Why the End of Analogue TV Tonight is Important to Radio and Music
At midnight tonight, most of the analogue TV signals that have been bouncing through the atmosphere since the 1950s will disappear. With the temporary exception of some CBC stations and a few small-market broadcasters, the familiar channels from 2-6 (VHF low-band), 7-13 (VHF high-band) and 14-83 (UHF) will vanish into history.
Why? Analogue TV signals are fat, inefficient and incapable of carrying the kind of data we see with digital signals. It’s time to retire the technology, just like the Americans did a couple of years ago.
All TV channels (with the above exceptions) have been transferred to digital signals, both over-the-air (i.e. free) and through your cable/satellite company. That’s why we’ve seen an explosion in HD channels.
And the death of analogue TV is a good thing because now that this radio frequency spectrum is empty, it can be repurposed.
You’ll start hearing more about the 700 MHz band, the section of the spectrum that’s being vacated. The physical characteristics of signals carried on those frequencies are quite impressive. They can travel for dozens and dozens and dozens of miles from a single tower, requiring less infrastructure and hence cheaper for the operator. They can carry exponentially data in both directions. And most importantly, these signals can penetrate walls.
Why is that a big deal? Ever lose cell phone service in an elevator? Can’t make a call because you don’t have enough bars? Now you know why wireless operators are lining up to spend billions and billions of dollars to equire space in this band.
A new, fat chunk of high-volume spectrum means more capacity to serve mobile devices. More data, faster. Streaming video will be simplified. And so will streaming music.
With smart phone penetration at or above 50%, more and more of us are relying on our phones to be a major information and entertainment device. Almost a third of us regularly plug our MP3 players into our car entertainment systems, bypassing the radio and the CD player. Hell, I can’t remember the last time I played a CD in the car.
More reliable, faster and (hopefully) cheaper connectivity will continue to change the way we access and interact with music. Near-instant downloads. Streaming music services. On-demand content.
Radio will continue to offer its services in real time. But broadcasters will have to figure out how they’re going to make what they do available on the listener’s time, not theirs.
Missed the morning show but want to hear what was said? On-demand streaming. Want to know what the traffic is like right in front of you? On-demand geo-located traffic. Want to know the weather forecast RIGHT NOW? Instant weather access, right through the dashboard, complete with graphics. Talking about a band with your passengers and you want to hear some obscure album track RIGHT NOW? Piece of cake.
This is exciting stuff. Bring it on. And mourn not the loss of whatever you used to watch on channel 5.
