Obama wants to delay the transition to DTV

[vurbano]

Obama team urges delay in digital TV transition (AP) by AP: Yahoo! Tech

 

[mekp21]

I guess the govt. shouldn't have sprung this transition on us at the last minute

 

[jgantert]

Let me be the first... I didn't vote for him.

Seriously tho, we've known about the digital switchover for a long time now. Just do it already. And if your TV goes dark, you're just going to have to fork over the $40 for the converter box.

Oh, and just bail out the converter box program to give the warm fuzzy to all the folks who *still* haven't purchased their converter box.

 

[rad]

"The incoming administration is pushing for a delay in part because the Commerce Department has run out of money for the coupons that subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. "

So just give them more money for the coupons, hell they're throwing money at everything else. Heck, hire 10,000 people to go around and hook the converters up for the folks that have ignored all the notices that have been running for months.

 

[kb7oeb]

I think its a bad idea to move the date now, after hammering it in and then not having it happen will only cause more confusion.

That said picking a date in the in the winter was a poor choice to begin with for much of the country.

 

[VinceT3]

seriously.. let the damn analog crap go dark already..

 

[SatinKzo]

Like I said in the other thread

If people can't afford to buy a convertor box without the gov't subsidy, then it's probably best they don't watch tv and run up their electric bill any further. Screw the last minute stragglers and if the gov't is nice, maybe offer a tax credit next year for the boxes you bought with your own money.

 

[ziggy29]

Boy, I never expected this. Nope. Not in a thousand years. uh-uh.

 

[ChrisPC]

I think its a bad idea to move the date now, after hammering it in and then not having it happen will only cause more confusion.

That said picking a date in the in the winter was a poor choice to begin with for much of the country.

He's just afraid of the huge PR mess this will cause, less than a month after his inauguration.
I've read the reason for the February switchover date was because it was between the Super Bowl and March Madness.
A lot of stations have already gone digital-only at this point, or seriously lowered their analog power. It's gone too far to push it back now.

 

[Jamey K]

Let me be the first... I didn't vote for him.

What does that have to do with this?

I'm spending more time on the phone at work about this, than almost anything else. Broadcasters have been asking for more time for months now.

The money for this program is gone and forever reason, many Americans just don't care about this.

It has ZERO to do about who voted for who.

 

[vurbano]

Congress Bungles Converter Coupons

January 8th, 2009
From the back pages of the Washington Post:

A sample TV converter box coupon. U.S. consumers who wait too long to request government coupons to subsidize converter boxes for the digital television transition in February may come up empty-handed, a regulator has warned.

Congress Urged To Postpone Nation’s Switch To Digital TV

By Kim Hart
Thursday, January 8, 2009; Page D01

Consumers Union is urging Congress to delay the nation’s transition to digital television, saying the program to help TV viewers prepare for the switch next month has been underfunded and poorly implemented.

In a letter sent last night to President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the consumer advocacy group said Congress should push back the transition "until a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals."

The request comes two days after the federal government said it has run out of money to provide coupons to help offset the cost of converter boxes. Analog television sets that rely on "rabbit ear" or rooftop antennas to receive broadcasts will need a converter box to get a picture after Feb. 17, when all full-powered television stations will stop airing analog signals and move to digital-only broadcasts.

Lawmakers are looking for ways to make sure consumers who need coupons get them in time. "But with the date looming, moving the date back certainly warrants further discussion and may be a wise choice," said Daniel Reilly, a spokesman for Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.

As of Sunday, consumers requesting $40 vouchers to help purchase a converter box are being placed on a waiting list, and federal officials warn that TV watchers may not receive the coupons in time for the switch.

A coupon is not needed to purchase a converter box. But with boxes costing $50 to $80 in retail stores, Congress allocated $1.34 billion to provide coupons to help offset the price. Consumers who have a newer digital television or who subscribe to cable or satellite service will not lose programming…

"Millions of consumers could now be forced to spend their own money to navigate this federally mandated transition," the letter says. "This economic climate is not the right time to ask consumers to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for the miscalculation by the federal government. "

Obama’s transition team said yesterday that it has not weighed in on whether it would support a delay. Members of Congress are trying to find additional funds for the coupon program and may consider waiving a rule to allow NTIA to issue more coupons without waiting for others to expire.

On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission announced $8.4 million in grants to 12 community-based organizations. The grants are intended to reach out to consumers who are most at risk of losing television signals — senior citizens, people with disabilities, low-income and non-English-speaking households.

But Consumers Union said it is concerned there is not enough time left to reach all at-risk consumers. The group also questioned the ability of the FCC’s call centers to handle a flood of calls from confused television-watchers on Feb. 17.

​

Congress can’t even manage to fund and distribute coupons for cable boxes, and yet they think they can run the nation’s healthcare – and everything else.
Indeed, what does Congress do well besides give itself pay raises?

Still, one can’t help but worry about all of these “at-risk consumers” – meaning the poor and minorities who are always hit hardest.
The humanity.

 

[rwjga]

People will never get ready, no matter the date.

People being people means that some of us will never make a change unless forced to do so. If the move to digital is a good thing, then do it already. Then those who have taken no action will either not have TV or will be forced to either get a converter box or buy a digital TV. Would this not help the economy anyway?

Yes the broadcasters will want to delay the move forever. Those on the VHF channels who have to move to a UHF channel will most likely lose coverage area and thus viewers. Perhaps they should be more friendly to those cable and satellite services who want to carry their station and not demand so much per customer that they will not have otherwise.

 

[Jamey K]

I'll give you this .....we...broadcasters...have done a TERRIBLE job explaining this. I've spent little time on the minority issue and more on the elderly issue. People are getting mailers saying if they don't buy a new TV or if they don't get Sat or Cable...they don't get a signal anymore.

I can just imagine what the guys that were around during the Color TV days must have gone through.

"Yes sir. That part of the Wizard Of Oz" is not in color.

 

[dodge]

Geez
Get it done and over with already!!!! I requested my coupons on 1-3-08 and got them 1 month later and got my convertor boxes. If all these people procrastinated this long they deserve what ever they get!!!!

I know of a few people who hate the digital switch because they got great analog signal and now they have barely any digital signal that is weak, cuts out and pixelates. Many have lost a few channels, if they hurry and go full digital they can all go full power and alleviate a lot of issues with weak signal.

 

[jegrant]

I think it would have helped if they had given out these grants to various organizations about a year ago. By only giving them some money now, it seems like they won't even have time to ramp up and hire/assign people to help the "underserved."
Also, they probably should have tried to find a way to offer installation assistance and/or a subsidized/free rooftop antenna along with the converter box coupon. IMO, DTV requires a better antenna to provide stable reception in most situations.

 

[richiephx]

What's next...a free HDtv in every home?

 

[MacDawg]

His administration only suggested that it be delayed. Due to the fact that Millions of people do not have cable and sat, and Millions do not have the coupon. Also a lot of folks are dropping cable and sat subscriptions. Just looking out for Americans. Thats all.

 

[roashru]

From what I have read, NTIA has ran out of coupons and has asked for more funding. Dosnt matter what a president wants that person is only an "Idea man".

 

[phonegunner]

IIRC the spectrum that is freed up by the digital conversion is already auctioned off / alloted (and that is where the money for the converter boxes came from) for use with equipment and systems ready to go online once the conversion is done on Feb 17.

With that in mind, stalling the conversion will cause another part of the economy of to stall and therefore might even cause further issues ...

Ted...

 

[jgantert]

What does that have to do with this?

Um, followed by "Seriously, tho"... Sarcasm was implied...