Interesting approach. My guess is that everybody who votes also watches television. Many politicians are nervous about how the OTA digital conversion will be received by the currently uninformed public. Perhaps there will be new developments as the conversion date gets closer.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6454308.html

Free analog cable television for 7 years. Promoted by a cable company. Interesting. I've posted previously that basic analog cable will be around for a while and actually help in the OTA digital conversion. Who knows. But those analog tuner 2006 and prior DVD recorders should be able to do their job for a long time.

Interesting approach. My guess is that everybody who votes also watches television. Many politicians are nervous about how the OTA digital conversion will be received by the currently uninformed public. Perhaps there will be new developments as the conversion date gets closer.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6454308.html

Free analog cable television for 7 years. Promoted by a cable company. Interesting. I've posted previously that basic analog cable will be around for a while and actually help in the OTA digital conversion. Who knows. But those analog tuner 2006 and prior DVD recorders should be able to do their job for a long time.

That is an interesting and generous approach by Massilion Cable (haven't heard of them before). But I wonder if the cable giants would be as willing. Maybe Comcast would do something similar if a consumer agreed to use their internet and phone service? I don't see Comcast being more generous than that.

There was another post a few weeks ago that mentioned the FCC wants basic cable to remain accessible without STB boxes to non-STB subscribers. Whether this covers just the network/locals, or all the basic cable channels, I don't know, but it looks like those channels will probably continue to be available as analog cable for a few more years at least.

Just switching from analog to ADS on standard cable saves the cable companies at least 1/3rd to 1/2 of existing bandwidth based on the calculations from my Motorola DVR with and without ADS. Even if they keep a dozen network/basic channels as analog, they can still get rid of 50+ of the remaining standard cable analog channels.

To make the getting rid of analog easier to digest, they should really make all the standard cable channels available in "clear QAM" thus the same level of service remains :)

How would this be fair to the paying subscribers. And who would be paying for it, the paying cable customers with rate increases to subsidize the free loader? If this would go through you would think paying subscribers would be up in arms unless the free service would be provided to everyone that wanted it...and they had enough paying customers left to pay for it.

Maybe they are trying to get this idea out there and maybe eventually get it going through government subsidies. But then again would this be fair to the tax payers.

How would this be fair to the paying subscribers. And who would be paying for it, the paying cable customers with rate increases to subsidize the free loader? If this would go through you would think paying subscribers would be up in arms unless the free service would be provided to everyone that wanted it...and they had enough paying customers left to pay for it.

Maybe they are trying to get this idea out there and maybe eventually get it going through government subsidies. But then again would this be fair to the tax payers.

That is a good point. Then a lot of people would want to downgrade to the free level of service. And as you say, they would have to jack up the fees of digital, dvr, ppv etc. Unless of course by analog they mean basic cable, so they take $12 off everyone's bill and then increase digital cable/DVR prices by $12 :) I guess the cable companies could steal some customers from satellite with this, but how else do they make money? Maybe they'll be selling the $40 vouchers on eBay? ;-) But seven years of free cable is a lot more than a $40 voucher.

I don't know anything about the cable company in the story, whether they are a small company in a small region, or a regional powerhouse?

I don't know anything about the cable company in the story, whether they are a small company in a small region, or a regional powerhouse?

From the article:

With 45,000 subscribers, Massillon is a small cable company taking the lead on an issue that has been the source of bitter conflict among the largest media companies in the United States for more than one decade.

I don't know anything about the cable company in the story, whether they are a small company in a small region, or a regional powerhouse?

It is a small/medium size outfit, but as also quoted below from the article they seem to want to take the plan further.

Millions of American households would receive free cable-television service...proposed by Ohio-based Massillon Cable TV.

How would this be fair to the paying subscribers. And who would be paying for it, the paying cable customers with rate increases to subsidize the free loader? If this would go through you would think paying subscribers would be up in arms unless the free service would be provided to everyone that wanted it...and they had enough paying customers left to pay for it.

Maybe they are trying to get this idea out there and maybe eventually get it going through government subsidies. But then again would this be fair to the tax payers.I'm pretty sure they are talking about basic cable which means the local networks that are already available over the air...and not "expanded" packages that include Discovery, FX, ESPN etc.. In that case I can't see too many people giving up their digital cable packages for this. Cable companies would rather get analog users "hooked up" and give them free broadcasting for several years than to have all these people discover they can get the same thing without a cable at all.. ;)

I'm pretty sure they are talking about basic cable which means the local networks that are already available over the air...and not "expanded" packages that include Discovery, FX, ESPN etc.. In that case I can't see too many people giving up their digital cable packages for this. Cable companies would rather get analog users "hooked up" and give them free broadcasting for several years than to have all these people discover they can get the same thing without a cable at all.. ;)

Yep, basic analog channel package is what they are talking about, but does it matter? Whether they give you 1 channel or 100, if they don't offer it free to everyone then it would not be fair. And with the price of cable subscription going up and up I believe that quit a few people will be upset because if given this choice will take it considering that they can make up for a lot of the "lost" channels though other ways of programs distribution like commercial DVDs. So again why would one have to keep paying for service, while their neighbor does not for seven years? I can see class-action lawsuits if this happens.

Yep, basic analog channel package is what they are talking about, but does it matter? Whether they give you 1 channel or 100, if they don't offer it free to everyone then it would not be fair. And with the price of cable subscription going up and up I believe that quit a few people will be upset because if given this choice will take it considering that they can make up for a lot of the "lost" channels though other ways of programs distribution like commercial DVDs. So again why would one have to keep paying for service, while their neighbor does not for seven years? I can see class-action lawsuits if this happens.But I think to avoid lawsuits they wouldn't try to stop people from ditching the digital box in favor of no cost basic...but there again I don't think the numbers of people willing to give up their expanded and premium channels would be great enough to make a difference. They could also just offer a "discount" for the basic channels that digital customers are getting as part of their package but then how do you put a price on something that is otherwise free?

They could to a lot of things with this, but at this point we don't know if it will even go anywhere. All we know is what was stated in the original news clip item linked to above (thanks nextoo).

So as stated in the news item is proposal to give some type of free basic analog cable service for 7 years to some of the people that will get the government vouchers for the set top converter boxes as an alternative to having to go over-the-air with their TV sets.

This is not like a simple intro subscription or $40 converter box coupons, this is for 7 years. I would not think this is fair to others that as now proposed will not be able to get this if wanted. But we will see.

A couple of updates here:

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6470150.html?industryid=23099

SOS site here:

http://www.saveoursets.org/

I am very pleased to learn that consumers are starting to learn and understand the SOS proposal to assist consumers with the DTV Transition. This thread asks a very good question and I am pleased to offer the answer.

The primary goal of the SOS plan is to allow consumers to continue to use their analog TV sets after the DTV transition to receive the same signals at the same cost. That means consumers should not be required to purchase new equipment or new TV sets, or pay new monthly fees to receive free over- the-air local broadcast television signals.

The SOS plan preserves the status quo for over-the-air households, so that homes that were getting only local broadcast stations for free before the transition, will be able to continue getting only local broadcast stations for free after the DTV transition. Homes that were getting cable or satellite services will not get the free broadcast service. Note, it is only the broadcast service that is free, basic cable service is not free.

The SOS plan has benefits for existing cable customers too. Many cable customers still have sets that are connected to an antenna. These sets will lose access to local broadcast signals without some action. Under the SOS plan, existing customers receive free extra TV set installations. That means they will continue to receive the same service on their televisions after the transition that they had before the transition with no new payment or equipment. In addition, their digital sets will get the full digital stream (all the multicast signals) from local television broadcasters.

Cable operators can only offer this plan because, as a trade off for permitting full distribution of the local broadcast stations’ signals throughout their service area, the television stations will not be permitted to charge subscribers the $.50 to $1.00 per station that broadcasters have said they intend to charge. Thus, current over-the-air television households will not have to pay to see what they are seeing for free now, and existing customers will not have to pay the $5.00 to $10.00 extra per month for free over-the-air TV that broadcasters propose to charge.

If you agree all consumers should be able to continue to use their analog TV sets after the DTV Transition, visit saveoursets.org and send a message to your representatives in the House and Senate. Just as importantly, tell your friends.

Thanks again for your interest.

Bob Gessner
President
Save Our Sets Coalition

Thanks Bob.

Are you sensing any momentum since you first floated your proposal back in June? And I guess more importantly have initial reactions in Washington given indications of whether this proposal has viability?

Yes, thanks for posting it and for starting up this campaign of common sense and fairness!