Sure enough, as soon as
Wilmington, N.C. announced its early switchover plans, eleven stations in the Orlando, FL area have announced that they will be simulating analog doomsday throughout the summer. Participating stations include WESH, WKMG, WFTV, WCEU, WKCF, WMFE, WVEN, WRDQ, WOTF, WTGL and WBCC. A set of three tests is planned, beginning with one on June 25 just before 8pm. Much like the drill that played out in
Las Vegas, the tests will get lots of promotion on the local stations. These analog shutoff drills seem to be a growing trend, and we're happy about that; no matter how enticing the
carrot or menacing the
stick, nothing gets response like actually being struck by the stick. Certainly, there will be folks who ignore or entirely miss these drills, but at least for now we're putting a hold on our plans for a nationwide fleet of EngadgetHD vans stocked with
converter boxes.
posted May 10th 2008 4:23PM
So am I right to assume that once the digital transition is complete that we will all have better quality cable and whatnot?? I would think with all the bandwidth that gets freed up they wont have to compress the signals as much right?
That, or they'll auction the spectrum off to the highest bidder... :)
The digital shutoff in Feb 2009 only forces OTA broadcasts to give up analog. Lots of cable customers will will still be analog, I'm afraid.