Thursday, November 25, 2010

Cable Subscribers Continue to Flee

Cable subscribers continue to leave in record numbers. Cable networks lost 130,000 subscribers for the third quarter of this year.

Four of the major reasons are Netflix, Apple TV, Google TV, and Microsoft XBox. Netflix alone added 4.1 million subscribers in the third quarter. Another main reason is the availability of free online content such as YouTube, Hulu, and other video/tv networks.

At the current rate, cable companies may continue losing 1.5% of their subscribers annually.

People may continue to part with cable and use the internet more just as they did when moving from landline phones to cell phones in the past.

Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive - MB189LL/A

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Dish Offering Google TV Box

Dish Network is offering the Google TV set-top box to new and existing subscribers for only $179--around $120 off the list price. Dish is offering the Logitech Revue to subscribers with specific satellite set-top receivers--HDTV boxes and VIP 622, 722 and 722k digital video recorders. The addition of the Revue also requires Dish's $4 a month DVR integration services
Dish got a shout-out at the Google TV blog,
 which said nothing about Fox pulling its programming off the platform. Fox did so this week after briefly allowing access. None of the Big Four broadcasters have yet announced deals to optimize for Google TV, a combination of hardware and software that transmits web content to TV sets. It incorporates Google’s Android operating system and Chrome Web browser, giving it an edge over typical web-to-TV players.

 Logitech Mini Controller for Logitech Revue and Google TV

Zinwell ZIN-5005HD "ZinTV" 3-in-1 Networking-Ready 1080p Full HD Multimedia Player/Streamer/Torrent Downloader, Free Internet TV/Radio, Black

Sunday, January 10, 2010

OTA Television Channels

In 2009 you had to be living under a rock if you didn't hear about the change from analog to digital television.

Most local television channels broadcast in analog until June 2009 when they switched their broadcast signals to digital.

So, what is this about and how do I get digital local channels ?

When channels were broadcast in analog the standard television used NTSC to convert the analog signal into the image and sound you received on your television. To use your NTSC television you will need to purchase a digital converter box. This will allow you to convert the digital signal to an analog signal.

If you are lucky enough to have a newer television with an ATSC tuner you do not need a converter box. This is because an ATSC tuner converts or decodes a digital signal into the images you would see on a newer television.

Having local digital television stations has advantages over the old analog format. Due to how the spectrum works with digital compared to analog, television stations can now also broadcast what are known as substations. These substations may carry weather, news, affiliate broadcast, movies, or anything that can be broadcast.

Many local tv stations now have anywhere from 1 to 3 substations broadcasting over the air.

If you are interested in knowing what digital channels you can receive for free over the air, check out Antennaweb. org . You can enter your address or zip code and retrieve a list of local channels. Be aware that the list is very conservative. I know this due to the fact that my location came backing showing no channels. However, this was not true and I am currently picking up 9 channels from just one direction and I can receive another 5 channels from moving the rotor.

I am satisfied with the 9 channels I currently get which actually ends up being 23 channels with the substations.