The end of Free TV?

[oshaylinux]

The Big Switch! are you ready?

I know by now everyone know or have heard about the government has mandated that the analog signal be be dropped and that digital signal be carried. The government has gone so far as to give out two $40 vouchers so help people buy converter boxes so people can be able to watch TV abd spending millions of dollars on advertising.

It seems like I'm the only one that questions this government mandate which leads me to ask:
Why does the government even care about people watching tv?, why is it against the law for the government to not let people know about money that's owed to them by government and other government programs meant to aid people and not against the law to advertise about this analog-to-digital switch? or is this a push by the big broadcasting network to bring an end to free TV?
I'm saying it's an end to free tv!

So what's on your mind?

[Pabl0z]

The analog signal died out a good while ago here in Finland.
The biggest dowside that I see is that there is now a larger amount of channels available for consumers and a lot of content from the free channels has been moved to channels that you have to pay for.
So in a way the switch to digital tv was an end to some free shows.
It's mainly just some sports events though.
It also sucked that everybody had to buy the digital receivers.

Now for the good things..
Well the picture is obviously a lot better.
And there are now also a lot more free channels, and some channels that weren't available in all areas are now available for everybody.
But that's about it..

[prince1142003]

It seems like I'm the only one that questions this government mandate which leads me to ask:
Why does the government even care about people watching tv?, why is it against the law for the government to not let people know about money that's owed to them by government and other government programs meant to aid people and not against the law to advertise about this analog-to-digital switch?

The government doesn't care about what we watch or how we watch what we watch. What you're forgetting is that local broadcast networks (the TV channels you can get without cable) have been broadcasting in digital for quite some time now. Digital signal is far superior to analog, and digital receivers will eventually replace analog. The government is simply taking a stance and saying that the transition is going to happen now, instead of letting it happen gradually and cost more when it does. Besides, digital looks loads better than analog, and often the signal is also stronger.

And it's not against the law for the government to advertise about government programs. It is however, against the law for the government to use taxpayers' money without their (I mean representatives' and senators') consent. As far as I know, the bill mandating DTV transition carried provisions for the government to spend money on educating the masses and providing help for people still using analog receivers. The bill passed the legislative process, essentially meaning that the taxpayers approved of spending the money.

The transition by no means signals the end of free TV. The digital channels are still free for you to watch. You just have to have a receiver capable of deciphering the digital signals. There's no additional cost associated with the transition. And the local channels will keep broadcasting in digital just as they have kept broadcasting in analog before.