Telecom Chairman: Digital TV Transition Date May Be Delayed

Broadcasting & Cable:

The DTV hard date appears to be softening.

Consumers Union (CU) late Wednesday asked the heads of the congressional committees with telecommunications oversight, as well as the current and future administrations, to consider delaying the Feb. 17, 2009 transition date.

Read the whole story: Broadcasting & Cable

Comments

[wlkcrk]

04:55 PM on 01/08/2009

Two months ago I applied for the coupon, still haven't received it. It appears that our government seems to make decisions and waits until it doesn't work and then try to change it to make it work. Instead they should investigate the problem thoroughly so they can make intelligent decisions and cover all old sets so the people who actually own the airwaves have access.

[lj9283]

11:13 PM on 01/08/2009

They ran out of money for the coupons, so they have to wait until coupons they already sent out expire, before they can issue more to the folks in que.(I guess they come with expiration dates).

That's why Mr. Obama is suggesting to put the switch on hold, to fix more of the Bush legacy.

[lj9283]

11:29 PM on 01/08/2009

And there's only a wait list of over a million households in que for the coupons.

[MESGAIN26]

03:42 PM on 01/08/2009

I DID APPLY FOR A GOVERMENT COUPON , I JUST WHISH THEY HAD NO EXPIRATION DATE ON THEM THEY CAN DO AWAY WITH THAT ASPECT OF IT

[kmswriter]

03:22 PM on 01/08/2009

all the $$$ crashed and burned with the NASCARs ads. But we have a refrig in the bathroom.

[bluevistas]

02:57 PM on 01/08/2009

Great, after I went out and spend $1600 on new TV and DVD player...

[CharlottesvilleVA]

02:19 PM on 01/08/2009

No effing way. This has been coming for many years - anybody who hasn't been able to anticipate or provide for the change can just - HORROR - live without TV until they can resolve the "problem." Can somebody please point me in the direction of the Constitutional Amendment or public law in ANY state that gives anybody the unencumbered right to television? This is about convenience, not right or privilege.

Our television technology is more than 50 years old - it is woefully out of date, and at some point we HAVE to flip the switch. Will some be left out? Of course -no matter how long this is delayed there will always be some who have procrastinated or ignored the very many very public announcements.

The government and industries have already spent tens of millions of dollars to alert the public - changing now means those expenses will be repeated, and then repeated again when some idiot begs for even more time.

RIP THE BAND-AID OFF and deal with it. It's called progress.

[ZimboChick]

02:06 PM on 01/08/2009

A approve that msg

[commonsensor]

01:09 PM on 01/08/2009

You know personally I think this is a GOOD thing. Let them convert now, later, who cares.

If Americans spend 5 hours LESS a day in front of the "boob-tube" that is actually a GOOD thing.
That is....unless you work in the Media/Broadcast/TV/Cable/Advertising/Entertainment industries.

So go ahead Broadcast Gurus - force the issue, make consumers pay out the butt (again) for expensive converter boxes and upgrades to cable services becuase the timing is most convenient for you.

Here's the rope guys....try not to hang yourself......

MEMO TO SAG: Go on strike now while you have the chance, with 40% less TV households in February, the industry won't even feel it at that point.

[tailgateshirts]

12:46 PM on 01/08/2009

I think the rationalization would be that people dont have the money right now to purchase a new TV for 500+$ or a converter box

[hjfraser2002]

01:39 PM on 01/08/2009

Converter boxes are about 60 dollars.

[dm10003]

02:18 PM on 01/08/2009

i don't know about you guys, but my converter blows. pbs doesn't usually come in with it. and i live in nyc!

[SCVADem]

04:06 PM on 01/08/2009

And if you signed up early and got a coupon, it came to a whopping $20 plus tax.

[JJI]

01:54 PM on 01/08/2009

These people had 2 years to save $40. My heart doesn't bleed.

Go to the library and read.

[MESGAIN26]

03:40 PM on 01/08/2009

ITS NOT 40 DOLLARS , I

[westreal]

12:42 PM on 01/08/2009

I have a concern that if there is a national disaster and digital television is knocked offline how would people get their news and info. Through radio? I think local markets should have one or two local channels that broadcast the old fashioned way.

[dm10003]

02:19 PM on 01/08/2009

through... maybe... ummm... the internet???

[westreal]

06:04 PM on 01/09/2009

If there's a national disaster and digital tv is down how do you figure the internet is going to be working smart arse? The only thing that would be working is radio or the old Analog tv.

[KansasWrangler]

12:32 PM on 01/08/2009

Delay, delay, delay. Reminds me of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975...My speedometer still says MPH. Broadcasters who have not converted need to be penalized, not given an extension. As an aside, the strange relationship between cable and the government really gripes my @ss. I am SO happy having to pay for 125 channels I don't want to get the 10 that I do.

[hjfraser2002]

12:40 PM on 01/08/2009

More than likely there will not be any stations penalized. They will just be forced to turn off their analog transmissions when that section of bandwidth gets sold.

[shirleyfeeney]

01:58 PM on 01/08/2009

lol on the metric conversion...I STILL don't "get" it! But I remember the nuns trying soooo hard to teach us about metrics.

[quantumspin]

11:48 AM on 01/08/2009

Fringe area reception is not going to be as good as with analog. Also, if you use a battery operated analog set for times when the power goes out, the 'plug in to A/C' converter will be off so you won't get digital signals until A/C power comes on or you have a way to power the converterbox.

Also, traditional VCR's won't tune digital channels, so you can't use them to record stations off the air, and I'm not sure what will happen for cable users and their old VCR's. (using an antenna, the converter box has to feed the VCR, and so the VCR cannot tune to digital channels---the converter box does that, and I'm not sure how the cable channels will change, so some VCRs may not be able to record from the new cable channels).

As they say: "Bring your checkbook."

[hjfraser2002]

12:11 PM on 01/08/2009

On the fringe areas if you do not have a good enough signal you will get no picture.

If you have one of the converter boxes, you can place that before the vcr and then still use your vcr. The box converts the signal down to an analog signal that the vcr will understand.

[Truthosaurus]

02:19 PM on 01/08/2009

Yes, as "hjfraser2002" mentions, the VCR should still work, but you will have to set the VCR to channel 3 or 4, and use the tuner in the converter box to tune in the station you want to record. The converter box will convert the digital signal to analog, and send it as an analog antenna signal "broadcast" on channel 3 or 4, which your VCR will receive. So essentially your VCR tuner will not be used to select the channel to record, instead the converter box will handle channel selection. So both units will have to be on, and it will be more of a pain than simply selecting the channel using the VCR tuner and recording, but it can be done. This is my understanding based on some research, as I have not yet purchased a converter box, so someone correct me if I am wrong. I assume when the low VHF bandwidth is auctioned off, either channel 3 or 4 will have to be left empty, or have low power transmission, so as not to interfere with all the people using converter boxes.

[progressivegreg]

11:33 AM on 01/08/2009

I got the converter box, on some days depending on the weather I get 3 or 4 tv stations instead of the 8 or 9 that serve the Grand Rapids, Mi. market. Our apartment complex had an antenna company put up brand new on the roof antennas and we still can't get all the stations on some days. I will say that when the station comes in the picture is perfect otherwise it's not there or dropping out like crazy. This is an improvement???

[hjfraser2002]

11:58 AM on 01/08/2009

The one issue with didital is signal strength. With digital you generally either get a picture or no picture. Unlike analog where the picyure gets fuzzy, digital will just go off because it does not have enough info to present a picture.

[Dystopic]

12:01 PM on 01/08/2009

get a better antenna. Signal strength will pick up after the transition. Still, you need a better antenna, ot get satellite

[hjfraser2002]

12:07 PM on 01/08/2009

they may need to get an amplifier with the antenna.

[MarkVA71]

11:31 AM on 01/08/2009

I got my digital tuner and new antennae last night. WOW! If I knew I could get all my local tv stations in that clearly I would have bought one of these sooner!

[hjfraser2002]

12:12 PM on 01/08/2009

It would have matered when the tv station had sarted to broadcast a digital signal.

[justice11]

10:44 AM on 01/08/2009

I think this is a bunch of bull!! The people who are'nt able to pay for cable are being made to have it? This countries forcing people into things they cannot afford or maybe want for their own benefit and are getting away with it! Democracy? Yea right!

[frantaylor]

10:56 AM on 01/08/2009

Yes progress is just terrible, all my old 8-tracks are obsolete and I can't even find parts for my old 386 any more.

[beaupritchard]

11:11 AM on 01/08/2009

The market decided not the government ... UHF didn't go away when VHF appeared why should VHF go away now that there's digital.

Technology chasers always think newer is better ... not the case.

[Dystopic]

12:03 PM on 01/08/2009

I have a 80387 math co processor if you need to increase the math capabilities of that 386.

8 tracks were great, but never caught on. I still have like 5 Zappa albums on 8 track...

[hjfraser2002]

11:47 AM on 01/08/2009

You don't have to get cable. You just need a digital converter box that modulates the digital off air signal into a analog signal that your older tv will understand. These boxes generally cost 60-100. The government was giving out cards worth 40 dollars toward these boxes.

[shirleyfeeney]

02:00 PM on 01/08/2009

and they have been for quite a while, I might add. the digital conversion isn't a new idea, it's been advertised for over a year that the deadline was approaching...

[lj9283]

10:44 AM on 01/08/2009

Not enough money to support the needs of the public for a Federal mandated program. Who was in charge of the country when the money was allocated?

Maybe we can get AIG to underwrite a coupon bond. We gave THEM enough money.

Yes we have know for YEARS this was happening (as others have said), but some of us had to spend that money we were gonna use for the new TV to pay the bills, because money is tighter this year.

So some of us applied for a coupon late in the game, because we didn't know that we'd have to stick with what we had.

[frantaylor]

10:57 AM on 01/08/2009

What a sad excuse of an excuse

[lj9283]

11:20 AM on 01/08/2009

Just hope the pink slip doesn't come your family's way.