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| Industry | TV |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Fate | bankrupt |
| Key people | Steven Lindsley (chairman and CEO) |
| Products | HDTV tuners/box devices |
| Brands | USDIGITAL |
| Services | OTA, pay TV |
| Company type | Over-the-air pay television service |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Fate | Bankrupt |
| Headquarters | Draper, Utah |
| Products | Digital Television |
USDTV, an acronym for U.S. Digital Television, was an over-the-air, pay television service in the United States. Based in Draper, Utah near Salt Lake City, it was founded in 2003 and started service there in 2004. The company ceased operations March 12, 2007.
USDTV leased subchannel space from local TV stations for its subscription TV service. USDTV ended services in 2007.
History
U.S. Digital Television launched its service as a test in Salt Lake City near the end of 2003. On March 16, 2004, 1000 subscribers sign up with no advertising. And also, US Digital launched into the Albuquerque, New Mexico market. At that time, the company expected to enter the Las Vegas market next plus an additional 30 markets by the end of the year.
In September 2005, Hearst-Argyle Television, McGraw-Hill Companies, News Corp. and two other broadcasters invested in the company.
Technology
The company used extra bandwidth on digital television stations to send channels to subscribers who had a special set-top box provided by the company and an attic- or roof-mounted antenna which were available nation wide via Wal-Mart and in the West by RC Willey furniture and electronics stores.
USDTV channels were broadcast by multiple stations in each area, but through the use of virtual channels. They all appeared as subchannels of 99.x, even on regular sets that could not decode them. This was also true in the EPG.
One disadvantage of the system is its limited channel capacity, and the need for a strong signal through an antenna. The fact that it uses different stations, possibly in different locations, may also make re-aiming the antenna difficult or annoying, particularly since it may not be easy to find which USDTV channels are being hosted by which stations. As with free DTV, acceptable reception may require an outdoor antenna; this is true both with the US/Canadian ATSC system using 8VSB modulation and the COFDM based systems used in other countries.
Because it uses full-power broadcast stations, this also in turn limits the bitrate of free "extra" channels the public can receive from those stations. Broadcasters in the US are only required to carry one SDTV channel. This has led to speculation that stations would rent out the bandwidth of the additional five multiplex channels to pay TV services such as USDTV, instead of broadcasting in HDTV. Should this become commonplace practice among broadcasters, not only would HDTV be precluded, picture quality in SDTV can suffer noticeably due to excessive data compression, which leaves visible compression artifacts.
Services
USDTV served customers in and near Salt Lake City, Utah, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, Norfolk, Virginia, and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
The cost for the basic-tier service was $19.95 per month. USDTV also offered Starz! for an additional monthly fee. The basic tier started out with 11 cable channels: ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Toon Disney, Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Home & Gardening Television, Fox News, and the Food Network.
References
- ^ Metz, Cade (March 16, 2004). "Cable TV Without the Cable—or the Satellite". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis, LLC. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- "Company Offers Cable TV Over Airwaves". ABC News. March 18, 2004. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- ^ LaGesse, David (October 2, 2007). "Digital Pioneer The Tube Is No More". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- "News Corp., Others Invest in U.S. Digital". Los Angeles Times. Bloomberg News. September 27, 2005. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- "USDTV Expands Unique Low-Cost Alternative to Cable In Dallas; Wireless Digital TV Service Provides All Local and National Broadcast Networks and Many of Cable's Leading Channels; Price Guaranteed for Two Years", Business Wire, November 14, 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2011 from HighBeam Research.
- Digital television in the United States
- Companies established in 2003
- Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
- Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States
- Defunct companies based in Utah
- Companies disestablished in 2007
- American subscription television services
- 2003 establishments in Utah