It may be time to retire the term “broadcasting”, at least under it’s old meaning. According to these market researchers, less than a quarter of the country still gets receives broadcast television, that is by grabbing electronic signals sent over the air.
NEARLY HALF OF ALL CABLE TV subscribers are now digital, according to results of a poll of consumer technology released by the AP and market researcher Ipsos on the eve of the consumer electronics industry’s annual CES show in Las Vegas. The findings, which were corroborated by the National Association of Broadcasters, also found that only 22 percent of U.S. households now receive TV via over-the-air broadcasting. According to the results, 51 percent of Americans get TV via cable, while 26 percent get it from satellite services.
The survey also found that about a quarter of all the respondents had digital video recorders.
So, what does it all mean? I really don’t know but I’d bet this is one reason why the country’s censorship fans are pushing the FCC to try and restrict cable/satellite programming the way they’ve done with the broadcast stations.
If they don’t change the rules, pretty soon the FCC won’t have anything to regulate.