Fail: Giant Metaphor For Digital TV Transition Performs As Expected
The Federal Communications Commission and its benevolent overlord, Mr. Kevin Martin, recently spent $350,000 to sponsor a NASCAR team for 3 races. The “Digital TV Transition Ford” sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission crashed during its inaugural NASCAR race Sunday afternoon, says the WSJ.
This is, of course, raising some questions about why exactly the government is sponsoring NASCAR teams as a way of "raising awareness."
“I believe this sponsorship is an extremely effective way for the FCC to raise DTV awareness among people of all ages and income levels across the United States who loyally follow one of the most popular sports in America,” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement last week, announcing the deal.
The WSJ says they've also spent $1 million advertising in AARP magazine.
FCC’s Race Car to Promote Digital TV Hits the Wall [WSJ]
(Photo: Getty)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam malesuada commodo erat et molestie. Duis pellentesque aliquam bibendum. Suspendisse venenatis lobortis eleifend. Mauris id est sed lectus convallis aliquam.
Post a comment
Comments:
I see these ads all the time. And I have for a long time. If somebody doesn't get the picture yet, they can figure it out themselves come February. No need to dump more money into ads.
That's interesting what Kevin Martin believes about the sponsorship. I believe this sponsorship is an extremely effective way for the FCC honchos to get some sweet perks like meet-and-greets with the drivers, suite tickets, free food and invitations to parties with sports stars and celebrities. I'm involved in sports marketing and that's what a lot of it is about -- getting nerdy execs close to the stars they admire for photo ops -- all on someone else's dime and with 'branding to loyal audiences' as the justification.
2 years ago I bought a TV that had both an analog and a digital tuner in it, so now these ads are starting to get annoying.
@Skipweasel: I disagree. The proliferation of multiple channels in the states allows the broadcast of wonderful stuff like Mad Men, Pushing Daisies or Lost, along with a proliferation of horrible choices. The trick is finding those good shows, which never would made it on the air or found enough of an audience to last.
@Skipweasel: Actually, the real reason is somewhat far from consumer benefit.
One of the biggest failings in the Hurricane Katrina fiasco was the inability for officials and rescue teams to communicate effectively. Cell towers were knocked out, or the networks were overloaded. Radio transmissions encountered trouble due to interference from all the chatter, and other reasons.
By freeing up part of the wireless radio spectrum that is currently gobbled up by analog television, the government hopes to create dedicated, cheap, and effective emergency channels to utilize in times of national crisis.
There is a slight consumer, and possibly industrial, benefit to this transition. Digital television promises to offer superior picture and sound. This also frees up the bandwidth for use in the broadband wireless wars currently raging.
I'm glad they're advertising in AARP, but this proves that my grandmother doesn't read it. She still believes it's a plot by Islamic Spaniards to unmake Presbyterianism the official religion of Iowa.
The funny thing is that they are advertising the digital conversion on the digital stations. Huh?
I agree with skipweasel, way less watchable programs on tv now. PBS is constantly begging for money, yet they're putting out more stations. Why?
Oh, yea, and the death of the sitcom. I like the comedies, stop being so darn edgy. That's why people are watching less tv.
I will love getting more infomercials and paid programing in digital clarity!!!
I have a TV which will never ever ever ever be hooked up to Cable, and bought one of those DTV boxes. I will tell you that I am pretty happy to go from barely getting 3 channels on rabbit ears to getting about 30 (Los Angeles)
Digital television is just more government mandated crap that was brought about with payoffs by corporate interests who stand to make a mint off of the spectrum.
Hell's bells does this mean my TVs gonna smack into the wall and catch fire?!
hmmn......advertising TV's technological "leap forward" on the most technologically regressive form of motorsport in the world....BRILLIANT!
Man, the government sure is scared it's citizens can't watch TV after February 17. Maybe it everyone pulled themselves away from the boob tube they'd wake up and see what a disaster our elected officials turned our dear countr--
-- oh, look, America's Funniest Home Videos. Ha ha ha! Look at that chihuahua! It bit him in the butt!
Fail?
Fail?
I don't think you understand what that word means. But silly me, I don't go to CNN for poop jokes, I shouldn't go to Consumerist for accurate sports reporting.
Considering that the only time people pay attention to the mid-to-rear of the pack that late in the race is when an accident happens, especially since that accident helped set up the green&white checkered finish to the race, they got exposure for the car.
They are getting free advertising for the car right now.
The issue at hand is being exposed.
No, this is not a fail at all.
@theblackdog: So did I. However my new (free) Tivo does not have a digital tuner, so I either have to figure a wiring configuration to loop it out from my TV or get one of those boxes so I can still injoy Tivo-liciousness.
@Diet-Orange-Soda: And the key point is, you don't have to wait until February to get the new digital channels. They are available right now.
(Standard disclaimer: the transition affects ONLY reception of over-the-air stations via an antenna.)
The funny thing is that they are advertising the digital conversion on the digital stations.Yes, but by default. The digital stations are simulcasting what their analog counterparts are broadcasting, so those ads are going out on the analog channels as well.
KILL YOUR TELEVISION!!!
I am going on 5 years without a TV and love it. My spending decreased, attention span increased and find more things in life rewarding.
I think this would have been "ironic" - and closer to "FAIL" - if the DLP-sponsored or Dish Network-sponsored car took out the #38.
@blackmage439: Wait, isn't this the spectrum that was auctioned off last year, the one that Google and others bid on? I thought it was going to be used for new communication devices.
@B: I also disagree. Before digital, I had roughly 6 channels. Now with digital I have access to 20 different channels. The only downside to them really is that its hard to tune into some of the channels and I have to really fight with the antennae to get a signal. When it storms, the picture pixilates and sometimes I lose signal altogether. Kinda like having satelite.
@BuddyGuyMontag: I'm still going to CNN for my poop jokes, although, I do admit they're getting harder to find on the homepage.
I do agree with you that this isn't failed advertising.
Unnecessary? You betcha!
Weak? It's worse than pal'n around with dem terrorists.
Message penetration? The best you could ask for.
They're just trying to avoid a situation where drunken hillbillies take to the streets with rifles.
Ugh. So, what, we should wait until every single person in the country is ready to switch over before we pull the trigger? DTV has been on the air for 10 years. It's time to move on...
For the same amount of money, couldn't they have given away the converter boxes, say, at the post office?
Does anyone know if radios that receive TV audio will still work?
Oh, and by the way, fuck the FCC.
@EricLecarde: I find it weird that my digital signal can degrade to nothing depending on how my wife and/or I are positioned in the room. My wife watches TV while on the computer, not a problem. She props her feet up on the DVD cabinet, no signal within 5 seconds. Other examples abound, and moving the antenna doesn't seem to work. But having said that, I enjoy more channels than I did before, and they come in crystal-clear (except as aforementioned), so that's something good.
It's official. The Government thinks everyone in America is a NASCAR watching blue collar guy named Joe "the Plumber" Sixpack.
C'mon, seriously? Not everyone in this country talks with a twang in their voice and wears coveralls.
@goodywitch: What was the last network sitcom that was 'edgy'? I can only think of one, and that is It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. And that's on FX. And damn funny.
I thought the problem with network sitcoms was they weren't edgy enough. The time has passed for shows like Everybody Loves Raymond. Bring on Everybody Loves Meth. It could be a sitcom version of Spun. On this week's episode, Chef cooks up a fresh batch and the tweekers fight over who gets the first hit. Hilarity ensues. If you've ever seen tweekers go nuts, you know just how amusing this show would be.
Our tax dollars at work.
As an avid follower of NA$CAR I must say that if the car doesn't run up front the best way to get TV time is to crash it. Once crashed the cameras are all on your car and all the announcers are saying the driver and sponsor names. Although this only lasts until they drag away the newly junked car and clean up the track.
Because people who are still using rabbit ears are also people who watch Nascar?
@darkryd: I live in the shadow of New York City, born and raised here, and I have a college degree. And I watch Nascar. And so does my brother.
Sorry. It gets ratings. Would you rather have advertising on something like Golf or Tennis, which doesn't pull ratings?
At least they know their target market.
OK, whew. I thought it was just my set.
I can literally move an arm on my couch cushion and go from perfect reception to none.
@BloggyMcBlogBlog: That's not exactly true. The audio goes away because those radios were designed to pick up analog audio transmissions only. The new audio goes out digitally.
Also, there is a common misconception that the VHF channels are going away after Feb. 2009. That's also not true. After the transition, every VHF channel from 2 through 13 will have at least two digital TV stations somewhere in the country using it, and on most of the UHF channels up through 51, which is the new uppermost channel.
Some stations that are now using a UHF channels for their digital signal may only be doing that temporarily and have elected to move back to their VHF channel assignment after Feb. 2009. One reason is that it takes far less power to push a signal out at VHF frequencies than on UHF, to go the same distance. Digital channel 7 (NBC in Boston), for example, will move back to 7 next year. Don't toss those VHF rooftop antennas yet!
@Diet-Orange-Soda: But you know there's gonna be that one guy somewhere that sues because he didn't know about it...
It doesn't matter how the government tries to get the information across it's going to be a major clusterfuck come 02/17/09.
There will be such an outcry from the less technologically inclined that I predict a new government subsidy wherein everyone can walk into Walmart, Sam's, Costco, etc, and walk out with a free DTV compliments of Uncle Sam, I mean the taxpayer.
If we can bail out Wall Street surely we can give everyone a new TV.
Absolutely no one is talking about how the transition will effect any of the VCRs in my house. I assume they all will stop working because they don't have digital tuners. Will they work with the converter boxes I can buy. Can I tape one channel while watching another?
As far as I can tell, digital telly is intended to free up frequency space to allow more channels so we can have even more thrilling stuff to watch than we already have.
As someone who's watched telly in England go from very good to bloody awful since the introduction of multichannel, I'm not impressed.
More channels just means the jam is spread more thinly. The amount of watchable content hasn't increased at all. I now watch far less telly than I did a few years ago 'cos it's all just such tosh.