HD Networks - If you want them..........
The point is that NOW is when this stuff is being decided. Somewhere between the end of the summer and early next year we WILL have a revised Shiva as LAW and we WILL be stuck with whatever it says for a long time.
We'll be stuck with more crappy decisions made by the NAB, FCC and the Cable industry - people who haven't a clue or a care as to what Sat viewers really want or what's really fair. Then they'll be a slew of posts here with everyone moaning and groaning about how abused we are.
This mess is about as low on the legislator's priority list as anything can get. They just want to get it over with and will probably follow the path of least political resistance. Unless some of that loud "political" is from sat providers and viewers, we won't get much and may loose a lot.
They're goint to eliminate any possibility of anyone, under any circumstances being able to have both local and distant networks. Either they or you will choose but you ain't gonna have them both - UNLESS........
There does seem to be some openess to the possibility that the HD broadcast of networks should be treated differently. We know there is some interest on Dish's part in providing all the HD networks or they wouldn't be pushing us to call / write our congress people.
This openess has nothing to do with careing about Sat viewers getting HD Networks but everything to do with money. There's billions at stake with the release of analog bandwith and the push to digital. There's nothing however that says anything about HD - only digital. However HD is going to be the carrot and the catalyst.
Many of these small affiliate stations will apply for extension after extension and resist the conversion to digital as long as they can (Fox may be the exception). Even if / when they go digital, they'll resist providing HD forever if they can keep getting protection from DBS providers being able to give us the HD Networks.
The rub here is the goverment. They want the analog space and the money it will produce. They push from one side. The NAB protects the affiliates to the death and so they push from the other side. The Cable industry, who lost "locals" protection under the last Shiva, now realize their ONLY hope is HD Networks, and push back.
Everyone has their organized push and what do we have - Charlie and Rurpert - and they arn't even working together. Sure makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
Seriously, unless Sat providers agree to fight this thing together - as an industry, they don't have much chance. A combined effort of Dish, DTV, even Voom could get some attention, especially if there is a "ground swell" of noise from Sat viewers.
They can go back to fighting and competing later but for now combine efforts and fight for 2 things:
1. That DBS providers be able to provide anything cable is allowed to provide.
2. That DBS be able to provide a distant HD Network to ANYONE whose local affiliate can't / won't provide an HD signal to that viewer - period.
WaltinVt