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]

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]

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]

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

[MESGAIN26]

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]

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

[bluevistas]

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

[CharlottesvilleVA]

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Our television technology is more than 50 years old - it is woefully out of date, and at some point we HAVE to flip the switch.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]

A approve that msg

[commonsensor]

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]

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]

Converter boxes are about 60 dollars.

[dm10003]

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]

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

[JJI]

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

Go to the library and read.

[MESGAIN26]

ITS NOT 40 DOLLARS , I

[westreal]

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]

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

[westreal]

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]

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]

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]

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

[captainigor]

This is not really about the broadcasters. The vast majority (more than 90%) of broadcast television stations have a digital signal on the air and have for a couple of years.

February 17 is about shutting down the analog transmitters. There will be a bit of channel shifting at that point, as stations that have traditionally operated on channels 7-13 (high band VHF) shift their digital signals back to those channels. They've been on temporarily assigned UHF channels during the transition. Also, stations above channel 50 will be re-assigned to a channel below 50.

Stations will keep their original channel branding. . .the data sent with the picture and sound includes virtual channel assignment.

Digital receivers will need to do a channel re-scan on Feb. 18

[quantumspin]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[hjfraser2002]

they may need to get an amplifier with the antenna.

[MarkVA71]

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]

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

[justice11]

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]

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]

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]

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...

[commonsensor]

Progress with reckless regard for any other factors IS TERRIBLE. $60-$100 bucks may not seem like a lot to a 20-something-electronics-junkie but to the TV Watching reitrees and others on a fixed income....or oh yeah......the over 52 MILLION UNEMPLOYED Americans...$100 bucks just to get the same TV signal you used to get for FREE is a hardship.

As for the $40 coupon program - well as usual, the budgeting for this program was about .0001% of what was actually needed and the program immediately went broke. They are no longer issuing these cards.

[hjfraser2002]

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]

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...

[cruzy]

This democracy would be better if people like you would educate themselves on an issue before posting a bunch of crap. First, you DO NOT need to get cable or sattellite tv. You need to get a converter box, which is a ONE time cost of between $40-$80. The government will give you a $40 coupon to help purchase one. This has been heavily advertised for the past couple of years, if you are so ignorant about this issue, then it proves you have had your head stuffed in your rear-end for the past couple of years. Second, the airwaves belong to the public and are owned by the government, they have been leased to commercial entertainment stations to raise revenue; HOWEVER, their primary purpose is for public safety, national defense, etc. The government wants commercials stations to move to digital to free up more of the analog spectrum for public safety, military, etc. Sorry, but your little tv shows are not that important. Although, with digital you will get a much better picture and you may get more channels. My mom, who is not wealthy and has NEVER had cable, recently got a converter. She went from getting crappy reception to crystal clear pictures, and now she gets up 5 additional channels she never got before.

Get educated and stop ranting.

[lj9283]

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]

What a sad excuse of an excuse

[lj9283]

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