New Cable Ads On Digital TV Transition Aren't Exactly True Posted by Bob at 09/06/07 01:52 PM

The National Cable Television Association is rolling out an "educational" advertising campaign it says will help consumers deal with the looming transition to digital television, which is set to take place in February 2009.

In a letter to Congess the cable industry makes the new ad campaign sound laudable, an industrywide effort to make sure that folks who have old-style, analog television sets won't have their screens go dark when the switch is flipped to digital.

There's a very big problem, however.

The main message of the campaign -- that consumers who have cable have nothing to worry about because cable has "taken care of all that transition stuff for us" -- is not entirely true.

The cable industry is now lobbying hard against a proposal that would require cable operators to send out signals in both digital and analog following the transtion. The cable industry wants to send out signals in digital only.

Should the industry prevail, cable-connected consumers with analog sets will have to either upgrade to more expensive digital service or pay to buy or rent a converter box in order to tune in their local, over-the-air stations.

Doesn't really sound like they are truly "taking care of all that transition stuff for us," does it?

We also couldn't help but notice at least one of the "new" ads stars the same "cable customer" featured in a current industry campaign touting cable's supposed superiority in delivering television, the Internet and phone service.

We know it's the same "cable customer" because she is forever etched in our memory -- a blue-haired granny type who looks like she just escaped from the nearest bingo parlor. And the new ads are the exact same format -- a tinny guitar playing in the background as some just-plain-folks extol on the various virtures of cable.

If the cable industry is really interested in offering an "educational" ad campaign for analog consumers -- and getting the requisite brownie points from Congress and the FCC for doing it -- it might want to do something more than simply recycle and retask the ads it's already using to hawk cable services.

And they should get rid of that bingo parlor granny while they're at it. She's kind of scary.

You can view the new ads by clicking here.

You can view a copy of the NCTA letter to Congress by clicking here.

comments (1)

1 Posted by Don at 01/02/08 11:54 PM

Found this website:

http://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm

But does anybody have info, specs, or ratings on these Digital Television Converters? Will anybody? Signup for the coupons is happening now. A magazine article won't be timely; a good web site could get the word out before the coupons expire.

Questions:

Which are dullards that can't get a picture without requiring an amplifier or big gain antenna? Sensitivity in dBm would be nice to know.

Which are electrically fragile? No, surviving nearby lightning strikes is not required, but touching the antenna shouldn't wound it, and a refrigerator in the same room shouldn't cause it a slow death.

Which are spooked by ghosts? Some front ends can't handle multipath signals arriving on rabbit ears, and require directional roof antennas to actually show a picture instead of a black screen. The dB of the blackening ghost would be nice to know.

Which is "green"? How much power is consumed when not in use? If connected to a power strip that is turned off, it would be nice if the converter didn't suffer amnesia.

Does the warranty extend beyond August? A well designed television or monitor will last for years, it would be nice if the converter will also.

Are any actually compatible with a VCR's remote control? It would be nice if the converter is programmable to respond to the existing remote. Having a remote for the TV, the VCR, and the Converter means I need either 3 hands, or deep pockets for an expensive new remote.

If I get a converter for the TV tuner, and a converter for the VCR tuner, how do I get only the correct converter to change channels? One brand can't follow different instructions. An internal clock in the VCR can turn it on, but it would be nice if the converter could simultaneously turn on and get the correct channel for the VCR. Even nicer if the converter didn't need a clock because it could sense when the VCR came on.

Which converters are useable? As a senior citizen, I am not impressed with tiny scattered camouflaged buttons a fraction the size of the Logo, and LED indicators smaller than a big screen pixel. Displays should be readable from my couch without glasses, much less binoculars.

The price? Forget it, anything you tell me is hearsay at best. TEN PERCENT OFF!!! (with mail in rebate accepted during the last blue moon, processing fees apply). The date of "arrival on store shelves" is fun. The clerks concoct wonderful stories explaining the delay.