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I might be one of many; however I have always considered myself to be an early adopter of most technology and gadgets. For instance, last fall I completely gave up cable TV and decided to find out what it would take to rely solely on my computer. So instead I opted to purchase a Mac Mini connect it to my TV and through the use of web sites such as Hulu, TV.com, Boxee and Netflix, I set out on my discovery of this brand new media. One year later I am totally hooked and apparently so are many others. The number of US households watching TV online has increased 20% since last year. This goes to show how freedom from the traditional media viewing is growing in importance. But I do question the decision makers in the desks of Hulu as well as the advertisers that purchase “air time,” do they really know how to fully use this media?

I have just spent some weeks seeing seasons 1 & 2 of Arrested Development, (if you haven’t seen this show yet, I highly recommend it!) and I need to tell you, I am sick and tired of the “My name is Laurie, I’m still a PC and I love my HP” spot that seems to repeat over and over and over again during every commercial break. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being forced to watch these commercials at all, heck I am getting free On Demand TV in exchange. What I do mind is the fact that I am forced to see the same commercial 5 times during one show. If I were to conduct an IAG interview after the show all my questions would be perfectly answered yet I am NOT a PC and I hate HP!

And that’s just the beginning. Lets turn to the advertisers now… WHY WOULD YOU PLACE A 30” SPOT MADE FOR TV ON THE INTERNET? The Internet is not a TV so why treat it as such? There is no level of interaction at all from a flat 30” spot. If I am being forced to see your spot for 30 seconds at the very least make it engaging. If you want me to love your brand the last thing you should be thinking of doing is force feeding me a traditional media spot. There is a reason why 30s are on TV, they were made for TV, we have studied and researched for years how to best reach our audience through the TV set using these spots. But computers and the Internet is a completely different monster.

You cannot expect to generate the same type of results from streaming your spot on Hulu as you do through TV. If you want to turn me into a PC then show me how, allow me to interact with the product. Give me a reason why I should be clicking all over the screen and why I should follow it to your web site.

Now lets go back to Hulu and the other providers. The key to your success as an advertising medium is segmentation. I will happily register to your site, you provide me with the content that I love and I will provide you with very juicy information about who I am and the type of shows I love. Why not add a small section in your registration which would be used for segmenting your advertising. The more information you find out about me the better you will be able to sell yourself to other advertisers. You are not a mass media, you could be an extremely segmented tool that marketers would love to use. “Hey you, 28 year old Hispanic living in zip code 10021, I have this awesome new product that I want to show you!” This could really be the beginning of a new era of advertising directly one on one.

So please stop telling me that Laurie is still a PC and Loves her HP when I am not even remotely close to being interested. Hulu and others you need to see the full potential of your service and cater to me. You can do it, learn from Google’s long road of misses and homeruns. Engage your viewer, learn who they are and marry the advertiser to the consumer. And please, I am begging, do not repeat the same commercial 5 times in the same show!

It would appear that Norway have granted ordinary full licence amateurs usage of the 5 mHz band. Previously this was only allowed to groups such as clubs from fixed stations and for organisations involved in emergency planning. In the past only a couple of fixed frequencies or channels were available for experimentation in the band. Now it appears they have been a section of band from around 5.260-5.410 without restriction although other Norwegian amateurs I have spoken to seem concerned they have not seen any sort of band plan yet.

I worked Lars LA2OKA who was 57 to 59 on 5.3985 with fading and later heard Pers LA1TNA at first a steady 59 but the band was going out and he faded before I got him in the log. I use a resonant dipole at 30 feet over a reflector at 6 feet that is 10% longer than the dipole and 100 watts. Lars told me he was running their legal maximum of 100w on the band.

Various questions remain unanswered, such as are they allowed portable or mobile operation? and is this a blanket issue to all LA full licence holders or a variation they have to apply for? I have scoured the web but so far very little information appears available. One UK station asked if LAs could speak to UK military cadets. I somehow suspect not. Even though the (probably) unique ability for 5 mHz NoV holders to talk to none amateur stations in the form of military stations is written into the notice I personally have only spoken to two military stations since I had my NoV.

The UK 5 mHz NoV ends in 2010 so hopefully the Norwegian decision will help to get an extension if not an outright amateur allocation in the band.

Update: Speaking to Per LA1TNA today (Sunday 8th November 2009) I was informed that the band allocation was to all Norwegian Amateurs (no permit required) and is un-channelised with no restrictions on mode. Allocation is on a secondary basis and has no time limit like the UKs NoV.

Here in the UK the digital TV switch over is well under way and the next stage in my area is due on December 2nd when the last of the analogue transmitters get turned off. I have already mentioned in this blog how the public in general have been bamboozled in to paying out for high gain antennas that they do not need and new TVs when there was years left in the one they had. I would have hoped that the tree huggers out there would have made some kind of fuss, but they are obviously amongst the ones that have been taken in by the less than truthful advertisements we have seen. The government keeps telling us to reduce our carbon footprint but the digital switch over has seen a 70% plus rise in the number of TVs being dumped and various councils are complaining they cannot cope with the rise in what is referred to as e-waste.

Over the last year households in the Cumbria threw out more than 50,000 analogue TVs despite the fact that around 30,000 of the sets had nothing wrong with them and could be easily upgraded by adding a digital set-top box. Multiply this by the UK’s 86 counties and you get some idea of the problem. In the North West of England 7.2 million homes in the Granada region have been making the switch from analogue TV to digital this week, and queues at council run tips and recycling centres have been twice as long as usual with almost visitor bringing a TV.

Hopefully we radio amateurs are doing our bit and are recovering lots of useful components from at least some of this electronic waste. I look forward to seeing the first batch of QRP rigs made from 100% recycled TV parts.

Finally! Community TV has been given some digital broadcasting signal:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/community-tv-stations-receive-spectrum-to-go-digital/story-e6frg90f-1225794240507

THE much-anticipated digital TV switchover has now started, but not without some teething problems in Skelmersdale.

Yesterday evening, I switched on our TV to find all the BBC channels weren’t working. We have a Freeview box in our house, so we simply retuned it and, hey presto, it worked. One small snag though; channels 1 and 2 had changed from BBC North West to BBC Wales. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Wales and all that, especially the language, but I’d miss my North West local news too much to let this one lie.

So we tried to retune it again, and the same thing happened. After the fourth attempt, we gave up and started hunting through the channel list. The good news is that we found BBC North West; the bad news was that it had been placed in the Channel 800 slot, and Channel 801 for BBC 2. So everytime we want to watch North West Tonight or whatever, we have to go hunting through the listings, which is a real pain.

This evening, I contacted Digital UK who admitted that they’d had a number of calls from people in the area, including many from the Merseyside, who had also lost BBC North West and had it replaced with its Welsh equivalent.

The chap I spoke to was really helpful, and consoled me with the fact that I was one of the lucky ones as some people couldn’t get BBC North West at all!

He assured me that they are aware of the issue and that it should be rectified in a few days. In the meantime, I should carry on trying to retune my digital set top box on the off chance it fixes itself.

I took a look at our signal specifications and it showed that we were still receiving signals from Winter Hill, so I just wonder how many people in the West Lancashire area are experiencing the same problem.

Hopefully, it won’t be too long before normal service is resumed but, until then, I suppose we’ll just have to settle for the latest installment of Pobol Y Cwm.

UPDATE (Nov 6) : Woke up this morning to find out that even the BBC Wales channels are on the blink, along with BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament. Great.

Jag har ju varit så himla nöjd med att jag har typ 20 kanaler här i nya lägenheten. Tills jag idag satte på trean och det var reklam. Bytte snabbt över till femman och skrattade till lite, samma reklam samtidigt på båda kanalerna, ja herregud. Sedan lyssnar jag vad de säger. De har tagit bort de analoga tv-kanalerna och vill man ha större utbud än SVT1, SVT2 och TV4 så får man gott ta kontakt med Com hem och skaffa sig en box.

Åhhhhh, jag blir så trött! Nu har jag ju iofs klarat mig i tre år utan massa kanaler och det på sitt vis har varit skönt. Inget sitta framför tvn och inget att man måste hem för att kolla var som händer i dagens avsnitt av CSI eller vad man nu kollar på. Men nu känner jag att det var fint att ha tv. Att slå på och slökolla lite på Hollywoodfruarna, att hänga med vad som händer genom att kolla på nyheterna på tv, eller helt enkelt bara kolla på en film en söndagkväll när ångesten inför jobbveckan smyger på.

Så ja, jag loggade in mig på deras sida och beställde hem en sån där. Får väl betala ett par hundra i månaden då, det får vara okej. Det är mindre pengar än att hyra fyra filmer en månad. Jag får ta det, för faktiskt, jag kommer inte överleva vintern utan tv. Det står faktiskt väldigt klart.

Over at All Things Digital, Peter Kafka is reporting that he’s hearing that Apple wants to offer a $30 TV subscription service through iTunes, and is trying to stir up interest among content providers. He has very few details, but the basic idea of a technology company taking on cable with an Internet-based service appeals to me. (I’ve written in the past of my flirtations with ditching Comcast, although I remain a subscriber as I write this.)

Sooner or later, we’re all going to get all of our entertainment and information over the Internet, whether it’s from Apple or Comcast or someone else or a combination of multiple options. I’m not sure how it’ll all pan out, or how long it’ll take. But I do know what I’d like to see in such a service. Stuff like this:

A la carte options. I don’t watch 98 percent of the channels included in my cable package, and never will–and the only reason I’m paying for the tier of service I’m getting is to get one or two stations that interest me. I’d much rather be able to select from a handful of stations I know I’ll watch. Better yet, why can’t I pay for individual programs?

Diversity even cable can’t offer. I want niche programming on topics I’m interested in. I want every movie that’s extant, and every episode of every TV show–including ones that never came out on DVD.

One subscription I can watch anywhere and everywhere. I’d like to pay one flat fee for programming I can watch on my TV, my PC, and my phone. (That’s one reason why the idea of an iTunes-based subscription service is intriguing–I’ve already got iTunes on my computers, on my iPhone, and–courtesy of Apple TV–on my TV.)

Both live streams and a great DVR in the cloud. One of the reasons I still pay Comcast each month is because it’s still the best way to get news and other real-time programming. I wouldn’t pay an additional $30 a month for Subscription iTunes unless it brought me MSNBC and CNN and FOX and CSPAN. (Or, alternatively, unless they all become available online for free through some other means.) But I also want to be able to get anything my subscription qualifies me to watch at any time.

Is any of this too much to ask for? I’d cheerfully pay a lot more than $30 a month to the first company who offers it.  And until it comes along, I’ll muddle along with a combination of Comcast, iTunes, Roku, Amazon on Demand, Slingbox, Netflix Watch Instantly, podcasts, various network-specific sites, and old VHS tapes. Between them, I figure they get me about two-thirds of the way to where I’d like to go…

When you first look into purchasing an HDTV, there are a few factors you need to be aware of, namely the advantages of purchasing an integrated system. An integrated system represents the best choice because it does not require a connecting receiver or tuner, and and all that it needs is a cable or satellite connection.

Another possibility, for shoppers who cannot quite afford the high cost of HDTV, there is something else worth thinking about and that is the HDTV-capable set which consists of a HDTV monitor that needs an external receiver which will permit you to see HDTV shows and programs.

Other Things to Think About in Buying a HDTV

These days there is a plethora of electronic outlets that have sprouted in U.S suburbs. As well, there is an overload of information dealing with the latest improvements in HD and Plasma TV in newspapers and magazines. HDTV is simply the next generation of digital TV. HD stands for High Definition, and anyone who has viewed HDTV will tell you the viewing experience is far better, especially seeing athletic events or Hollywood productions. So, if your a TV addict then there is nothing today that can satisfy your cravings more than an HDTV.

Among the other considerations you should pay attention to are audio, connector ports, HD receiver/tuner, and, finally, resolution. With regard to audio, top of the line is Dolby Digital Surround, but there are different types worth a look. The best choice is to try out various audio systems before choosing which is best for you.

Also take into consideration how many connector ports you’ll require. The number you can use will vary from brand to brand and model to model. The best way to go is to be certain that there are enough to furnish all your needs. In most Cases you’ll require connector ports such as Composite Video, A/V, RF, RCA and Component video along with HDMI and VGA.

Next, you need to ensure that your HDTV includes an internal HD receiver which will enhance your viewing experience. Of course, some satellite and cable TV providers will provide these for rent, or even give you a free external HD receiver.

Resolution, The Final Arbiter

Finally, don’t overlook resolution, which, in the final analysis is the most critical. If resolution is not up to standards you will not go home to a significantly better television viewing experience, which is the whole objective in the first place. Otherwise, you could have simply continued with your old television. At the very least there should be a vertical resolution of not less than 1080i and 720p which, of course, is much better than what standard television models provide, that is only a single resolution of 480i.

In time, more and more programming for HDTV will evolve. Already, such channels as Discovery and ESPN have adopted it, and the networks in many metropolitan areas are viewable on HDTV. It’s a good idea to have the equipment in place to take advantage of this truly enhanced way of watching the tube as it continues to grow.

Summary:  The Tribune Company just launched Tribune 365 (www.trb365.com) that claims to provide integrated marketing campaigns—that is, ads across multiple platforms available within the Tribune media—newspapers (e.g., The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times), other print outlets and television stations.  In fact—and probably more important—it represents integrated ad sales:  one team to sell ad inventory across all of their platforms (and, with hope, others, as well).  We think this is a brilliant step—and long, long overdue.

The Details.

It is pretty straightforward—and both astonishing and understandable (OK, OK, so it’s a contradiction:  Call it a paradox)—that a major, and heavily indebted, media company has finally figured out one of their biggest assets:  multiple platforms.  The Tribune Company’s initiative is called Tribune 365 (www.trb365.com).

Selling ads across these platforms to an advertiser in what the ad industry calls “integrated ad campaigns” becomes a lot more attractive.  More to the point, they overcame one of the biggest obstacles, which is the silo-like ad sales structures of newspaper ad teams selling their ads, TV station ad sales teams selling their inventory, and so on.  Media reports point to a recent campaign for Target, with ads in newspapers, on Tribune TV stations and Tribune websites.

So What?

“Integrated ad campaigns” are not that new but what is new is that they are now available where they count:  where the inventory resides.  This makes it likely that we will see them with more frequency.  Moreover, think about it for a bit:  What the Tribune is doing is a classic case of the model that like very much, which is “audience integration.”  That’s what diversified media companies do best.  They bring audiences to advertisers.  The more diversified they are then the more audiences they can aggregate.

Aggregation recognizes that audiences get their content from multiple sources.  While there may be some overlap (someone who reads “The Trib” and watches a Tribune TV station), there are many people who use one medium and not another.  If those media happen to be owned by one media company, why not place ads across all of them?  That’s audience aggregation.

It’s not always so simple.  We have often seen civil war break out in media companies among the ad sales teams.  The sales team responsible for TV ad sales rebels when the website sales team for the TV station calls on the same clients for their inventory.  It can get ugly.

And it is understandable, because you are dealing with the livelihood of salespeople.  Someone who has cultivated the ad agency (or internal ad buyer) of a large advertiser for years relies upon the sales commission to pay the mortgage .  Why should he or she let a competitor—even someone in the same corporate family—put the salesperson in financial jeopardy?

And (we hope) that’s what the Tribune Company has figured out.  We hope that the integrated sales team means that commissions are not limited to one medium because that is the only way that you can (and should) change the ad sales culture.  After all, ad revenues amount to the lifeblood of most media companies.  And selling ad inventory makes that lifeblood pump.  And earning those commissions is what enables the sale of that inventory.

There is one more thing to add, which is that the ad sales team will be sitting on some of the most lucrative assets–the date from the various media.  User data are what advertisers want.  Multi-platform ad campaigns are what can generate rich data.

Summary:  The Tribune Company just launched Tribune 365 (www.trb365.com) that claims to provide integrated marketing campaigns—that is, ads across multiple platforms available within the Tribune media—newspapers (e.g., The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times), other print outlets and television stations.  In fact—and probably more important—it represents integrated ad sales:  one team to sell ad inventory across all of their platforms (and, with hope, others, as well).  We think this is a brilliant step—and long, long overdue.

The Details.

It is pretty straightforward—and both astonishing and understandable (OK, OK, so it’s a contradiction:  Call it a paradox)—that a major, and heavily indebted, media company has finally figured out one of their biggest assets:  multiple platforms.  The Tribune Company’s initiative is called Tribune 365 (www.trb365.com).

Selling ads across these platforms to an advertiser in what the ad industry calls “integrated ad campaigns” becomes a lot more attractive.  More to the point, they overcame one of the biggest obstacles, which is the silo-like ad sales structures of newspaper ad teams selling their ads, TV station ad sales teams selling their inventory, and so on.  Media reports point to a recent campaign for Target, with ads in newspapers, on Tribune TV stations and Tribune websites.

So What?

“Integrated ad campaigns” are not that new but what is new is that they are now available where they count:  where the inventory resides.  This makes it likely that we will see them with more frequency.  Moreover, think about it for a bit:  What the Tribune is doing is a classic case of the model that like very much, which is “audience integration.”  That’s what diversified media companies do best.  They bring audiences to advertisers.  The more diversified they are then the more audiences they can aggregate.

Aggregation recognizes that audiences get their content from multiple sources.  While there may be some overlap (someone who reads “The Trib” and watches a Tribune TV station), there are many people who use one medium and not another.  If those media happen to be owned by one media company, why not place ads across all of them?  That’s audience aggregation.

It’s not always so simple.  We have often seen civil war break out in media companies among the ad sales teams.  The sales team responsible for TV ad sales rebels when the website sales team for the TV station calls on the same clients for their inventory.  It can get ugly.

And it is understandable, because you are dealing with the livelihood of salespeople.  Someone who has cultivated the ad agency (or internal ad buyer) of a large advertiser for years relies upon the sales commission to pay the mortgage .  Why should he or she let a competitor—even someone in the same corporate family—put the saleperson in financial jeopardy?

And (we hope) that’s what the Tribune Company has figured out.  We hope that the integrated sales team means that commissions are not limited to one medium because that is the only way that you can (and should) change the ad sales culture.  After all, ad revenues amount to the lifeblood of most media companies.  And selling ad inventory makes that lifeblood pump.  And earning those commissions is what enables the sale of that inventory.

So here it is – starting off with a link to a techy article written by me and published at another website…

Why does it take a long time to change channels on a digital TV ?

The Lua Workshop’09 [1] was held two weeks ago in Rio de Janeiro. Two days, around 25 talks… I really enjoyed the high quality of the talks.

I presented the talk entitled “Interactive applications for the Brazilian Digital TV”. The Brazilian standard uses an authoring language called NCL[2] that can be scripted with Lua for developing interactive applications. I developed the integration between the two languages during my MSc period at the Telemídia Lab[3].

The guy that would present the last talk didn’t show up and I was given the opportunity to speak about LuaGravity. It was good to see the reaction of a Lua aware audience and I could talk to some people about the project. I’m particularly interested in integrating LuaGravity with eLua[4] (also presented in the workshop).

[1]: http://www.lua.org/wshop09.html

[2]: http://www.ncl.org.br/index_en.php

[3]: http://www.telemidia.puc-rio.br

[4]: http://elua.berlios.de/

Some time ago the vested interest groups decided it would be a really big money spinner to move all TV in the UK to a digital platform and so started the cons. First we were told we would need a new TV and then when the truth was publicised in the newspapers and people realised they could get digital with a cheap set top box the advertisements were changed to say “You may need a new aerial” and all over the country antenna installers rubbed their hands. Anyone who asked was told they needed a new expensive digital aerial when for many a simple indoor loop was good enough. There are but a few days until the full switch over on November 4th but the lies still persist with the elderly being most at risk of being conned into buying a new digital TV and spending £500 on an antenna that cost the installer £10.

One of the early UK areas to experience the turn off of the analogue signals is Devon and Cornwall and holes are starting to emerge in the digital system. During periods of only lightly enhanced propagation viewers are losing their local BBC 1, 2 and ITV channels swamped with signals from Welsh digital TV repeaters. Viewers report watching a program in English only for it to switch to Welsh and back again. Sometimes the switch is a brief flicker for a few seconds and at other times they see segments of a couple of minutes at a time. Even when both English and Welsh stations are transmitting the same program there is a slight time difference which gives an effect similar to a scratched record jumping back and forwards. I think the first good lift after the switchover will see similar problems nationwide. I am glad I invested in Sky satellite TV along time ago.

Okay am tieing a few articles into one here.

1st:

Lisbon passed in Ireland, well Ireland 4 Europe and We Eblong to a lesser extent were the main reason, more volunteers than anyone else handing out leaflets. Better 2nd  posters from Fianna Fáil

Context also changed, economic situation was different and we didn’t want to piss of Europe end of day, we need them more now than ever. In the boom we thought we didn’t but in fairness it was such a bad Yes Lisbon 1 Campaign people voted No where they didn’t know. So can’t blaim people when they aren’t informed. Hopefully the politicans won’t make this mistake again a 3rd time. They can see, Niece 1 wasn’t a fluke.

2nd:

Mobile TV in the US takes a leap forward for DTT (Mobile DTT) ratified on October 15th 2009 with retailing of mobile DTT capable devices in 2010:

The US DTT standard and system has designed ATSC A/153 which unlike the European standard doesn’t require a seperate system and now . No doubt it will compete with MediFlo but with broadcaster backing its likely to be the winner. Pity we didn’t adopt that for the DVB-H specification rather than going for separate transmission network ing being required. Of course nowt to stop mobile phone operators to do like in Germany and use DTT handsets. It’ll get DTT in the USA a new market that could well make up for USA’s DTT market weakness compared to digital satellite or cable . See: http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2009/10/16/us-approves-atsc-mobile-tv-standard/

3rd:

UK HD will be well on target for digital aerials (DTT) by mid 2010.

BBC and Arquiva (Arquiva involved in Onevision consortium) are progressing with their transmitter upgrades slightly ahead of ASO regionby region switch off with DVB-T2 and MPEG4. See:  http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2009/10/16/bbc-and-ariqva-confirm-hd-build/

Indications seem to point to mid 2010 when compliant boxes are available. It bodes well for Irish DTT benefiting from future proofed pay DTT boxes. That Arquiva are involved again in this UK leading DTT, could only be good for Irish DTT.

4th:

Arquiva and Eircom have increased their stakes recently in One Vision the DTT consortium in talks with the newly established Broadcasting Authority of Ireland that now will regulate RTÉ, TG4 for the 1st time. See: http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2009/09/20/story44482.asp

Do you currently use a terrestrial cable company such as Comcast, Charter, Time Warner or even Cox?  We would like to hear about your ‘Horror Stories’.  This will help others understand what to avoid when choosing a television provider.

(Update, Oct. 15: KNRR is reported to be back on the air. Digital TV owners in Winnipeg are already filing reception reports online.)

–

I’ve covered a lot of topics in this blog since it was first launched earlier this year, but the July 11 post on the uncertain future of KNRR-TV in Pembina, N.D. has stood out among them as being one of the most frequently visited and re-visited pages over the past three months.

KNRR might have been licenced to serve tiny Pembina and the surrounding farms and small towns of northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, but the station had actually been meant to serve Winnipeg, 100 kilometres to the north.

The business plan seemed to make sense. It was the brainchild of Fargo independent station KVRR, which had decided to put up a 1,400-foot tower near Pembina to relay the Fargo station’s programming into Winnipeg. If a sales office in Winnipeg could just sell enough commercial airtime to cover its own costs plus those of keeping the Pembina transmitter up and running — a fraction of the cost of running a full-service TV station — it could generate a tidy profit for the station’s owners.

All they had to do was to get the station on to Winnipeg’s cable systems, to which the vast majority of the city’s TV sets were connected.

That turned out to be easier said than done.

Winnipeg’s cable companies applied to the CRTC to add KNRR to their lineups shortly after the Pembina station went on the air in January 1986. However, the owners of Manitoba’s TV stations, who were already competing with each other plus WDAZ’s Winnipeg sales office, had no intention of allowing yet another competitor on to their turf.

The broadcasters lobbied the CRTC to keep KNRR off of Winnipeg’s cable systems. In October 1986, they got their wish.

For the next 23 years, KNRR would stay on the air nevertheless, delivering its parent station’s signal to northeastern North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota and the dwindling number of Manitobans using rabbit-ears and rooftop aerials to receive TV signals.

During those years, KNRR was something of a money pit for its owners, generating neither profits nor cash flow. In 2008, however, the economic crisis in the U.S. and the $1-million price tag to convert KNRR over to digital by the June 2009 deadline made the station’s losses intolerable.

The station’s owners appealed to U.S. broadcast regulators to allow KNRR’s analog signal to stay on the air beyond the June 12 digital-switchover date, admitting that they were seriously considering shutting down KNRR, turning in its broadcasting licence and dismantling its tower.

When the appeal was denied, KNRR was left with no choice but to shut off its analog transmitter on June 12. It looked as though the station was dead.

On July 11, this blog suggested that Prairie Public TV give some consideration to buying KNRR while it still had its tower up.

As Winnipeg TV stations were then pleading with government regulators to relieve them of their local programming commitments, and KNRR’s owners seemed to welcome any opportunity to get the station off their hands, it appeared to present Prairie Public with the opportunity to strengthen its brand in southern Manitoba.

Half of Prairie Public’s audience and many of its donors lives north of the border, and four of the corporation’s 17 directors are from Winnipeg — including the chairman of the board — so why not use the Pembina frequency to shoot a signal across the border tailored to its Manitoba audience?

To my surprise, I then found out that KNRR’s owners had decided to keep the station on the air as a “public service”, informing U.S. broadcast regulators in early July that they intended to have the station back on the air with a digital signal by Oct. 18.

An employee of parent station KVRR indicated in an online discussion forum Monday that the date is real, writing that, “KNRR will also be lighting back up very very soon.”

When the station goes back on the air any day now, it will be the first over-the-air digital TV signal to cover Winnipeg and southern Manitoba.

According to TVFool.com, it should be possible to receive a passable signal in Winnipeg if you use a rooftop aerial or live in a high-rise above the ground clutter. Reception is expected to be good to excellent in Morden, Winkler, Altona, Morris and Carman.

KNRR's expected coverage area when it returns to air any day now. (© TVFool.com)

The arrival of the first over-the-air digital signal should be good news for Manitobans who have watched with envy as broadcasters fired up digital transmitters in Vancouver and Toronto while putting off upgrades in Winnipeg until closer to the Aug. 31, 2011 deadline for all Canadian TV stations to go digital.

KNRR’s resurrection is also a good opportunity to reconsider the station’s exclusion from Winnipeg’s cable systems.

In 1986, Manitoba broadcasters objected to KNRR getting a slot on the cable dial out of fear that their Winnipeg-based sales reps would undercut the rates charged by Canadian TV stations and undermine the local programming those advertising dollars helped pay for.

Today, there’s little likelihood that KNRR would ever open a Winnipeg sales office. Just ask WDAZ what a worthwhile pursuit that was — they closed theirs long ago. KNRR would get a less-than-stellar place in the cable lineup to boot, taking over WUHF Fox Rochester’s channel 49.

Even then, whenever a popular Fox show is on a Canadian channel and a U.S. channel at the same time, CRTC rules require that the Canadian signal be carried on both cable channels — which would block out KNRR’s signal during several hours of prime time every week.

Without a Winnipeg sales office, there is no reason to believe that the Pembina station poses any significant threat to either the Winnipeg stations’ profitability or to their (ever decreasing) local programming commitments.

Now that the signal is almost back on the air, MTS and Shaw might as well seek to add it to their offerings.

Here is our new logo in progress…what do you think?  We are currently in the process of revamping our image/branding – any suggestions?

Recently our clients have been asking what is the difference between purchasing your satellite television system from a local retail location vs purchasing directly from Dish Network or Directv.  Here are a few reasons why it is best to go with your local retailer.

1. Most retailers are operated on a day to day basis by the same people who opened the retail location.  This means that every customer is a big deal to them.  Usually this also means that when you encounter a problem with your system, there is a 24 hours or less response time in order to fix whatever problem you are encountering.

2.  This particular retail location has over 15 years of experience servicing the San Francisco Bay Area as well as the central valley.  Satellite ICC was also one of the first companies to bring to Bay Area residents digitial satellite television through installation of the smaller satellite dishes that are now the norm.

3.  Sometimes it is easier to explain or to show what the issue with your system is if you can talk to someone in person.  Or perhaps you are a visual learner and you missed some things during your one on one tutorial with the installer at your home.   The advantage of buying your system through a local retailer is that you can visit their office at any time and immediately get the help or explanation you need.

4.  Satellite ICC’s technicians all live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are available 7 days a week for your convenience.  This also ensures immediate service instead of a 2 week waiting period usually required by corporate.

The digital TV revolution has gained a solid footing in Europe – the ripples first set of in 2006 in Luxembourg have reached Denmark by way of countries such as Switzerland, Belgium and Germany setting of a major surge in online marketing initiatives.

31 October marks the day when TV as the Danes know it will come to an end leaving thousands of Danes caught in a vacuum between the old analog signal and the new digital signal. Amidst the confusion, large Danish satellite companies like Viasat and Canal Digital are caught in a death match struggling to get the biggest piece of the emerging digital TV market.

Online Marketing Warfare

Emerging markets equal marketing warfare, and a few of the major companies have turned it up a notch utilizing alternate digital channels and tactics to get their message out to the prospects.

Online marketing is one of the hot new approaches that some of the Danish companies have added to their quiver of marketing weapons. As a result PPC/SEO campaigns, Banner Adds and Micro Sites are becoming increasingly central in the struggle to dominate search engine results.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in click prices for search phrases related to the transition to digital TV signal” Says Senior SEM Specialist Mikkel Ipsen of Deducta Online Marketing ApS – a direct indication that more and more companies are becoming aware of the huge potential of search engine marketing.

From Offline to Online

A quick search on Google.dk reveals 322,000 hits for the phrase “digital TV” (Danish pages only) with the above-mentioned companies figuring among the top ten organic results – quite a different picture than 12 months ago when the same companies almost exclusively were present in offline media.

A few of the large companies have successfully merged their offline and online commercial communication creating a strong feeling of continuity between the various online and offline campaigns.

A good example is Viasat who achieved viral status by merging their TV commercials with their online digital TV campaign. The TV commercials featured talking garden elves that caused quite a stir when they suddenly appeared on landing pages and banner adds. As a matter of fact, Viasat has a Facebook profile and youtube channel dedicated exclusively to the garden elves.

For now the Danish online marketing battle is on between the Danish digital TV competitors – as for who wins, only time will tell.