All we get is cheap talk about getting Denver TV. Why can’t each state get that state’s broadcasts? Maybe our lawmakers could pass a huge fee on stations that broadcast out-of-state channels. We must get the stations that are relevant, especially for elections. Again, we missed one Broncos game this year. See the attached article about western Nebraska getting Denver TV and not wanting it. – Upset Viewer
Once again, Action Line must remind loyal readers not to expect any sort of television-related advocacy.
Action Line doesn’t have anything against TV. In fact, some of Action Line’s best friends have televisions.
It’s just that the Denver TV situation is like this quote: “I’m not afraid to wait; I just don’t want to wait for something that will never happen.”
Free over-the-air broadcasting of Denver TV isn’t going to come to Southwest Colorado. Time to move on.
Why such a cynical, sweeping prediction? After all, a lot of people have tried to establish free Denver TV as some sort of birthright.
There have been countless letters written, meetings held, petitions signed, Congressional proclamations made and usual noisome tantrums.
It even seemed to work. Sort of.
The Federal Communications Commission last June issued a ruling that grants La Plata County’s petition to receive satellite broadcasts of Denver stations.
Which is great. If you have expensive satellite TV.
But today’s query is about free over-the-air broadcasts, the old school way of getting fancy moving pictures in your home.
If Durangoans want free Colorado TV via an antenna, they’ll get exactly what they pay for. In other words, nothing.
Albuquerque stations aren’t going to reduce their coverage without a protracted fight.
And why should Denver stations bother with a small audience seven hours and three mountain passes away from their advertisers?
Regardless, it’s fast becoming a moot point. Or make it a television “mute point.”
That’s because more folks are discovering that you don’t have to pay a hundred bucks a month or more to watch TV.
Yup, the antenna is back!
According to Nielsen, the media statistics company, 13.8% of households in the U.S. now get TV with an antenna, up from 10.3% in 2014. That’s a huge increase.
Compare that to this tidbit from the Consumer Technology Association: About 8.1 million television antennas were delivered to retailers in 2018.
In the meantime, “cord-cutting” continues at a furious pace.
Cord-cutters have had it with their cable or satellite provider, snipping the costly umbilical feeding their media consumption.
The number of U.S. consumers canceling pay TV service has now climbed to 25 million, again according to Nielsen.
Bookending the antenna movement is the relentless transition to on-demand streaming.
Last March, for the first time ever, more people paid for streaming video services than those subscribing to traditional pay TV services. That, too, is huge.
The irony, of course, is that this milestone came just three months before the FCC finally decided that satellite providers – caught in a downward spiral of customer defections and technological irrelevancy – could finally offer Denver TV to Southwest Colorado.
Perhaps the best way of dealing with all of this is to “channel” your inner pacifist and accept these “as-seen-on-TV” alternative facts:
La Plata County is an Albuquerque suburb, Santa Fe is the capital of Colorado, and you can enjoy the Durango Lifestyle in the Land of Enchantment.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if you watch local TV news on www.durangolocal.news.
