Thursday, September 07, 2006

WETA Abandons Analog Simulcast on DTV 26-2

I just got off the phone with a person named Daniel at the WETA offices. He confirmed that WETA has permanently abandoned simulcasting their main programming analog feed on OTA DTV channel 26-2 or any other sub channel. I asked the reasoning for this change and he could not provide a one.


I told him I felt this was a stunningly bad decision and would result in my being unable to watch his channel's main programming since I only watch DTV (SD & HDTV) OTA to the exclusion of analog broadcasts. He said he would relay my feedback but I don't have much confidence it will have any impact.


This change in programming makes no sense whatsoever. It's as if WTTG decided to only show the Fox News cable on their DTV transmission.

 
I suggested that someone from WETA's engineering staff monitor the AVS Forum for valuable feedback about how their DTV OTA signal is being received and critiqued.


This is one of the strangest developments I have yet to encounter in the forced march to DTV transmissions in 2009.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ahh...so THAT is what happened...I had noticed the programming change, but waan't sure whether it was temporary or permanent. Sadly, it looks pretty permanent, at least in the short-term.

I suppose it's little comfort to note that in a couple of years, there will BE no analog signal to simulcast, or that they broadcast so much garbage on analog anyway that having some of it not show up on digital might be regarded as a benefit, not a problem.

Still, this does seem like a strange development as long as analog still exists. About as strange as having 24 hour broadcasting for digital cable users but not for analog or OTA...another pet peeve of mine.