Feb 17 the first time a major broadcast format is to shut down?
 

Let's see, AM radio has been around since the early 1920's, FM since WW2, and they have never been terminated. Now, NTSC analog color TV, a very popular and successful broadcast signal format, is scheduled to die in a month. Oh, we had many short lived broadcast formats (AM stereo, CBS color wheel, quad sound on FM, FM on 45MHz, and such). But never a 50+ year lifetime standard being killed off.

A 50 year broadcast standard being killed off for what???

I wonder if watching the evening news, reruns of MASH, Seinfeld, Frasier, Leave It To Beaver, The Beverly Hillbillies, Hannah Montana, The Simpsons, King of the Hill and hundreds of other programs, are really going to be better in a digital format. I have my doubts. Who the hell wants to watch the evening news with a picture with so much detail that one can see the brushmarks on the talking heads makeup?

Does anyone remember the names of our celebrated congressional members who, in the mid 90's went to Japan and were astonished that we here in the US of A did not have high definition TV like was being demonstrated in Japan. IIRC these buzzards came back to the US and really got the ball rolling for high def. television.

It's a lot better so fear not. Nothing like watching the Simpsons in HD on a really large plasma that's hung on the wall. Looks like the switch will be delayed by four months so you will have more time to complain about the switch.

Not complaining at all about high def tv.

I like it.

It should make all those mashed potato headed fools that watch Homer Simpson reruns and MASH reruns ad nauseum really happy.

It's being killed off for money.
The "change" stimulates the electronic industry, which generates revenue for uncle sam, who has a lot of money invested in it through research grants and subsidies.

Another problem with digital is the ability to relay data that essentially is a lie. In about 25 years, people who go to an electronic court accused of murder, will say "prove it." A video file will be displayed showing the accused murdering some one, when in reality, they didn't. The false data can be verified as genuine since it will be digital.

In the future, no programs will be "free". You will pay one way or another.
The infrastructure is already in place for uncle sam to know what, where, when, how long, you viewed digital TV. Every event will be unique. The end is near, run to undeveloped countries as fast as you can.

If you go to a hospital, are admitted, you sit in bed watching TV, thinking it is free. They "discharge" you 10 days later, when you open your next home phone bill, there will be the $166 charge for the TV fee from the hospital. Does the hospital inform you of that during admittance ? Nope, it's automatic, you have to tell them first that you don't want a TV in your room.

Why do I feel like I just got fitted for a tin-foil hat?

The potential for possibilities may not be so far-fetched. I cannot find the thread at the moment but there was discussion about how taxes/fees are levied for having a television and watching it over in Europe and the UK.
In this day and age I tend not to overlook anything as being possible, nor do I wish to be ignorant or an alarmist. That being said, we are fortunate to be able to seek out information on just about anything and to be able to inform ourselves....and always post here to share and discuss!

I do not know of any other majof broadcast formats being shut down, but FM radio was moved after WWII. I have read that this was due to the influence of Sarnoff of RCA. It killed the FM broadcast network set up by Armstrong prior to WWII. I have Zenith radios with both bands. Of course only one of the receives anything.

My '42 Zenith has the old FM band...picks up a bit of static on the high end...if you're into static...

In all fairness I don't think FM being moved could be considered "major," as there were only a handful of stations regularly broadcasting on FM in the mid 1940's. Only a relatively small number of customers in major markets were affected.

I guess a few stations are still broadcasting in AM stereo...though come to think of it, I haven't heard any lately. The stereo in my truck will pick them up. Guess I'll have to explore the band and find out.

This is true-however , the money is going to the Federal Government. The FCC is selling bandwidth. They don't care crap about the electronics industry. It's a revenue stream for the feds.

It's time for the intelligent people (like us, who actually care enough to discuss this sort of thing) to shut the damn thing off more often. I like TV, not going to lie and say I don't, but it just consumes so many people's lives. Get a grip, world. I know too many families who just turn it on after a day at work and leave it on til they wake up to go out the next morning. Sleep with it on, etc. Shame to think of all those ad's seeping into their subconscious self while they are asleep. :sigh:

Growing up, my family was this way. On my mom's side they went through an unhealthy amount of tv's in not too long of a time. It just got to a point, where I decided I could make decisions on my own and stop being a victim of the idiot box. This did however result in a fascination with the sets, though :D:yes:

Not so sure that digital data can be pulled out of thin air to convict people in a court of law....I mean wouldn't there have to be some sort of 'real' analog event in the first place?

Agree with DRH: Can't wait to see how the transition turns out....

000

Heard a story about that, something to the effect that there was only one or two 405 line sets in town (London), both owned by grandmothers. So the BBC kept the 405 station on the air, until someone figured out it'd be much cheaper to just replace the two 405 line sets with new 625 line sets. So both grandmothers got new TV sets, and the BBC was able to save a lot of electric bill, and free up some RF spectra.

I was going to mention the French 819-line standard, which would qualify for analog monochrome high-def; but that lasted only 18 years:

http://www.birth-of-tv.org/birth/ass...435_1133285440

Another dead broadcast standard is the italian "filodiffusione" which is radio (6 channels, selectable by pushbuttons) being broadcast over phone wires, it was launched in the late 50s and is now being discontinued in most parts of the country due to interference with DSL services, a real shame as the audio quality was really CD-like and absolutely static free.

January 2, 1985

The United Kingdom closed all 405-line (aka EMI/Marconi; System A) television transmitters (full and low power, hundreds of them). They had been providing independent (commercial) television since 1955 and public (BBC Television Service, later BBC 1) since 1936 (Okay, not quite 50 years).

Some countries have terminated AM broadcasting.

Also, the end of full-power NTSC broadcasting (looking more like June 12 now) will not be the end of NTSC. Millions of americans will be watching from analog cable, and the NTSC outputs of cable boxes, satellite boxes, and coupon-eligible converter boxes.

Actually, it lasted sometime longer than that.

The 1967 date is when France -added- 625-line UHF transmitters, and, in doing so, set the stage for 819-line to be abandoned.
VHF 819-line transmitters, however, remained on the air until the early 1980's. I even was able to listen to the audio from one of these transmitters, it was AM on 41.25 MHz, which was a low enough frequency to "cross the pond" during the 1979-80 solar maximum.

One good question is when was the last true 819-line program was sent, as, in later years, the 819-line transmitters were only showing upconverted video of programs shot on 625-line cameras.

I have never seen so much confusion. People with digital tv buying conversion box, buying expensive HDMI cable because "the tv not will work without them", cable customers throw out their anolog tvs for no other reason than such sets will not work on transistion.

Three of my favorites:

People who presume sets with CRTs will not work (for any purpose) after transition day. (in reality, the display type has nothing to do with it.)

People who get no signals when they hook up their new CECB to their old TV set, because they have not plugged their antenna into their CECB, in some cases, they have thrown out their antenna - thinking that the box makes the antenna obsolete. (the only use of a CECB is to allow one to receive signals using an antenna).

People who are "sure" their 10 year old sets are ready, because they have a "digital tuner" (that is, you press digits on your remote instead of turning a knob to change channels). (very few sets more than three years old have an ATSC tuner, which can receive the new signals. If your clicker lacks a "DTV/TV" of "Digital" button, it probably won't work).

From what I have read, there will still be low power stations broadcasting NTSC analog after the switch. I do not know where these are though. I know of none around here(Central Texas). In addition, there was a push in Congress last fall to allow TV stations withing 90 miles of the Mexican border to broadcast NTSC analog for 4 more years. This was because Mexico is not converting at present. I do not know where that went.

The information has been put out there in a very clear and concise fashion, multiple times, by the broadcasters in my area. Anyone still confused is either willfully blind or not very bright, sorry to say.

There are a few LP UHF stations I can pick up that are scheduled to remain transmitting after the switch, but it is nothing I (or anyone else I know) would care to watch:

Channel 28 (K28IL) is Trinity Broadcasting Network - evangelical religious programming.
47 (K47JO) is the Home Shopping Network
18 (WBXN-CA) more religious programming from out-of-town

There are three more LP stations licensed in my area, but two do not broadcast anything and one is tourist info only receivable in the Quarter and CBD.

I think I have the same religious station here. It's on channel 47 and I think it's a translator station for TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network).

WWL (CBS) used to have translators on the gulf coast of Mississippi years ago - don't know when they went dark.