2006 end of NTSC broadcasts?

I remember reading something years ago about 2006 being the last year for
NTSC broadcasts in the US, and that if you wanted to continue to be able to
use your old NTSC past 2006 sets you would have to buy a converter.

Is this still true? Has that year been pushed back?

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004, Bootstrap Bill wrote:
I remember reading something years ago about 2006 being the last year for
NTSC broadcasts in the US, and that if you wanted to continue to be able to
use your old NTSC past 2006 sets you would have to buy a converter.

Is this still true? Has that year been pushed back?

Scheduled: Yes - 12/31/2006. Congress has NOT changed the deadline date.

Will it happen: Don't know.

There is also another condition: 85% market saturation of DTV capable
households. Whether or not this will count CABLE TV (as the cable headends
will have converted) I don't know (but think that it should). Not meeting the
85% threshold will automatically push back the date on a per-market basis.

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004, Bootstrap Bill wrote:
I remember reading something years ago about 2006 being the last year for
NTSC broadcasts in the US, and that if you wanted to continue to be able to
use your old NTSC past 2006 sets you would have to buy a converter.

Is this still true? Has that year been pushed back?

Scheduled: Yes - 12/31/2006. Congress has NOT changed the deadline date.

Will it happen: Don't know.

There is also another condition: 85% market saturation of DTV capable
households. Whether or not this will count CABLE TV (as the cable headends
will have converted) I don't know (but think that it should). Not meeting the
85% threshold will automatically push back the date on a per-market basis.

Well congress mandated we would all be on the metric system by the
1980's. You see that went no where. I don't see the analog being
turned off until somewhere in the next decade. They should stop making
ALL analog tvs NOW and then the transition would go faster. They also
need cheap digital to analog converter boxes to help out the people
who still have analog tvs. This would help make the transition easier.


--
MikeD-C05

Well congress mandated we would all be on the metric system by the
1980's. You see that went no where. I don't see the analog being
turned off until somewhere in the next decade. They should stop making
ALL analog tvs NOW and then the transition would go faster. They also
need cheap digital to analog converter boxes to help out the people
who still have analog tvs. This would help make the transition easier.


--
MikeD-C05

MikeD-C05 wrote:
Well congress mandated we would all be on the metric system by the
1980's. You see that went no where. ...

Try to buy a fifth of whiskey. ;-) (Or a quart, for that matter.) :-(

MikeD-C05 wrote:
Well congress mandated we would all be on the metric system by the
1980's. You see that went no where. ...

Try to buy a fifth of whiskey. ;-) (Or a quart, for that matter.) :-(

My point is that we are not using the metric system officially for
measurements or miles on the road etc. The government said they were
going to make the U. S. use the metric system by the 1980's and we
haven't ever switched to it for our official system. The same will
hold true for the analog channels going to all digital by 2006. The
government doesn't want to hear people bitchin all over the country
when they switch off the analog channels. This is why I say they won't
be switching off the analog channels till the next decade . By then the
majority of tvs in use will be digital and the older tvs will be going
out one by one. Then it will be easy to switch with only a few
converter boxes needed for a few old timers who still have analog tvs.


--
MikeD-C05

My point is that we are not using the metric system officially for
measurements or miles on the road etc. The government said they were
going to make the U. S. use the metric system by the 1980's and we
haven't ever switched to it for our official system. The same will
hold true for the analog channels going to all digital by 2006. The
government doesn't want to hear people bitchin all over the country
when they switch off the analog channels. This is why I say they won't
be switching off the analog channels till the next decade . By then the
majority of tvs in use will be digital and the older tvs will be going
out one by one. Then it will be easy to switch with only a few
converter boxes needed for a few old timers who still have analog tvs.


--
MikeD-C05

"MikeD-C05" wrote in message
...

Well congress mandated we would all be on the metric system by the
1980's. You see that went no where. I don't see the analog being
turned off until somewhere in the next decade. They should stop making
ALL analog tvs NOW and then the transition would go faster. They also
need cheap digital to analog converter boxes to help out the people
who still have analog tvs. This would help make the transition easier.


Why is no one mentioning part 2 of the congressional mandate?

That 85% of the TV's in use be capable of receiving the new digital
broadcasts before the analog licenses would be cancelled.

THIS is the limiting factor, not the date.

The question here is whether Powell and the FCC will rule that cable and
satellite system connected TV's count in the total - if they do, then 2006
is a possibility, if not, it will be quite a while.