Recently, it was released that the cable industry shrank for the first time ever in the second quarter, losing 711,000 subscribers. The cable companies which credit the problem to the current economy are partially right, people are leaving because of the price…because they are finding a better way to receive their TV somewhere else through what is called multicasting.
Because of multicasting, you may have noticed a lot more channels than you remember being available in your local market. In fact, in some markets, they have up to 40 channels available for free, more than many basic cable packages carry. Broadcasters are doing this through what is called multicasting, splitting their digital streams into two, three or even four different channels showing up on your digital tuner looking like 5.1, 5.2 and so on.
The additional channels range from extra local news, sports, weather, to regular network programming. Multicasting also has the capability to continue coverage of a live sporting event on one of the additional channels if coverage is interrupted because of a breaking news story. And as over-the-air television continues its growth, broadcasters are sweetening the deal, by expanding their multicast stations.
Broadcasters are able to do so by being more efficient with the spectrum though digital television. Now the packages they send out containing pictures, sound and other information are much smaller, meaning they can send more out.
This also means that many local broadcasting stations will have a channel that broadcasts in high definition for prime time programming and second station that broadcasts in standard definition. When broadcasters send out their high definition signal, they are uncompressed, giving the best picture possible. But when cable sends out the same picture it is compressed to fit their tiny bandwidth, leaving viewers with a lower quality picture.
You may have heard a lot of commercials lately from pay TV providers, saying that they’re going to bring you more of your favorite channels…at no additional cost. Which yes, you won’t pay up front for the channels, but will instead incur the cost later. Why else would people be leaving in such great numbers? Stick with over-the-air television where you will not need to pay for channels you don’t want and a picture that is inadequate.