Obama team urges delay in digital TV transition

[AUdubon5425]

Read the following story from the AP wires:

01:34 PM CST on Thursday, January 8, 2009

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting.

In a letter to key lawmakers, transition team co-chair John Podesta warned Thursday that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air broadcasts won't be ready.

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. People who don't have cable or satellite TV or a new TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their analog TVs working.

Obama officials are also concerned that the government is not giving consumers enough help with the TV transition.

[AUdubon5425]

Related to this - I applied for the converter box coupons for an elderly neighbor of mine and received this response:

"We have determined that your household is eligible to participate in this program. However, at this time program funding is not currently available to fulfill your request. Your application has been placed on a waiting list...When and if funds become available, coupon requests will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis."

Nice - so they've already run out of money. I wonder if they accounted for all the coupons that were unused or never received and expired. I myself never did receive the first coupons sent to me. When I contacted them stating eight months had passed and I never received the coupons, I was denied replacements because I "already received two coupons!" Typical government response. I had to use the address of the vacant lot next door to get another set mailed to me.

[botrytis]

That is because people are getting the coupons and either selling the coupons or the converter boxes on CL to make cash.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by botrytis

That is because people are getting the coupons and either selling the coupons or the converter boxes on CL to make cash.

I've noticed this too.

[Brian]

If I qualified for a coupon and then decided to update my system so the box is not needed, I too would sell the coupon or the box. It does not affect the government program as I can not apply for another.

We could look at the slowdown of the conversion in another way, by halting the changeover, it reduces the investment by the roughly 1,000,000 persons that could be spending money to stimulate the economy. I'm not sure what the price of the box is but simply do the math. It may be better to withdraw the coupons and maintain the date. This would promote the sale of boxes or even new televisions in a short term stimulatng the economy.

Of course the government could have simply allowed a deduction against income on the tax return or a refundable tax credit and done away with the overhead of the program all together. The economic stimulus package last year required even those who were not required to file a tax return so it could have been added in on the return and accomplished it.

[site123a]

Just to let you guys know it's illegal to sell the coupons. However it's okay to sell the converter box after you purchased it. You can also give the coupons away for free which I've seen people done on freecycle...

[whoaru99]

One thing will always be true. No matter how much time is given, or how many times the program is extended, there will be some people not on board for any number of reasons (or is that excuses?).

[bgadow]

I have to wonder how much will be left on analog even if they delay the switch. As mentioned before, there is only one station left broadcasting NTSC in our small market.

Whenever the switch is made you can bet some will be left in the dark. Stores will sell out of converters the next day...if even it is 2 years from now.

[elcoholic]

How many years is this already behind schedule? Give me a break. Where is the entitlement to DTV written in the Constitution or Bill of Rights? Not to sound overly callous, especially to those truely in hard times, but I put this in the same pisses me off bucket as pan handlers on the street smoking cigs and talking on cell phones.

[wajobu]

Got my coupons and boxes early. But I'd be just as happy to stick with analog. Like the analog to digital transition with cellphones...with a weak signal analog, at least you could still talk; with digital--dropout. Same with digital TV signals...if weak, then dropout.

[Nakdoc]

Helps us in the TV repair business. The money was a down payment for the VHF bandwidth auction, which has yet to happen. The auction money was projected at something like 500 million $$, and that money has already been "spent" budget wise 2 years ago!

[redcoates7]

The thing I find most interesting about this whole issue is that the only folks going dark are the small minority who have broadcast TV only and a set without an ATSC tuner.

If you have cable or satellite, you're fine. If you've bought a decent TV in the last several years, your fine.

Most of the systems in this country rely on good ol RF distribution NTSC signals from the head end on out...as long as you're plugged into one of these systems and they don't stop sending out an NTSC signal, you're good!

I can tell you first hand that many of the hotels and universities out there are decidedly NOT going to stop sending out NTSC analog signals over their networks...just like most US communities that get their signal over CATV systems.

So why does everyone want one of these silly converters? Are they all broadcast only? Or are they just looking to pick up the ATSC and NTSC signals riding along their CATV lines?

[EchoWars]

TV <> life support equipment. Make the switch and be done with it, for Christ's sake.

[Red October]

In my area two of the three cable suppliers I know about (The two in question being Verizon and RCN) don't send out anything but digital anymore. Analog gets just a blank screen. Some people buy the converter boxes to try to aleviate this but of course they just come back. What I'm really interested is an ATSC-NTSC channel set converter so you could use the NTSC tuner of a vintage set. Once upon a time you used to be able to get such a thing for cable.

[whoaru99]

You need a QAM tuner to pull digital TV signals off CATV.

An ATSC tuner is only for digital OTA broadcasts. The DTV boxes related to the switchover do nothing for tuning in digital cable channels.

As someone else mentioned, if you already have CATV, there isn't any need for a digital STB unless your cable co has digital service and you want it.