wednesday during the House’s debate. She said that some people, senior citizens in particular, were going to be “terribly inconvenienced.”

Some people will need to get an antenna to strengthen their reception of the digital broadcast signal. As I recommended in a previous post, see this link at antennaweb for an assessment of your location in relation to stations' transmitters.

House expected to pass Digital TV conversion extension to June

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed an extension of the conversion of U.S. television broadcasts. The conversion from analog to digital broadcasts was set for February 17, 2009. The extension proposal sets the new conversion date for June 12, 2009.

The House had passed an extension; but complicated circumstances mandate a two-thirds majority vote:

But the House – in a special vote that would have required a two-thirds majority – voted just 258-168 in favor of the bill, falling short. Still, the tally would be enough for a regular floor vote and – if passed, as it’s expected to – the bill would go to President Obama.

--from David Dunn's article at Asterisk's TMCnet.

Kim Dixon at Reuters reported (January 13) that President Obama has urged an extension of the conversion.

Websites for your antenna concerns

Wondering how to get the best broadcast reception?
Check out these sites:

Input your address, and locate / find the television transmitters in your vicinity, their distance from you, and recommended classes of antennae:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

At the above site, "AntennaWeb":

Maximize your television reception

The AntennaWeb.org mapping program, provided by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), locates the proper outdoor* antenna to receive your local television broadcast channels.

Based on geographical maps and signal strengths, AntennaWeb locates the best antenna for you — whether the antenna is for use with a home satellite system, high-definition television (HDTV) or a traditional analog set.

A blogsite, with recommendations for converter technology:
http://dtvconverterboxes.blogspot.com/

High Def Forum:
http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hdtv-info-reception-9/

Digital TV divide after the February 18 conversion?

A letter writer to the New York Times has drawn attention to the potential disadvantage that remote viewers will experience. "On Feb. 18, Free TV Won't Be So Free." The author emphasized that his lower Hudson River Valley family (in Highland, Ulster County, NY) was able to get twenty stations, in the past, from analog broadcasts. The caveat: the reception was compromised with "snow" and generally weak reception. Now, with the digital broadcasts his family is able to get far fewer stations.
Maybe this is a good thing. It could inspire couples and families to converse more, to read more, to play board games. (I am still strongly advocating receipt of television via broadcast, instead of cable or "dish." Have you multiplied what you are paying over the 12 months of $50 or $100 a month cable subscriptions?)

There is help.

Here is a list and something of a review of various antennae (at AVS Forum's "EV's Best Top Rated HDTV Indoor Antenna Review Test Round-Up Guide." Many of these antennae are good for the apartment dweller that is not able to mount an antenna to their building. If you read the reviews by users, at amazon.com, yes, some urban apartment dwellers, you'll see some encouraging results of antenna use. Honestly, I am having trouble: the local elevated transit train is freezing the signal each time is passes. Some notes that may be of interest, for people curious about the location of the New York City vicinity stations beyond the VHF heavy hitters.
13 -WNET -PBS, transmits from Empire State Building
21 -WLIW -PBS, Plainview, central Long Island, NY
25 -WNYE -transmits from Empire State Building
31 -WPXN -Ion Television flagship, transmitter: ditto
49 -WEDW, CPTV, Bridgeport, CT
50 –WNJN, -PBS, Upper Montclair, NJ
54 -WTBY, lower Hudson, transmitting from west shore opposite Poughkeepsie.
55 -WLNY, Riverhead/ Melville, Long Island, NY; has low power repeaters in Morristown NJ (17) and Mineola NY (26)