Best Buy pulls plug on analog TVs

[hawkeyethearcher]

Best Buy said today it has stopped selling analog televisions and pulled all remaining stock from its shelves, signaling the end of an era as consumers increasingly move toward digital products with flat-panel and high-definition screens.

Best Buy (BBY, news, msgs), one of the nation's top electronics retailers, heralded the reign of digital TVs, saying it made the move "as the end of the analog broadcast era draws near."

Best Buy instructed stores to stop selling the products on Oct. 1.

Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, broadcasters will stop transmitting analog signals. Non-digital television sets that are not attached to a cable or satellite service or not equipped with special converter boxes will no longer work.

Best Buy is the first consumer-electronics retailer to report an exit from the analog-TV business.

More than 60 million U.S. households rely on an antennas or analog cable, and cable operators are required to guarantee their customers will receive broadcast channels until February 2012.

Those millions of households offer a lucrative market opportunity for electronics retailers and television manufacturers alike.

"We are committed to helping people understand the digital television transition, and exiting the analog video business is one way we can help avoid confusion," Mike Vitelli, senior vice president of electronics for Best Buy, said in a statement.

After the first of the year, the government will offer every household two coupons worth $40 each that can be used to buy two converter boxes -- devices that pick up digital signals and convert them to analog. Best Buy will sell coupon-eligible converter boxes starting in early 2008.

[snappahead]

Wow, I didn't know they still carried analog. Interesting. Inevitable, but interesting.

[Foord]

It's all beyond me. Best not buy a big TV that has a surprisingly low sale price for a while...

[Brru]

eh its just like the "transition" from VHS to DVD except now its TV related. The object of the game is to get you to buy an expensive TV since they can charge a lot (even if they are not made for that price).


How many of you are getting the feeling that Wal-Mart is gonna announce they are never going to get rid of analogue? I mean really "Non-digital television sets that are not attached to a cable or satellite service or not equipped with special converter boxes will no longer work." Converter boxes are CHEAP and small. Its not a big deal, but the companies want you to think it is.

[CessnaDriver]

I havent been following this at all.

Will they still transmit via good ol antennas to cities?
So you can have a small handheld TV with an antenna still?
even if it needs to be updated to a digital reciever one?

[bat_collector]

Originally Posted by snappahead

Wow, I didn't know they still carried analog. Interesting. Inevitable, but interesting.

haha

[bat_collector]

Originally Posted by hawkeyethearcher

BBeginning Feb. 18, 2009, broadcasters will stop transmitting analog signals. Non-digital television sets that are not attached to a cable or satellite service or not equipped with special converter boxes will no longer work.

serious?

[Teague]

Originally Posted by bat_collector

serious?

Serious. Been in the works for some time.

Analog TVs will still work, only with an adapter. No idea how much those will cost, though probably not very much (since anyone needing one will only need one because they can't afford a HD model).

But yeah, it's coming. And if you ask me, this is only the beginning. We're not going to recognize television in ten years; maybe a lot sooner.

[CessnaDriver]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7152744AAe636B

[rilynil]

I'm going to need a new TV before too much longer. I've had the same 27-inch Magnavox since 1994. It still works great, but I know I need something new!