Digital Television Delay

President Obama, please do not sign the bill to extend the deadline for the DTV switch. I think it is ill advised and unnecessary. The public is ready, and it will cost the taxpayers, broadcasters, and others too much in the long run.

The Public is Ready

The broadcasters, the government and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have all been airing PSA's (Public Service Announcements) for the last year, and there have been a multitude of media reports in all the usual outlets.

A recent poll commissioned by the NAB shows that, "82 percent of over-the-air television households have taken steps to prepare for the transition," and, "Awareness of the DTV transition nationally remains sky high with 97 percent of all households ... aware that TV is switching to digital." I think the important take away is that a high percentage of people know of the switch, and most of those have taken action to deal with it.

The Nielsen Co. survey in January said, "a little more than 4.1 percent of households in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota television markets are completely unready for the government-mandated switch to digital."

Leslie Marx, Duke Professor and former FCC chief economist, told Wired.com last month, "No matter when we have this transition, there are going to be people who are not ready for it. I think the best thing for our country is just to go ahead with the transition, and then work hard to get everybody up to speed."

I'm sorry, but if people have not heeded the warnings by now, they either do not watch enough TV for this to be an issue, or they just don't care. Will waiting four more months make a significant difference to these people?

The Cost of Delay

According to the Poynter Institute, the cost of delaying the switch away from analog can be as high as $10,000 per month for the average broadcaster.

While large broadcasters in urban areas can probably afford such an unexpected expense more easily, small and rural broadcasters would find this a difficult pill to swallow.

What about PBS? In recent years, the federal government, under the George W. Bush administration, cut funding to PBS so much that many PBS affiliates found it difficult to continue offering the quality programming to which the viewers were accustomed. This switch to digital has already cost PBS affiliates dearly, and a delay of four months is estimated to cost them an additional $22 million, according to Paula Kruger, President and CEO of the Public Broadcasting System.

There is also the issue of the cost to companies that have "purchased" the spectrum that is to be vacated by the broadcasters. According to Wired.com, "The futility issue is only one of the problems with delay. Companies that won auctions for wireless spectrum that is to be freed up on Feb. 17, like AT&T and Verizon, could reasonably seek compensation for not getting the property they were to acquire that day. The Delay bill doesn't address this issue at all.

'Companies have paid $19 billion for the right to use that spectrum, and the wireless communication that could be offered on that spectrum is valuable,' said Marx. 'If I were one of the companies that purchased spectrum licenses in the FCC's 700-MHz auction, I'd sure be asking the government what kind of compensation I was going to be receiving for, in some sense, the government not providing the good as advertised that I purchased at the auction.'"

The Cost to the Economy/taxpayer

While I fully support President Obama and his concerns for the people that would be negatively affected by the switch, I am more concerned of the effect that this delay would have on both the economic crisis we are facing, as well as the taxpayer in general.

We (the taxpayers) have already been tapped for $700 million for the first bailout, countless millions for the other bailouts (the automakers, AIG, etc.) not included in TARP, and who knows what else. This has created a culture in the US of companies asking for assistance/bailout by the government (us, the taxpayers). If we create exceptional costs to broadcasters through this delay, why would they not expect the government to help them out?

In addition, in all the discussion over the stimulus package and the necessity to create jobs, this bill is putting a tighter crunch on the broadcasters, who are already facing higher costs (like most businesses are), and lower advertising revenues (because companies are unable/unwilling to spend at their previous levels). I suspect that the added costs to the broadcasters could very well result in them trimming staff and creating more unemployment.

Comments

[JanStrnad01]

Several issues:

If the government had never offered a $40 rebate, boxes would cost less. Face it: If the government had offered $100 coupons, converter boxes would start at $120. Had the government never engaged in this ill-considered program, boxes would start in the $15-20 range for everybody. Speculation? Of course. But let's see what happens to the price once the program ends for good.

If this delay really is the last one, I can live with it (as if I had a choice). But digital TV has been delayed for YEARS to get to this point, because of these same issues. At some point progress has to be made, even if some people get left behind.

So, please, Mr. President, let's make this delay the last. And meanwhile, why not turn off analog for a day every month, broadcasting only information about the impending switch? That way people will know for a fact that they have to switch, but the pain of television withdrawal will be minimized.

And finally, does Hawaii still exist? They went all-digital in January. Has anyone heard from them since, or did the people riot, turn on one another, and revert to cannibalism?

[Henryk A. Kowalczyk - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Stephanie,

I guess, this time you, me - as well as the best interest of the country - are on the loosing side.

Shelly Palmer said it the best - http://www.shellypalmermedia.com, look for MediaByte dated February 05, 2009.

I see it as return of politics as usual, as dodging challenges, as a proof of government inability to do anything right, as a first fault of Obama as President, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/henryk-a-kowalczyk/obamas-first-fault-as-pre_b_162087.html .

I am posting this message again because some characters were not displayed on the website as typed, changing the significance of my post.

[Stephanie Vaughn Hapke - Huffpost Blogger]

Henryk,

While I agree with much of your post, and this comment, I'm not sure if I would make the extension of this particular issue to failure by the new president and his administration.

Was this the wrong thing to do, I completely agree with you that it was (is).

I also appreciate the link to the Shelly Palmer piece, as it filled in a little more information that supports our view that the delay is unwise.

Stephanie

[Henryk A. Kowalczyk - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Stephanie,

I guess, this time you, me – as well as the best interest of the country – are on the loosing side.

Shelly Palmer said it the best – http://www.shellypalmermedia.com, look for MediaByte dated February 05, 2009.

I see it as a return of politics as usual, as dodging challenges, as a proof of government inability to do anything right, as a first fault of Obama as President, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/henryk-a-kowalczyk/obamas-first-fault-as-pre_b_162087.html .

[BeckyJustice]

Interesting. While it's nice that you are ready, it isn't so great that those of us that haven't been able to afford to get ready would have to go without TV until we can afford to get ready. Like never???

I am 74 years old, a retired Electronic Tecnician, but since I am a woman and received half the salary of my male counterparts, I also must live on a drastically smaller Social Security Income. SO, way back in July of last year, I ordered the converter coupons. Unfortunately, they had an expiration date of 3 months from receipt. WHAT they didn't bother taking into account was that during that 3 months, there were no Converter Boxes on the market. Hard to buy something if no one is selling it...

I called and offered to return the ones I had, but couldn't use, in exchange for new ones. No dice.

Again, I'm happy that you are ready, but as of today, I am very happy that I have 4 more months to watch my tiny, and very old TV. Otherwise, I have to get all my news from a computer that exists on $4.95 a month Dial-up. Thank your lucky stars.

[Henryk A. Kowalczyk - Huffpost Blogger]

I am sorry about your troubles. Your complaint about being underpaid makes me suspicious that you are generally unhappy about almost everything and never see your troubles as the results of your own mistakes.

The bottom line is that it is not mine (neither the government that uses taxpayer money) responsibility to guarantee that you have ability to watch TV. It is time for you to toss out your old analog TV and buy a new one. In addition, it should be only your concern how to manage your finances that you would have money to do this when needed. You were told about the deadline about 2 years ago. You did nothing. Furthermore, you did not buy a conversion box when it was available almost free. What will change before the June 12? I bet that you be not ready again.

[Danigirl65]

Becky pointed out that she got the coupons that had a three month expiration, a period of time when convertor boxes were not available.

Although most people can afford a $40 convertor box, those same people may not be able to afford a new $400-$500 television which is the only option when (a) they have a coupon, but the boxes are in short supply or (b) they are out of coupons (which did happen - if you didn't notice).

Your attack on Becky is unwarranted, unjust, and undignified. We all have the right to our opinion but, in defense of your own, you unjustly attacked another blogger.

[Stephanie Vaughn Hapke - Huffpost Blogger]

Henry,

I am disappointed in this reply to Becky, as it seems more like an attack on her than addressing the institutional issues that the government, suppliers and retailers have created with the converter box program (see my reply to Becky for more info).

I agree that American's have a tendency to procrastinate in many things, and this conversion has been one of them. The information has been flashed into all of our faces many times over, and several polls have indicated an exceptionally high level of awareness of the conversion.

However, we do not know the specific situation that Becky is in, and it is unprofessional and rude to make the assertion that you did above.