The Future of Television - Part 1

The Digital Revolution

In the first part of this series about the impact technology and competition are having on America's favorite medium, NBR New York bureau chief Scott Gurvey looks at the transition from analog to digital TV.



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External Links/Articles*

• Best Buy
  Best Buy is a major electronics retailer that will see its sales rise as many Americans elect to purchase a new digital television ahead of the transition. The company's senior vice president for consumer electronics, Michael Vitelli, is interviewed in Scott Gurvey's report. This links to information about the digital television transition offered on Best Buy's website.
• DTV Answers
  DTV Answers is a website created by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to answer consumer questions about the transition to digital television.
• DTVNow.org
  DTVNow.org is the website of the Community Broadcasters Association, a trade association representing Class A and Low Power Television (LPTV) stations. Many of these stations will not go digital in 2009 and, as a result, are fighting to make sure their audiences can still watch them after the digital transition.
• Nielsen Media Research
  Nielsen is a private firm that "tracks the television and media-viewing habits of homes across the country." Scott Gurvey cites Nielsen data in his report. This links to a page on the Nielsen website that lists the Top TV Ratings for the current week.
• Sling Media
  Sling Media is the maker of SlingBox system, which can record television and play it back anywhere there is a computer with an Internet connection. Slin Media's president, Jason Hirschhorn, is interviewed in Scott Gurvey's report.
• Television Disrupted
  Television Disrupted is the website for Shelley Palmer's book of the same name. Palmer, who is managing director of Advanced Media Ventures and president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences New York, is interviewed in Scott Gurvey's report.
• TV Converter Box Coupon Program
  This U.S. Department of Commerce website offers information about the government coupon program designed to help Americans purchase converter boxes that will allow their analog televisions to work after the transition to digital in February 2009. This links directly to the coupon application form, which Scott Gurvey mentions in his report.
• Verizon
  This links to information about Verizon's new FIOS Internet service, which uses fiber optic lines to speed the delivery of Internet video.

*Clicking these external links will take you off the NBR web site on PBS.org. NBR has no affiliation with these sites.