Breaking news: Senate approves 4 month delay in DTV transition
 

2/17/09 may not be the end of analog TV after all...

EDIT: linky

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28863961...829/?GT1=43001

Silly, they should just be done with it. The $40 certificate idea was stupid. They could have simply had a$40 tax credit as a refundable credit. Save a lot of postage and make work. I'd love to know the actual cost per voucher.

I kind of figured that would happen. I hope so, then I can get a few more sets going for the last of analog. Three of eight roundies runnin' so far and lots of portables. I hope to have at least one of my RCA roundies going for the end as well. I'm making progress on the Admiral, had it a year now and have watched an hour of tv on it. Grrr. When it's done, no lie, about 30 percent of the chassis will be rebuilt with NOS parts. Already looks pretty snazzy. (unless you try to use it)

The first thing that pops into my mind is whether the companies that purchased spectrum that was to be vacated by analog broadcasters will be compensated for loss of use. Maybe they'll even sue Uncle Sam.

But I agree with Brian. Just be done with it. Besides, chances are that there will be yet another reason to put off the conversion in four months.

As a kid I remember reading articles about television being a passing fad and that people will again go to the movies as their primary entertainment and place to see news.

They got one thing right, television was a passing fad.

I figured this would happen....

Then in 4 months they will do it again and soo on.......

Pretty much what's been happening. I remember when 2006 was supposed to be the cutoff year. Oh well, fine by me, I use analog tvs a lot with an antenna.

Wow, it is official? Can't say I'm surprised.

The local ABC affiliate has announced that they will cease analog broadcasting on 2/17. On their 30 minute locally produced program concerning DTV, they said there would be no more analog broadcast after 2/17, even if the deadline is pushed back. They feel that they have done an excellent job of informing the public and a delay on the cutoff would cause viewer confusion as well as throw everything else off track on the station's end. They said that a Gov't mandate would be the only way they'd keep analog after 2/17. I don't know about the other stations; but, I suspect 2/17 will be the last day of analog for them as well.

Figures. With the economic downfall, I suspect the delay will longer than 4 months. Actually, I was somewhat looking forward to the end day. I wanted to witness all the chaos and the sensationalized news reports etc.
I can see it now, they'll interview some mope walking down the street who claims they don't know what the DTV transition is. Then they'll interview some lady who claims she doesn't watch TV so she doesn't know whats going on.

That's the most sensible comment I've heard all day. :thmbsp:

I've been waiting for the switch for eight years now so I guess hour months won't kill me. Besides I have DTV and OTA HD so I'm already there.

I have no idea why it will help to put it off a few weeks. Either do it as planned, or cancel it altogether. All I can see is a lot of wasted planning. How about things like transmission cable & equipment leases, broadcast licenses, and Heaven knows what all that now will need to be extended/renegotiated :no: ? What a boondoggle.

Knowing that the Government can spend $3,000 for a screw, I'd bet the vouchers were contracted out to a private company, maybe at a cost (including labor, accounting, funding, postage, and all kinds of other costs), of about $150 each.

Charles

I agree that the lack of people not ready for the transition represents a huge motivation failure- I've met several people who got the coupons, let them expire, and now complain they will lose their TV.

One change I would have made in the delay (not that I approve of the delay itself): On some date in April, shut down NTSC color. Having their sets go monochrome would motivate people to get their boxes and hook them up, but they wouldn't be able to argue that they "had no access to news and warnings for safety", as these would be just as effective in monochrome as in color.

I'd rather see the DTV transition happen, BUT keep at LEAST the VHF analog stations operating for news and emergencies.

I say VHF because who else would want those frequencies, and VHF can generally come in better then UHF anyway.

And this surprises ANYBODY how ?

:lmao:

This does not supprise me at all considering the running out of money for the coupons, etc. I actually think that this is a good decision. I also think that allowing stations to go ahead and switch if they want is also a good decision. This will alllow a somewhat side by side comparison of DTV vs NTSC analog in areas of the country that have some very bad weather(during the worst weather time of year).

I have already read that in Hawaii, were the switch was made last week, some people have lost the ability to recieve "over the air" TV because of where they live(even with new TVs/Antennas). This
"partial" switch may provide more information about this problem also.

As to the phone companies (as if I feel the least bit sorry for them), their licenses have been extended for the delay period. The only one really complaining is Qualcomm, who want some spectrum(500 million $ worth) for mobile TV.

I agree with MRX37, leave at least some of the VHF spectrum for analog TV, at least for weather information.

PBS is losing millions, because of this. I agree, just be done with it or just keep the analog.

Is PBS not coverted by the "switch if you want" provision? If so, why do they not switch on Feb 17?

HDTV/digital has been "5 years away" for at least the last 25 years... If it REALLY offered something as monumentous as color did over B&W, it would be worth it. But from what I've seen, I can only paraphrase one of the great Hollywood moguls-"I was underwhelmed."

The bill to delay passed in the Senate but not the House - yet, and the President has not signed it - yet. It's not quite a done deal as far as I know, a forgone conclusion perhaps, but quite done at this moment.

Just hearing on the news the time extension failed to pass. Still on for Feb 17 as of now.

As per the Dallas Morning News 1:21 PM Wed, Jan 28, 2009: "The U.S. House of Representatives has surprised observers by rejecting a bill to put off the DTV transition from February till June. Actually, the vote was 258 to 168 in favor of delaying the transition, but it needed a two-thirds majority to pass."

BOOOO!:thumbsdn:

Sandy's right about the color versus B&W thing. Also remember, Color broadcasting was fully backwards compatible with existing B&W sets....

Bet the $150 cost is low. Back in the early '80s when I worked for a county government we costed the issuance and processing of a check exclusive of processing the accounts payable and bank reconciliation. It was $25 and did not include incidentals such as putting it in an envelope, applying postage and mailing as some checks were not mailed.

Heard on news 1/28. The bill didn't pass house, Transition looks like it'll be right on 2/17.

<rant>

I would have been a lot happier with the transition if the MARKET had demanded it. It didn't. Nobody cared about HD delivered OTA. But, oh... Congress just HAD to get involved. What a mess. Heck, you couldn't even find a bloody box anywhere (except online) until a couple of months ago.

What's really nasty is the boxes themselves. Only ones with cheesy feature sets qualify for the coupon...? Huh? WTF is that? Why can't I use my coupon for any box I want (as if there actually WAS one I wanted)?

All you can get are hideous Chinese pieces of junk like the Apex, full of artifacts and badly-designed menus. Blah.

If a manufacturer like Sony made a nice converter with REAL FEATURES, like, oh, I dunno... S-video out (yes, I know, there are a couple that do offer S-video)... Component out... HDMI out for the "HD-Ready" sets that didn't come with a tuner... MTS modulated audio so you could distribute stereo on RF throughout the house... I'd be a lot happier.

Has anyone made a small box so that you can bring your Watchman to the ball game? Nope.

Ugh. I don't really care, because I live in an area that doesn't have any OTA signals, anyway. But I am just amazed (but not surprised) at how badly this was botched.

They can't get something as simple as TV right, but they want us to believe they can fix the economy... lol!

</rant>

Okay, I feel better now. :) Bar-cutie! Another round for everyone!

couldn't agree more....

000

I don't know, but it'll give us some breathing room probably. More time to save up for a convertor box.

It's just about reached the level of farce now, hasn't it?

Why doesn't this surprise me....

The government could mess up a two car funeral so I'm not surprised. If I had my way, I'd let the market decide after allocating so many channels to DTV and keeping so many channels analogue. Better yet, TV stations would just use unused channels for their DTV broadcasts like they do now.

However, they don't listen to people like me, I'm just a poor working class, Pittsburgh Hunky who delivers auto parts and likes electronics and role playing games in my space time.

Since it is a done deal now, let's just do it.

:banana::lmao::banana::lmao::tongue::butt1:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

http://www.thecatgallery.com/images/...ngKitten-2.JPG

OK, I think this is funny-as-hella!

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The whole idea was stupid.

http://failsalon.com/wp-content/uplo...w-car-fail.JPG

This should have been market-driven. This is what happens when regulators are bought & paid for by lobbyists.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8...derfaillh3.jpg

I could care less that the mega-monopoly-telecoms won't be able to sell me more subscription BS mobile TV crap, nor that China won't be able to dump more of their disposable garbage into our landfills.

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I know it's only temporary... It still makes me laugh, and/or smile.

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I have the converter boxes. They suck.

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When the last of the $40 coupons expire, those pieces of junk will retail for $19.99, but for now Best-Buy, Funai and the Chi-comms are getting rich from our tax dollars. (same lobbyists that pushed this stupid mandate)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...pixelation.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../Football2.jpg

Anything that shows the stupidity of eliminating ALL of the TV spectrum is cool with me. As others have stated, VHF should have been kept and given to a special class of low-power ham-type operators.

I basically agree with everything you have said, except I think anything that highlights the stupidity of this mandate-monopoly is good.

I like this idea.

The gov't has a reason for the box program and a problem as a result of the failure. In the Constitution there is a little clause related to comdemnation and just compensation. With the shutting off of the frequencies, the citizen has been depived of his property through a taking of the use of the television. By offering the box certificate program it has a defense against a claim of taking through government action by millions of owners. The problem is twofold: 1) the boxes are selling for more than the coupon amount and hence there is still the isue of compensation and with the failure of so many not using the coupon for whatever reason whether the lack of boxes, the lack of education or the expiration of the coupon, the defensive position is weakened.

While the extension of the program and delay in turning off the channels may be to give the public more time and allow the coupon system to work, there is another reason for Congress to consider extending the timeframe. Imagine a couple of hundred million persons deciding to ask the Federal courts to have the Federal government pay for the loss of their televisions. Not that would be an employment stimulus act for so many out of work lawyers.

The frequancy is not the users property tho, its the broadcasters, and they are compensated in additional spectrum to use.

Government should only exist to maximize the use of the limited resource that is UHF spectrum, and the best way to do that is to put the most content in it which is digital. Sadly you are stuck with mpeg2 which is vastly inferior to mpeg4 but I doubt that a push that would render everyones existing digital tvs obsolete wouldnt have gone down at all well.

Thankfully here in NZ they waited and all the terrestrial digital is h264 and in HD only for the channels that choose to be HD, so there isnt the dual-casting like in Australia of a HD and SD version of the same channel.