When WETA management decided to convert the UK channel to HD, instead of adding an HD channel, on 8/4/20, they cut off access to 1000s of loyal viewers who can only afford SD.
There are several things to consider:
- There is no free way to get HD service and it would only be to see one extra channel.
- If a viewer could afford HD, he or she would have it already.
- On 09/15/2020, News channel 8 reported that one in three people in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) are food insecure.
- A can of tuna, equal to one meal, if on sale is $1.
- Comcast and Verizon each charge $10/month ($120/year) for HD which amounts to 8-10 meals a month. Of course, they raise the price every year so this is in perpetuity.
- They are not making more money by going HD only. That is, unless they have financial interest in the companies who charge extra for HD service. (Did anyone say Conflict of Interest?) They are just cutting off the less fortunate.
- WETA could easily have kept the SD channel and added an HD channel, thereby serving the entire viewing community.
- Most of the UK TV shows are old and don't look better in HD.
I wrote to the station on 8/5/2020. The station's response to my concern, though mostly polite, contained a self-justifying fallacy and an insult. Management mistakenly thinks there are only a "few" poor people in the DMV and that HD only would only be a "mere inconvenience" to these inconsequential viewers.
Further, it was much to my despair to view their web site section for corporate sponsors saying they could have "unparalleled access to the Washington area’s most influential, educated and affluent audiences." So, those who are not influential or are poorly educated or poor financially are not deemed worthy of being able to view programming not available elsewhere for free.
Please help me encourage WETA management to put back an SD channel.
WETA https://weta.org/contact/Community-Advisory-Council
Contact WETA: https://weta.org/contact
Email: digitalmedia@weta.org ; tv@weta.org
References:
WETA's Audiences | WETA https://weta.org/support/corporate/audiences
