The elderly, hermits and people too cheap to get cable weren't the only victims of the recent transition to the digital airwaves.

Apparently, the lack of an analog signal means that somewhere out there, an alien race that mankind has yet to discover will not know the winner of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

An astronomer from the SETI Institute has speculated that undiscovered alien races or other forms of intelligent life in the universe won't be able to watch Earth's television because of the switchover.

The big digital television crossover came and went. So what do I do with my spare set? Sure, I subscribe to cable so my wired televisions should have no problem with the conversion (most of mine are recent purchases anyway and are prepared for the conversion), but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm asking what exactly I could now do with the Sony Watchman Model FD-2A that I purchased in 1985 and remains in my closet to this day.

It was intended as a way of being able to watch television during high school (and to show how dated the set is, the screen is black and white). It does actually still work, if the purpose of the set is to produce a screen of snow.

Here are some ideas that I could now use the set for:

• As a TV (all I need to do is crack it open and hook up a digital converter, which kind of ruins the portability aspect of the device)
• Target practice
• Paperweight
• Handy object to throw at my oppressors (if I ever have any oppressors)
• Tree ornament
• Abstract art
• Flashlight (if I turn off the sound)
• Fencing practice (the antenna is pretty long)
• Prop replica of a Sony Watchman
• Brick replacement

Any other ideas?

Well, after announcements, commercials, and delays which generated more announcements and commercials, broadcast TV is finally being dragged into the 21st century at 12:30 pm today. That's when channels all across the country shut off their analog signals and just broadcast digitally. If you're still one of the multitudes who use an antenna and did not prepare for the transition by buying a converter -- and, according to Nielsen, 2.8 million people still aren't ready -- you'd better run out and get one now or else you're just going to see snow.

For those of you who have already made the transition, you'll notice that there are some extra channels on your TV, maybe with names like 2.1 or 2-1 or 12.13 or 13-12 or whatever. Some channels have taken advantage of the extra bandwidth DTV allows by broadcasting extra channels of specialized content. But are they worth watching? At this point, not really.

On February 19, 2009 all television will switch from an analog to a digital signal. Anyone who doesn't either purchase a special box for digital conversion or purchase a TV specifically designed to receive a digital signal will be dragged into the town square and ritualistically murdered. Those who escape will live out the rest of their days in fear as they're hunted down and exterminated one by one.

Well, maybe it won't be that bad, but it's certainly going to be interesting to see how smooth this whole "digital conversion" thing goes.

Saturday Night Live may put its Friday night rehearsals on the internet. Right now, the rehearsals can only be seen by NBC employees on closed-circuit television at Rockefeller Center. This revelation came from NBC Universal chief digital officer George Kliavkoff when he spoke at a conference in Los Angeles yesterday. Kliavkoff said of the Friday dress rehearsal, "Sometimes it's more interesting than the show." He says he was only joking, but there may also be a little truth to what he said. Not sure how SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels feels about Kliavkoff spilling the beans about something he is simply mulling over.

While you'd think I would be on behind-the-scenes overload for sketch comedy shows, since I watch both 30 Rock and Studio 60, I'd actually be curious to see the Friday rehearsals. It would be interesting to see which sketches make it and what changes are made to them before the live show. I guess the down side would be that SNL is giving away its sketches ahead of time. We could view the Friday rehearsal and decide whether SNL is even worth watching the next night. Although, at this point, I just always assume it's not worth watching.

Recently a blogger stumbled upon some hidden pages on Amazon's site that may have offered a look into what the company will be offering as far as its upcoming digital download service, which Anna first hepped us to in July. The pages are no longer available, and since no official announcement has been made by the company we can't take any of this as absolute, but what the page seemed to suggest is that the new service will be called "Amazon Unbox," downloads of TV shows will cost $1.99, and content will be viewable on an in-browser player that will only work with Windows computers (to start with). Like I said, none of this is set in stone and could only be half true or completely false, but I'm definitely curious to see how Amazon approaches this, and if they'll do it in a way that doesn't shut out any customers.

Update: After I scheduled this post, some more information on the service became available. It sounds as if consumers will be able to rent or buy videos through the service. You may also be able to burn purchased copies to a blank DVD, but they won't play on traditional players.

They've been kicking it around for years, but the House of Representatives has finally (and barely) approved a budget legislation that requires all broadcasters to get rid of their analog signals and switch to a digital format by February 17, 2009. The new legislation also results in "modest cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and student-loan subsidies and adds $10 billion in new revenue from auctioning television airwaves to the highest bidder."  

The transfer to DTV will allow broadcasters to have one of two channels in HDTV or several channels in standard definition. Broadcasters are being told to ditch their frequencies this year, or when digital TV reaches eighty-five percent. In addition, congress will be setting up a program in which a family may be eligible for up to $80 to convert their sets to digital.

 

Rabbit ears, or television antennas, could soon become a relic of the past. A new poll, out in time for the CES convention in Las Vegas, finds that 22% of Americans get their television "over the air". That is, through television waves transmitted by stations. The big powerhouse for television is cable, with 51% of people receiving their signal that way. Only 26% of American households have satellites. The report says the findings "are significant, because they indicate that analog services are now the minority in the TV marketplace." Interestingly, the poll also found that 25% of adults have a DVR hooked up to the television set.

Personally, I like DirecTV and TiVo over rather than cable. How do you prefer to get your television?

[Via Lost Remote]

Every time I read an article about the switch to HDTV I feel like it always contains the words "could" or "maybe." But it sounds like the government is finally making some concrete decisions about the switch from analog to digital television.