Multiple channels of digital over-the-air broadcast signals are encouraging viewers to buy new television antennas rather than pay for cable, satellite or telco services, according to a story in the Waterloo, Iowa Courier.
According to Brian Shaw, operations manager at Don's TV Maximum Sight & Sound, he's "throwing up antennas right and left" thanks to the switch to digital television as a way to get multiple channels without paying for cable or satellite. "I see this as a new beginning for broadcast TV," added John Huff, general sales manager at KWWL the Waterloo NBC affiliate.
Broadcasters, as a whole, have been using the digital transition to move more programs over-the-air and in an effort to revive their sagging viewership and advertising levels. They're also looking at mobile digital TV as a new revenue source. For cable this means perhaps the loss of a few subscribers. On the far darker side, though, an FCC proposal to take away 120 MHz of broadcast spectrum could throw these subscribers--and all those extra channels--back onto already bandwidth-challenged cable systems.
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