Pats vs Jets

[Garrett Wollman <wollman>]

<<On Mon, 12 Nov 2001 17:15:41 -0500, Larry Weil <kc1ih@mediaone.net> said:

> Since digital TV allows a station to broadcast multiple streams, there is 
> no reason (at least no technical reason) why WFSB-1 could not carry one 
> game, while WFSB-2 carries the other game.

Indeed, I've suggested something like this for quite a long time (at
least since the ATSC specification was finally accepted), but on a
larger scale: the networks should offer their commonly-owned ``basic
cable'' services FTA to affiliates for digital TV.  Most people who
subscribe to cable are only interested in a few of the services; as
the boom in satellite DTH has shown, people are not averse to
installing antennas if they can expect to receive the services they
want without having to deal with the cable company.  By doing market
research, a mix of services could be found which, if offered by their
respective local affiliates, could potentially draw a significant
number of viewers away from both cable and satellite.  The big wild
card would be AOL-Time Warner.

-GAWollman