Thread: The White House wants your opinion on The DTV Delay ACT Bill

Under normal circumstances it should not have been extended and I would say too bad to those still wanting more time after 3 years. However the coupon program was underfunded and had greater demand than anticipated. Also, since the analog shutdown was government mandated to begin with it has responsibilities. The stations will be paying more money in a bad economy they otherwise wouldnt have. Another government mandate. Cant imagine they will do anything to help their costs.

I would love to see the comments submitted. Heck I would take a agree, disagree graph. My two cents is in the coffer now. Lets see if they even acknowlege the comments. I noticed the mainstream media did not make a big deal of this event.

Originally Posted by Jim S.

You must have missed where the FCC has decided that stations have to reaffirm their intent to shut down analog by Monday night, and that if they (the FCC) think there will be too many unprepared customers in a market, they can deny any or all requests. This despite the fact that the bill hasn't even been signed yet, AND despite the fact that the bill states that it is NOT its intent to prevent stations from switching on the original date if they wish!

Time to rein in the rulemaking powers of the FCC!

The station group I am talking about has been on top of their STAs filed to the FCC so I can guarantee they are still taking care of business and hell or high water they are shutting down their analogs.

Originally Posted by Minsk1

I will not send my comments.
The whole delay was initiated by Obama. So what is the point. He got the bill he wanted. And all these messages are just wasted keyboard clicks.
The same will be true for the comments about the stimulus. Even if all 200 mln. opposed it will send a message it will not make a dent.

You probably don't vote either. Way to be a part of the problem. Exercise the rights you're given so they're taken away.

I suspect the stations will be under some pressure to cave in and keep analog alive until June. Quite a few of the stations which initially seemed determined to shut off on 2/17 are announcing they'll keep it up until June despite the huge cost of doing so.

Also, I note that the president still hasn't signed the bill to my knowledge, and today is the deadline for filing to shut down on 2/17 if the bill is signed. This almost feels like a tactic designed to prevent stations from having the chance to file to shut down on 2/17.

Originally Posted by sethwell

II did say that they should have made an allocation to the coupon program so that more citizens would be able to get their coupons. Also since the economy is in the tank, this will help so many stations operate better financially. i read on pbs's website that a four month delay would cost a total of around 40 million just to keep their analog signals going.

More money for the coupon program is already in the Stimulus Bill (both versions).

PBS doesn't need to worry about the additional operating costs of maintaining analog as funding for PBS for this activity is also in the Stimulus Bill (both versions).

And you ask, what the heck do either of these items have to do with stimulating the economy or creating jobs, I don't know either.

Does anybody know if stations can reduce power on their analog transmissions to save money, as they wait for the "next" transition deadline?

SUBMITTED:

"Its been too long in the works and now is too close to the actual date after previous delays; just move along and do it. There will always be some percentage not ready and should not hold back progress while costing even more money."

Looks like all the major stations in metro-Denver have rolled-over for the Government and won't terminate analog broadcasts on 2/17/09, even though the new bill has yet to be signed by the President and is therefore not yet law.