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Buzz Blog
Coming
from someone who’s spent the past year answering DTV questions, I
really have to ask… how can so many people ignore the 50,000 ads
running on every network telling them how to fix the upcoming
situation? Perhaps ignorance is bliss? If that’s the case, those
people are about to get a lot of bliss. This Friday (provided
Congress doesn’t immediately go insane again and demand a second
extension into September) every local station should be flipping the
switch on the transmitters around 12:50PM, thereby ending most analog
signals across the US. So if your reception goes out after all
these notices... sucks to be you. --- 
The
harsh truth is if you didn’t hitch a ride on the government
supported program clear back in early 2008, its gonna cost you money
to do something now. Whether it’s a new box you have to
painstakingly hook up and troubleshoot, or a paid service you’ll
get a massive price-hike on after six months. Yeah, it sucks, but if
you’re not used to the idea that late-comers pay extra down the
road, you’re gonna hate life after 55. And while we’re on the
topic of age, recent reports suggest a large elderly falloff from the
switch, either by the fact that they don’t get the idea behind
digital conversion or they just don’t care to be suckered in by a
government mandate over free media. Not including the small
percentage that still own a Philco. Which all over the country would
mean a slight loss in ratings, but for those of you on local watch,
it might be interesting to pay close attention to how that one
holy-owned station's stats do over the next week. Or for that
matter, Florida in general.
At
the end of all this I believe those who truly
love/value/utilize/obsess over TV already made the upgrade, and
everyone else just didn’t pay attention… or at least they
won't until the screen turns to snow. That is, if they even care
about having a signal, I know a lot of people who have given up on
television as a traditional medium and just watch shows on Hulu. Or
the alternative… reading books. So prepare yourselves for the
"digital divide", because if there's any given certainty
about this Friday, its that a lot of people will be taking their
anger out on the magic box, trying to get it to work again.
