Solving the animal problem
How do we regain control of our space from these creatures? We bring in the ultimate weapon — television....
Manufacturers take the long-term view
As a former broadcast engineer, I love new technology. Even so, I don't always have to have the latest and greatest new gadget either. On a personal level,...
Beware the female binky
Today, it seems everyone (except me) has a cell phone. I was in the hardware store last night and noticed a father and his young daughter. As the child...
Reader Feedback
Piping plover To the editor: I am writing in defense of the piping plover, an innocent creature that you somehow parsed into the villain behind the massive...
A future so bright
How well do you know the viewers who watch your channels? Channel, rather than station. Not all broadcasters work for a local station you might work for...
How real is reality TV?
The timeline between the production shooting for a series of reality TV programs and the actual screening is finite, but never short. Because of the time...
Play the cards
You've heard the crying. Boo hoo, it's tough out there. We're not making any money (or not as much as we used to). Those mean 'ol cable and satellite...
It stays in Vegas.
So, you're planning on coming to what's sometimes called sin city Las Vegas, Nevada for the NAB convention? Well, not to worry. The city has adopted a...
Reader Feedback
HD bugs In your January editorial, you forgot to mention that local stations power down their digital transmitter for a day or two (with no explanation)...
Cutting corners, cutting profits
For some reason, cutting corners has also replaced the very different task of cutting expenses in many areas of business, including broadcasting....
HDTV toy store
The 2004 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) has just closed, and one of the two loud themes shouted from every corner was that HDTV is the future. The other CES theme was home networking, but that's another story....
A new perspective on interoperability?
Digital workflow is the new topic on everyone’s minds for NAB2004. Most broadcasters think that the forced march from analog-to-digital transmission techniques will not change the underlying business model of TV broadcasting, but they are wrong....
Reducing noise and color bars
Author Michael Robin responds to readers' questions....
The long march toward HD
I was recently demonstrating HD for my son's father-in-law when he remarked that I sounded like a salesman on the topic. After some thought, I realized he's right. I have promoted HD for what seems like a long time....
Europe's HD dilemma
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Despite the European broadcast community's continued resistance to HD, consumer demand is building, and woe to equipment manufacturers who pretend that is not the case. Why will HD grow quickly in Europe? I'll give you four reasons....
The decent engineer, bullied
Engineers know how to do their jobs, but are often prevented from doing it by misguided managers trying to save money....
IBC does not mean Itsy-Bitsy Convention
The IBC is in some ways the show NAB ought to be. First, IBC is slower-paced. There's less frenzy. Everyone seems so busy at NAB. At NAB, we don't see all we want to see, we don't visit all those we would like to visit....
Customer no-service
Okay, I'm not the brightest bulb in the lot, but I know when a company doesn't care about my business. In this case, I'm talking about the cable company....
NAB eats crow
It's not often that you find a major trade association publicly eating crow for its actions, but the NAB's changing position on ownership caps has resulted in a full plate special for the lobbying group....
New TV multiple ownership rules adopted
Twenty months and 500,000 comments later, the commission, by a 3-2 vote along party lines, adopted its new media ownership rules on June 2, 2003, relaxing the requirements to make it possible for groups to own more stations in individual markets....
Putting your money where it works
When times get tough it is not the moment to cut back on promoting your products. Counting promotion/advertising dollars as part of the cost of goods sold may be the key to continuing to grow in difficult times....
The DTV reception debate
Should poor over-the-air DTV reception be blamed on broadcasters who have a “‘lack of commitment’ to full-power broadcasting or does reception not depend on stations broadcasting at full power?...
Broadcast Armageddon
Media Armageddon is coming. The end as we know it will come soon, starting as an epidemic of media mergers. The hundreds of media companies will be quickly consumed by a few, omnipotent corporations....
Cry havoc!
A new era in media ownership began on June 2 and resulted in consolidation of all types of media, especially television....
DTV build-out sanctions approved
The Commission has adopted a series of new sanctions to be applied to DTV permittees who fail to complete construction within their required time and fail to receive an extension from the Media Bureau....
