Groups kick off DTV transition efforts
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(InfoWorld) - A group of broadcasters, consumer electronics vendors, and civil rights groups pledged Wednesday to leave no television viewers behind as the U.S. transitions to digital over-the-air broadcasts by February 2009. The groups, collectively known as the Digital Television Transition Coalition, will use a variety of means, including public service announcements and community-based campaigns,Â to educate TV viewers about the transition from analog broadcasts. An estimated 20 million U.S. homes, containing 90 million TV sets, that don't have cable or satellite service will need to buy converter boxes or new TV sets to continue to receive over-the-air digital broadcasts. People with analog TV sets will no longer receive over-the-air signals after the Feb. 17, 2009, deadline. Congress has approved $1.5 billion for vouchers for residents to buy converter boxes in a bill passed last year. The bill requires U.S. TV stations to move off radio spectrum in the upper 700MHz band with that highly coveted spectrum going to public safety agencies and commercial bidders. Cable and satellite viewers will not need to buy converter boxes or new TVs. Starting this week, all television sets shipped across state lines in the U.S. must be capable of receiving a digital signal. "Part of our job ... will to be to help many people understand that, while they may think they have a problem, in reality, they are already well equipped to deal with the transition and enjoy the benefits," said Marc Pearl, executive director of the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition. "It is essential that nobody loses a TV signal due to a lack of accurate information." Many of the people affected by the transition will be poor or elderly people, said Nancy Zirkin, vice president and director of public policy at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The coalition needs to "make sure that this audience knows before the switch that they are eligible for federal vouchers," she said. The coalition launched a Web site to help educate TV viewers on the switch to DTV. In a recent survey of over-the-air viewers, the National Association of Broadcasters found that 56 percent of respondents reported that they have "seen, read, or heard nothing" about the transition to digital television, and only 10 percent were able to pinpoint 2009 as the year. The upper 700MHz band would allow wireless signals to travel four to five times as far as existing mobile phone signals, advocates of the digital televisionÂ transition say. That makes the spectrum valuable for mobile broadband providers and for police and fire departments that want to communicate with regional counterparts. Among the coalition members are the Association of Public Television Stations, the Consumer Electronics Association, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
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Today, the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters announced upgrades to Antennaweb.org, aimed at telling the consumer whether his TV antenna (remember those?) is ready for the DTV transition.
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The U.S. Federal Communications  Commission on Tuesday set a road map for making vacant  television airwaves available for other services by early 2009,  when broadcasters are due to switch to digital signals.
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More and more TV stations are upping their tech ante, hiring thirtysomething wunderkinds to adapt stations' programming to meet the influx of cellphones, PCs and iPods.
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NEW YORK -- TV's big switch from analog to digital broadcasts will be complete in just one year, on Feb. 17, 2009, and many consumers are puzzling over how the shift will affect them: Do they need a new converter box, a new TV, a better antenna?
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The switch from analog to digital TV broadcasts will be complete in just one year, on Feb. 17, 2009, and many consumers are puzzling over how the shift will affect them. What exactly do they need to make the transition?
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LONDON  - International broadcasters, environmental activists and some of the biggest names in pop music are in the starting blocks for one of the most ambitious global media events of all time.
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NEW YORK -- TV's big switch from analog to digital broadcasts will be complete in just one year, on Feb. 17, 2009, and many consumers are puzzling over how the shift will affect them: Do they need a new converter box, a new TV, a better antenna? But it's pretty clear which business interests stand...
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Equipment makers at the Consumer Electronics Show are seeking to bypass the cable industry's bottleneck control over the way most Americans watch TV.
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A group of top electronics manufacturers are joining forces to develop a standard for content management and protection, with an eye to providing specifications for the growing array of digital media hardware and distribution channels.
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Ofcom must act to prevent subs-service domination Broadcasters the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, along with manufacturers Sony, Samsung, Toshiba and Alba, and Dixons owner DSGI have begun lobbying UK regulator Ofcom to guarantee bandwidth on the Freeview digital TV system for HD broadcasts. And they want consumers to help.â¦
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The Federal Communications Commission is pushing ahead to pass a rule today that would allow more consolidation of local media ownership in the nation's largest cities, despite the fresh threat of a legislative rebuke and continued protests from advocacy groups.
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Two villages in Carmarthenshire are the first in Wales to be converted to digital television.
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Media & professional: All 25,000 households in the lead area of Whitehaven are intending to convert to digital TV.
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More than 300 communities consider launching local high-speed Internet service.
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Some U.S. telecommunications  companies, consumer electronics makers and legal experts are  supporting a plan by cable operator Cablevision Systems Corp.   for a service to record TV shows on network servers.
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Britain's biggest broadcasters are getting together to encourage people to give time and money to charities.