What happens to the analog cable TV after February 2009?
Does anyone know what will happen to the analog cable TV (cable TV without a set-top box) when the nation switches to digital TV in February 2009?
I have heard that the cable company may no longer carry local broadcast channels (like ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX etc.) on analog cables, because they will have lost their analog sources, and they are not allowed to or going to convert the digital source back down to analog for transmission… Any comments? Thanks.
Nothing will happen. It will work just like it always did.
The rumor is, they are going to stop using it, and everyone who wants to have cable in their home will have to buy a cable box.
If you have a, antenna you will need to buy a hdtv antenna,and if you have basic cable you will need a converter box. Satelite tv, digital cable,and verizon fios tv is ok.
Go with answer #1…the FCC is reclaiming the analog signal from the airwaves, not closed circuit (i.e. cable companies). Cable companies will continue sending analog signals to your tv because it never touches the airwaves.
Reason for this is simple. The bandwidth of an analog signal is equal to 8-12 digital. $$$$…this said, cable companies will slowly be dropping analog stations to create room for more stations. Again drop 1 analog station and get 8-12 digital stations or even better 2-4 HD stations.
Nothing, necessarily. What is supposed to happen in February of 2009 is only that the over-the-air broadcast
of analog TV channels is supposed to end and only Digital TV channels will be available.
IF you have Cable TV, there’s likely to be no change for the immediate future. Contact your cable provider but don’t let them sell you a solution you don’t need or want or have the display to take advantage of it.
Good Luck!
The DTV transition in the United States is somewhat complicated when it comes to cable television subscribers. It is for this reason that I suspect Websites such as the FCC’s DTV consumer education Website, http://www.dtv.gov, and others are telling cable subscribers that they need only rely upon their cable TV providers to handle the digital transition. However the devil is in the details…
Hybrid analog-digital cable providers have made it abundantly clear that they are unequivocally opposed to broad, mandatory “dual-carriage” regulations by the FCC. This simply means that they do not want to be forced into duplicating both digital and analog programming beyond February 17, 2009. It should become quite clear why if you take a look at the following:
Multicasting / Multicast Must Carry – Statistics
http://www.ncta.com/IssueBrief.aspx?contentId=2716&view=4
Analog cable content consumes an enormous amount of a service provider’s bandwidth; bandwidth that can be used to carry 5 to 6 times as many digital television channels or a single high-definition channel for each analog channel. If hybrid analog-digital cable TV operators were forced to carry their full core spectrum in both analog and digital formats, which really isn’t feasible within a limited 6 MHz channel bandwidth anyhow, they would be crippled from effectively competing against their competitors, i.e. direct-to-home, aka direct broadcast satellite providers as well as the new kid in town – telcos. I cannot imagine any subscriber that would not want more television programming from which to choose for the same—or lower—monthly price; and I have little doubt that this fact is not lost on cable operators.
The solution for such cable operators is very simple – require ALL subscribers to lease addressable converter boxes (for each television connected to the provider’s cable network) if subscribers wish to maintain their current level of programming. This is a win-win solution for the cable operators. The alternative is to offer subscribers substantially less programming variety, which puts providers at a distinct disadvantage to their competition. In this latter case they would be foregoing the added income they would receive by leasing addressable converter boxes as well as their ability to proactively curb theft of services, etc., all in an effort to appease their analog subscribers!? That doesn’t sound like the cable companies I know. The DTV transition provides the cable TV industry the perfect excuse to coerce all subscribers into leasing addressable converter boxes.
That said each individual hybrid cable TV provider is the only source that truly knows, with any certainty, what they will do with respect to their cable TV programming between February 17, 2009 and February 2012. Nevertheless I am confident when it comes to the larger hybrid providers (above 5000 subscribers or so) that their analog subscribers who eschew leasing an addressable converter box will lose some of their current programming; if not February 17, 2009 within a year or so thereafter.
With respect to local TV stations… hybrid cable TV providers are currently mandated to provide LOCAL “MUST-CARRY” stations in analog format through February 2012. (A cable operator’s list of local “must-carry” stations is NOT guaranteed to be the same as their basic cable channel lineup.)
To get a better understanding I recommend going straight to the source and read through the current FCC DTV resources I’ve provided below. More detailed comments and resources are also available in my other Y!A answers listed below.
######## RESOURCES ########
1/23/08
Third Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital Television.
http://www.fcc.gov/headlines2007.html
11/30/07
FCC Adopts Rules to Ensure all Cable Customers Receive Local TV Stations After the Digital Television Transition.
http://www.fcc.gov/headlines2007.html
9/11/07
FCC Adopts Rules to Ensure all Cable Customers Receive Local TV Stations After the Digital Television Transition.
http://www.fcc.gov/headlines2007.html
Digital transition in 2009. Help me?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080217124119AAXrcpH
DTV in 2009 (Consumer Misconceptions?)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080102192920AA70KD1
FCC: Dual Carriage Will Last Three Years
http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6478706
NCTA Backs 3-Year Limit
http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6476804
Association asks commission for dual must-carry exemption
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&urlID=26988373&url=http://broadcastengineering.com/RF/association_asks_commission_exemption_0306/index.html
the digital switch in 2009 only affects people that use antenna to recieve their signals. cable tv subscribers will not be effected. the only thing changing is how the actual tv stations are broadcasting their signals to the cable companies. once the cable companies recieve the signal, then they convert it to analog, the fcc has a law that says the cable provider must provide at least basic cable in analog until 2012.