PBS (2010-2) (1회)

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SPEAKING LEVEL UP (PBS) (1회/FEBRUARY, 2010)                                       INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. Switch to Digital TV Prompts Concerns, Calls for Delay 

The impending switch to digital TV has caused confusion in some households and prompted Congress to consider delaying the switchover even further over concerns that the message has not yet reached some important groups. Kwame Holman reports.

JUDY WOODRUFF: 그리고 이번 소식은 디지털 TV로 전환하는 과정에서의 마지막 싸움. Kwame Holman이 보도한다. 

CUSTOMER: 그게 아무 구형 TV에나 다 맞을까요? 아무 구형TV에서도 될까요?

BROADCAST WORKER: 유선이나 위성 또는 다른 유료 TV서비스 신청을 하지 않으시면…

CUSTOMER: 그런 거 하나도 없는데...

BROADCAST WORKER: …컨버터가 필요하실거에요.

KWAME HOLMAN: TV방송업체 직원들이 몇 개월 동안 전국을 돌아다니며, TV시청자들에게 경고를 전달하고 있다.

BROADCAST WORKER: TV가 얼마나 오래되었는지의 문제가 아니구요. 안테나가 필요하시고 컨버터가 필요하세요.  

KWAME HOLMAN: 이들이 하는 말은 결국 공중파 TV 채널을 수신하기 위해서 실내 안테나를 사용하는 구형 TV들은 조만간 전혀 수신이 되지 않을 것이라는 의미이다. 최근 워싱턴 주변에서 수 차례 진행된 행사들에서는 연방 정부가 강제로 기존의 TV 신호 방식을 중단하는 문제에 대해 계속 혼선이 빚어졌다. 

BROADCAST WORKER: (신호 방식) 전환에 대해 궁금하신 것이 있으세요?

CUSTOMER: 무슨 전환요?

BROADCAST WORKER: 디지털 TV 전환요.

Switch to occur Feb. 17

KWAME HOLMAN: 2월 17일, 우리 나라의 TV 방송 시스템이 구형, 즉, 아날로그 신호에 비해 더 좋은 화질과 사운드를 제공하는 디지털 전용 TV 신호로 바뀌게 된다. 

일부 방송국은 (그 후) 30일 동안 계속해서 아날로그 공중파로 기상 및 긴급 정보를 방송할 것이지만, 전국의 1천7백 개 TV방송국들이 아날로그 송신을 전면 중단하게 될 순간을 준비하면서 기술가들은 이미 시험 운영을 해왔다.

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ANNOUNCER: 지붕 안테나나 실내 안테나로 TV를 보시면 TV를 새로 장만하셔야 겠습니다.

KWAME HOLMAN: 대부분의 방송국들이 현재는 구형 아날로그와 디지털 TV신호를 둘 다 송출하고 있지만 아날로그 신호가 다음 달 중단되고 디지털 신호만 나갈 떼 전체 가정의 85% 이상은 변화를 느끼지 못할 것이다.

이미 유선, 위성 혹은 다른 유료 TV 서비스를 통해 이미 디지털 신호를 받고 있거나, 갖고 있는 TV가 2007년 3월 이후에 구입된 것이기 때문이다. 그 이후에 판매된 모든 TV는 디지털 수신기가 내장되어 있다.

그리고 구식 아날로그형 TV를 갖고 있는 사람들도 디지털 컨버터에 연결하는 방식으로 디지털 신호를 받을 수 있게 된다.

유명 전자제품 제조사인 Best Buy사의 John Zittrauer가 그 방법을 보여줬다.

PBS NEWSHOUR 1. Switch to Digital TV Prompts Concerns, Calls for Delay 

The impending switch to digital TV has caused confusion in some households and prompted Congress to consider delaying the switchover even further over concerns that the message has not yet reached some important groups. Kwame Holman reports.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now the final battle in the revolutionary switch to digital television. Kwame Holman reports.

CUSTOMER: Would that fit on any old TV? Will that work on any old TV?

BROADCAST WORKER: If you don't subscribe to cable, satellite, or another paid TV service...

CUSTOMER: I don't have neither one of them.

BROADCAST WORKER: ... you would need a converter box.

KWAME HOLMAN: Workers for the nation's TV broadcasters have spent months traveling the country delivering a blunt warning to TV viewers.

BROADCAST WORKER: It shouldn't matter the age of the TV. You need an antenna, and you need a converter box.

KWAME HOLMAN: Their message is that older televisions that use rabbit ears to get TV channels over the air soon will receive no signal at all. At several events around Washington, D.C., recently, there was continued confusion about the federally mandated end of the traditional TV signal.

BROADCAST WORKER: Do you have any questions about the transition?

CUSTOMER: What transition?

BROADCAST WORKER: The digital television transition.

Switch to occur Feb. 17

KWAME HOLMAN: On February 17th, the nation's TV broadcast system is set to switch to digital-only TV signals, which offer enhanced images and sound over the old, so-called analog signals.

Some stations will continue to broadcast weather and emergency information for 30 days over the analog airwaves, but technicians already have done dry runs preparing for that moment when the country's 1,700 TV stations will shut off their analog transmitters.

ANNOUNCER: If you get TV by a rooftop antenna or rabbit ears, you need to prepare your TV set.

KWAME HOLMAN: Most stations currently send out both the old analog and the digital TV signals, but when the old analog signal is shut off next month, and the DTV signal is transmitted alone, more than 85 percent of TV households won't notice a change.

That's because they already receive a digital signal through their cable, satellite, or other subscription TV service, or their TV was purchased after March 2007. All sets sold after that have built-in digital receivers.

And even those who own an older, analog-only TV can get a digital signal by hooking it up to a digital converter box.

Manager John Zittrauer at electronics giant Best Buy showed how it's done.

JOHN ZITTRAUER, manager, Best Buy: Basically, you have going in from your antenna, where it says "in," going out to your TV. Now, if you have a TV that has the red, yellow and white -- what they call the composite connections -- you can run that to your TV and that's going to get you a better signal. But even if you have the older TV that just has that antenna input, you're fine, just in, and then out.

Message may not have reached all

KWAME HOLMAN: But PBS President Paula Kerger says she's worried about parts of the public television audience, because 20 percent of them rely on over-the-air TV.

PAULA KERGER, president, PBS: The public service media, which public broadcasting PBS represents, we are particularly concerned that the American people are receiving a television signal in terms of information, in terms of security, and, in the case of children in particular, so that they have access to educational high-quality programs that they rely on.

About 2 million children are watching public television over the air. There are a lot of people in rural areas for whom public television is extremely important. And those are the people that I am very worried about will lose access to the kinds of programs that we produce.

KWAME HOLMAN: Nielsen, the television research company, has reported that PBS viewership could decline by 17 percent in the immediate aftermath of shutting down the analog TV signal.

KWAME HOLMAN: Industry groups and broadcasters, such as PBS, have been advertising aggressively about the coming switch to digital-only TV. But some worry not enough has been done to reach certain viewer groups, including many Hispanics who may not be ready for the switch.

Spanish-language network Univision aired an extended public service announcement during last fall's Latin Grammys program, which had an estimated audience of 12 million. The other major Spanish-language network, Telemundo, with a daily audience of more than a million, also has been telling viewers about the switch.

JOE UVA, CEO, Univision: The Hispanic community in this country is much more affected by getting their signal through the air than any other sub-segment of the population. And as the largest Spanish-language media broadcaster in the United States, we've taken particular interest in this.

DAVID REHR, president, National Association of Broadcasters: Digital television will give people unbelievable pictures, better sound quality, more programs and services than ever before.

KWAME HOLMAN: David Rehr is president of the National Association of Broadcasters.

DAVID REHR: It's a real benefit to consumers because they'll get a wow experience with their television.

Switch caught in some snafus

KWAME HOLMAN: The "wow" from the switch to digital's better picture and sound allows the U.S. to keep up with fast-improving TV technologies in other countries, such as Japan.

The switch also enables individual broadcasters to offer multi-channel streams or several different channels from the same broadcaster.

The federal government made money on the switch by selling the so-called "spectrum" analog channels occupy to private companies. Other space on the vacated analog spectrum will go to police and fire departments to improve their communications and to create wireless broadband networks. So far, the government has raised about $20 billion from its spectrum auctions.

Kevin Martin has just left the chairmanship of the Federal Communications Commission.

KEVIN MARTIN, outgoing chairman, Federal Communications Commission: One of the things that we learned after September 11th was how important it was for the local police and local fire departments to be able to communicate. And they've all got older, outdated radios that don't actually talk to each other.