Below the Din

You can’t have a discussion on the upcoming analog-to-HDTV transition without some F.U.D. creeping in, whether it’s someone spreading it, or someone addressing it.

There have been reports of some cable companies scaring customers into uprgrading to digital packages lest they lose their picture altogether.

Over the past couple of months, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association has been running
PSA that for the most part is a small-F.U.D. buster. However, as detailed as they were explaining how cable customers would keep their signal, the omission how this also applies to the satellite companies was also notable. Which leads to the question from many of the non-switchover-savvy, “Wait, do I have to switch to cable? Is Dish Network (or DirecTV) not good enough?”

I realize that the production and airtime was on the NCTA’s dime, but why couldn’t they have just added the words “or satellite” to their explantion, and make it an actual public service?

If you have questions on the upcoming switch from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting, go to dtvanswers.org.