MV> Analog TV over the air is history and so are the different standards. MV> Now there are just three standards. DVB-T, DVB-C and DVB-S. For MV> Terrestrial, fo Cable and for satellite.
I agree on analog TV, at least in Germany. But if the satellite standards have changed in recent years, I wonder why I can still receive all the uncoded satellite programs. My dish, LNB and receiver haven't been changed in the past 5-7 years. I used to use DVB-T a lot, but it was never really as good as a satellite signal here in the Ruhr valley in Germany.
In the meantime, it has been switched off in favor of DVB-T2, which is a real problem for people using DVB-T, since they need not only a new receiver, but must pay extra to receive anything but the public channels in Germany - for which they already pay _richly_, even if they have no TV in the house. This is effectively a tax, but is declared as a "fee" to avoid problems with the constitutional court (only the central government can levy taxes, and the TV levy is set by the state governments).
To add a bit: the interesting thing about this German tax (I call 'em the way I see 'em) is that every household is taxed. Then the companies who employ the people living in the households are taxed, too. And for every location: if a company has branches in several cities, every branch is taxed separately. All that despite of the fact that every employee who has a houshold (house, condo, rental apartment) has already been taxed.
Double taxation? Not unknown in Germany even prior to the present system. You pay VAT on the "Mineral Oil Tax" and "Environmental Tax" on gasoline - and for some odd reason, I seem to be the only one here in Germany who objects to this "tax on tax".
At any rate (back to TV), not a bad system, if you're on the receiving side. But galling to most people who are forced to pay and have no recourse whatever.
