THE #1 AV NEWS PUBLICATION. PERIOD.

Adios, Basic Cable

gary-coax-0212

I just read the proposed change to the FCC’s new Cable Television Protection and Competition Act that would allow cable companies to go back to encrypting (meaning scramble so you can’t pick it up) the so-called basic cable channels. Right now, the Act does not allow cable companies to do that so, as you may know, a cable customer can actually plug a cable TV signal right into theATSC (RF connector) and see basic-cable (i.e., ABC, NBC, PBS, FOX, CBS, etc) without requiring a cable TV box.

This new proposed change would allow cable companies to stop that and make it impossible to pick up so-called over-the-air channels and basic cable channels (CNN, FOX News, ESPN, Disney, MTV, TLC and CMT among a handful of others) without a cable set-top box. Thus, consumers would have to pay a monthly fee to watch TV – without an over-the-air antenna.

The mainstream press is going crazy. Not only are the saying that you’ll lose your Boxee Box access, your GoogleTV access and your access to what’s a basic human right (e.g., MTV’s 16 And Pregnant), but they’re also saying cable companies will be set-up to be allowed to rip people off.

Well, they’re dead wrong.

Look, I hate cable TV companies as much, if not more, than anyone. They have universally lowered the bar on customer service, quality (their HD is just plain crap compared to over-the-air and satellite providers like DirecTV and Dish) and they seem really hate their customers.

But, in all honesty, lets look at the real value proposition of this move.

Truth be told, the so-called “poor” that the mainstream press is referring to can easily be addressed — just give lower-income families the boxes for free. Use the school system’s “Free and Reduced Lunch Program” to determine who those are. Everyone else can afford the monthly settop box fee.

But, the advantage of finally getting rid of the complexity of RF signal connectivity in TVs far and away outweighs the hurdles.

For one, the pain-in-the-butt signal routing to switch between RF stuff and all the other AV gear has set up a complex array of control problems such that anyone who’s using the TV to entertain themselves has more than two remotes – one for the TV or cable box and one for the DVD/Blu-ray player, the AppleTV and or Netflix/Boxee streaming TV player.

And, this can ALL be solved if we all just let HDMI happen.

Why?

Well, all the above mentioned boxes and everything else being engineered right now for the home, ultimately terminates in an HDMI output — including cable TV boxes. So, get rid of the crap-tastic screw-in F connector used to allow over-the-air antennas and basic cable to be displayed for free on HDTV’s and, voila — you get HDMI.

So, now that we have everything with HDMI – as much as you may hate HDMI – you have the capability to totally simplify the entertainment in your home.

So, what do you do now? Well, you add HDMI input and output connectors on every piece of AV gear – making sort of an HDMI loop-through. Then you connect each piece of gear to the other and then end with the TV. For example, take the AppleTV and connect it (using a short HDMI cable) to the CableTV box, then go to the DVD/Blue-ray player, then to your Boxee, your Skype TV box and/or whatever you have or want to connect to your TV and then, finally, the last cable goes to the HDTV.

One great thing about HDMI is that it carries the video, the audio, the control and the network signals all through from one box to the next – and onto your TV. So, turn on your Blu-ray, press PLAY and guess what, the TV turns on (automatically) and starts playing your movie. And, best of all, you can control either with either device’s remote – control the TV with the DVD remote and/or control the DVD with the TV remote. Same goes for your AppleTV, your CableTV or DirecTV box, your Boxee box and even your forthcoming Skype TV or, if you already want Skype-like TV, your Biscotti (a TV phone for your home that works with other Biscottis or even Google Video Chat).

And, with all the complexity in and around your world, your work and your home, isn’t simplifying your home entertainment system worth this?

I say: Bye, bye, basic cable…

Top