Lecture Notes 9/14/09

Lecture Notes Ch. 6, 7

Chapter 6 – Digital Television

DQ: What was the original date set by the FCC for the digital transition? December 31, 2006. What date did they move the transition to after that? February 17, 2009. When did the digital transition actually occur? June 12, 2009.

DQ: How have you been affected by the DTV transition, if at all?

DQ: What effect do you think the transition will have on the 15% of American households that can’t receive DTV transmissions? Why do you think the FCC decided to continue with the transition even though everyone won’t be able to receive the transmissions?

According to an article on the Broadcast Engineering website, http://broadcastengineering.com/eng/terrestrial-viewing-decline-sharply-dtv-transition-1022/, 70% of Americans still using terrestrial broadcasts will connect a digital converter box to their antenna, 10% will switch to cable or satellite and 20% will abandon TV.


Background

Japan introduced HDTV in 1986.

DQ: When do you remember first hearing about HDTV?

DQ: What is interlaced scanning? It is a form of signal compression that first scans the odd lines of a television image onto the screen, and then fills in the even lines to create a full video frame every 1/30th of a second.

DQ: What is progressive scanning? It is a form of signal compression where each complete frame is scanned on the screen in only one pass.

DQ: Which creates better picture quality? Interlaced creates more visual artifacts that can degrade picture quality, although it is more spectrum efficient.

DTV Coupons

$990 million dollars was allocated to issue two coupons per household with analog sets for the purchase of a converter box. The coupon was worth $40 while the converter boxes cost $50-$60 at electronic retailers.

According to CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/06/11/dtv.digital.tv.transition/index.html?iref=newssearch, the voucher program was extended to July 31 because just before the February deadline, 2.5 million people were on the wait list for vouchers. Nielsen reported that 2.8 million households, or 2.5 percent, were still unprepared for the June 12 deadline.

DQ: What do you think about the voucher program? Why do you think the vouchers were for $40 when the boxes cost $50-$60?

HDTV penetration

Estimates range from 13.7% to 32% of American households that have TV sets capable of receiving HDTV.

DQ: Do you or anyone in your family have an HDTV? If you do, do you receive HD programming?

DQ: What are your impressions of HDTV? What would be the main factor preventing you from purchasing an HDTV?

DQ: How do you think mobile video could change the landscape of digital television? Could you ever see yourself primarily watching TV on you mobile phone?

Chapter 7 – Multichannel Television Services

Multichannel services include cable television, direct broadcast satellite (DBS), and pay television services. Pay services include pay-per-view, video on demand (VOD) and premium channels.

DQ: How do you receive television? Have you ever used pay television services?
Cable television began as a way to get television to rural and mountainous areas that could not receive over-the-air programming.

Deregulation of cable and satellite communications in the 1970s led to the growth of multichannel television services.


Regulation

There has been a push at the FCC for a la carte programming.

DQ: Would you be interested in a la carte programming options?

The FCC also ruled on October 31, 2007 to prohibit MDU exclusive contracts with service providers.

DQ: If you live in an apartment, what options do you have for TV service?

Facts and Statistics

DQ: What is the leading multichannel service in terms of market share? How large a share of the market does this service have? Cable, 68%.

DQ: What is the largest MSO? How many subscribers does it have? Time Warner Cable, 24.15 million. Where does Suddenlink rank? Number 8 with 1.13 million subscribers.

DQ: What is the leading DBS? How many subscribers? DISH Network, 16.58 million subscribers.

DQ: Which premium channels have the most subscribers? HBO and Cinemax with 40 million.