[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > The FCC will only mandate it if there are conversion units available > to the general public (the way they are now for HDTV) for all the > existing analog radios that are currently out there (within reason > and of course including car radios). HDTV also has the advantage > since most people now receive their TV signals via cable or Sat. > > Keith McGinnis Head above Ground! South Hingham MA
The FCC was also able to pull off the DTV conversion (not "HDTV," which is not mandated :-) in part because it could ensure that all existing stations would stay on the air and provide service after the conversion. (Doug Smith could say for sure, but I think there were one or two very small rural stations that surrendered their licenses rather than convert; the number's still very close to 100%.) If there were ever to be a mandate that all existing radio stations convert to digital, you'd see a lot of small stations, some of which are already on precarious economic ground, hand in their licenses rather than invest in an expensive conversion. A fair number of those stations provide the only "local" service to their community of license. Anyone who's familiar with the way the FCC functions today knows that one of the guiding principles of allocations decisions is that you can never, ever do anything that will remove a community's sole existing "local" service. There's no amount of corporate pressure that would get the FCC to approve a move that would lead to thousands of stations handing in their licenses en masse, at least under present political conditions. s _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com