Analog cable TV: Getting ready for 2009
April 26th, 2007Analog cable customers stand a better chance of receiving continued access to local stations after the cutover to digital broadcasts in 2009, under a 5-0 decision reached by FCC commissioners last night. The FCC is proposing a requirement that cable companies provide the signals of local channels that elect mandatory carriage in analog as well as digital form.
This is an important, pro-consumer vote by the FCC. Without federal action, subscribers who have not upgraded to digital cable would lose access to local channels or be forced to acquire digital set-top boxes (or cable-ready digital TVs). Forcing cable converter boxes—and new monthly fees—on households that don’t need them would be a tremendous waste, especially considering those boxes’ energy requirements. Our nation and, moreover, our planet cannot afford to just plug in millions of new, unneeded appliances in millions of households. Instead, cable operators should convert the broadcasts from digital to analog form before they are sent to their analog-cable customers. This is the simplest option, and it is backed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
In the longer term, of course, cable will follow broadcasting into the all-digital world. The FCC’s “dual-carriage” proposal would allow a cable company to stop providing the analog signal if all of its subscribers have digital receiving equipment.
The FCC requests comment on its proposed rulemaking.
Related:
• Digital TV facts for cable subscribers
• Link: Broadcasting & Cable
Robert Finney says:
August 9th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Now you are waking up. Why should your rule making cost me more money to receive the same channels on cable. Cable providers should provide the converter boxes for analog tv’s for free. They don’t want to sell them, just rent them forever.