Obama asks Congress to delay DTV transition

[onenote]

Source: Broadcasting and Cable Magazine

President-elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to extend the Feb. 17 DTV transition date.

Citing problems with the DTV-to-analog converter box program and "inadequate funding" of government DTV education programs, John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team, requested that "the cut-off date for analog signals should be reconsidered and extended."


Read more: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6627776.html

[Mojambo]

1. Yeah, we can't have people stop watching TV or anything... n/t

[Mari333]

2. He's doing it for her....awwww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy-pD-M0rY4

[Mabus]

25. I love that

I just don't remember a camera crew coming by.

[Shardik]

62. That is one of the funniest things I've seen on YouTube in a long time.

:thumbsup:

[guitar man]

3. oh gods please no

We have been busting or rears out here getting ready for the Feb 17 analog cutoff. Pleeeease let's cut them off on the 17th. We've been maintaining and running two transmitters for over 6 years now, please let us turn one off and attempt to get our numbers somehwere near to "in the black" again. :(

[Roland99]

9. Hear! Hear!

Enough of the dancing around.

[guitar man]

16. yep

It's time to do it. $12-15k+ a month in electricity plus maintenance on a transmitter that is going to be relegated to the scrap heap has been a real drag on the station budgets, it's a profit killer. IF they do decide to extend the deadline the only way I could get behind it is if they wave minimum power requirements for analog for the remainder of the time they are on.

My friend who is an engineer at another station in the market was telling me the other day he's got a tube out on his analog transmitter and is barely getting the other two tubes to make 80%. Come summertime, there's no way he's going to make 80, he'll have to back it down or blow it up. Now, if he had to replace the other tube at around $30k, that would take away from the budget the station needs to add a cabinet or two to their digital transmitter to get the power up on that side.Throwing good money after bad certainly isn't going to solve any problems.

[aquart]

34. My mother is not interested in YOU being in the black.

She's interested in all the unemployed and underemployed and seniors who will be without tv because they can't afford the extra 20 bucks or can't figure out how to hook up the damn things.

So says my mother into my ear.

[guitar man]

43. If

If we, I mean the over-the-air free broadcast industry, patticularly individual TV stations don't get back to some semblence of positive cashflow soon, there won't be anybody left to broadcast, we'll all be shut down. I'm a manager at a TV ststion and believe me, the individual stations and smaller networks have taken a severe financial beating to do this transition. Milloins and millions in buildouts and upgrades, layoffs, paycuts, you name it. It's just about killed us. :(

Anyone interested in watching free TV over the air has an interest as to whether we can keep the doors opsn.

[Occulus]

53. So, would you call this change 'yet another unfunded mandate'?

Are you seriously saying your station received little to no help paying for this?

Holy CRAP! And with the economy blowing up!

[guitar man]

58. not one red cent

The govt. hasn't bought us so much as a 50 cent connector or piece of wire to do this, it's been all on us so far. This is not something that has just happened, it's something we've been working on for years. I don't know about a lot of other stations and station groups, but we have been operating a digital transmitter alongside our analog for almost 6 years, tweaking, testing, tuning and improving it to get ready for the transition. It's been a hell of a lot of work to get to this point for sure.

<edit typo>

[Donnachaidh]

4. actually, it's a nice thing for him to do

Considering many folks who still use rabbit ears cannot afford cable and may not even be able to get a coupon to buy a box in time.

[eleny]

5. amen - and that little old lady is too cute for words

[WePurrsevere]

56. Another problem with the coupons is they expire after 3 months.

(at least the ones we got did). How many folks were like DH & I (as well as my DD and her SO and others I know on a different board) got them very early on, and just set them aside figuring they'd hold out to see if a bigger selection became available after a bit (since this is a normal trend) and then ran out of time on the darn coupon so now can't afford to get a box or two for the TVs?

We'll scrape the money together to meet the deadline and get a box but how many others are already past the juggle point and/or can't afford even the $10. or $20. extra past the coupon if they have one that's still good?

[sgsmith]

6. Why worry about the 7%

who may not get TV when we don't worry about the 50% who don't vote.

[Hugin]

7. But... But... But... Dubya promised we'd be able to sell people's bandwidth back to them on the 17th

Anyone who's followed this thing knows the only place the broadcasters are interested in is the big market areas.

Because, they want to sell wi-fi access to the high density Rubes in the cities.

It's the same-old same-old story of privatizing public assets to make a few well connected people rich.

TPTB could care less about the rural folks... In fact, rural station repeaters don't even have to convert... EVER.

[guitar man]

8. a common sense solution

A common sense solution to the problem would be to designate a station in each market, the PBS affiliate being the best choice, to stay on the air and broadcast 24/7 information on their analog transmitters about what to do to transition, along with severe weather information etc. Let the rest of us cut of our old, tired, power sucking analog transmitters on schedule and move on. Keeping everyone on the air broadcasting regular programming as usual isn't going to accomplish anything other than a later cutoff date with X number of people who still haven't made the transition. The only way some people are ever going to do it is to be faces with loss of signal. Sad but true.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. I recall that being suggested at the start of all this BS..and it was summarily rejected.

I think it is an excellent idea. The local channels should have a choice about whether they want to go digital or not. It is a very expensive conversion, and will ultimately kill all the small local channels.

[guitar man]

18. well' the time for choice

has come and gone. If you're a full power Class A TV station, it's convert or die. I think just about everybody is ready as far as the stations go, most of us are past being ready, we want to shut the worn out behemoths down and return to profitability, soon. If there is a small segment of consumers that are still not ready, I think one channel per market broadcasting instructions and emergency info should suffice.

[Dover]

36. So, do converter boxes change the picture if one holds onto their old t.v.?

Or will it be the same?

I suppose you have to own an HD t.v. to get the HD effect.

[guitar man]

41. exactly

The converter boxes are standard definition and like you said, you'd have to have the HDTV to get high definition.

They do change the picture from the standpoint that you won't see snow, lines or other analog interference common with the old analog standard. The downside is, when the signal strength drops far enough, the picture will freeze, pixellate or drop out all together. But all in all I think it does look better than analog and in the long run when we have the transmitters built out to full power and tuned up sweet, it's going to be a nice format.

[Dover]

46. Thanks for the explanation....n/t

[Donnachaidh]

31. so it's perfectly fine to force people to pay full price for the boxes

Just because it's going to inconvenience a few broadcasters? :wow:

The poor can just bite it, because it's not YOUR fault the coupons aren't available for everyone?

So much for that customer service thing we USED to have in the States. :wow:

[WriteDown]

37. Are televisions really a necessity?

The signal has to change. Technology needs to evolve. I listen to radio a lot more than watch TV though.

[guitar man]

38. oh it's been more than an inconvienence

talk about being forced to spend something, I'm a manager at a TV station and believe me, Most everybody I know in the industry would have been fine broadcasting NTSC analog until the end of time. This whole thing has been an expensive nightmare that has pinched our budgets to death. We've lost raises, benefits and bonuses due to the outlay we've had to make.

All I have to say is if they do extend the deadline, it better not be for too terribly long. At $10k+ a month per transmitter just for electricity plus the maintenence costs involved with keeping the old overheating, tube blowing,coolant puking things running, combined with advertising rates in the toilet... it's just killing us. :(

[WriteDown]

10. Glad to see he's working on the BIG issues....

How long have the warnings been going out on this change? I have little sympathy for those that haven't converted yet.

[KoKo]

11. This is important to many folks who don't have access to or afford Cable...

Good on him! I was hoping he would do this. Now, let's see if he picks an FCC Chair who will help restore some balance in our Media.

[CountAllVotes]

12. good move

not everyone can afford to buy new television sets. Those boxes are not so easy to find in some places either.

And, not only that, those plasma screens are very bad for the environment and use a lot more energy that the old televisions do.

:dem: :kick:

[Hyper_Eye]

13. There is no excuse for not being ready.

Almost any television sold today has an ATSC tuner in it. If you have an older set then you can get a converter box and the coupons make them about $10 to get. I have a set with an ATSC tuner in the living area and in my bedroom I have a converter. I have had it since the middle of last year and I got it with a coupon. Any household can get up to 2 coupons for boxes and the coupons have been going out for a long time now. They were going to give out coupons until they ran out and the fact that they haven't run out already simply shows people aren't taking the time to apply for them. It only take a couple of minutes and it can be done over the phone or on the net. The commercials have been all over the air for months and any television viewer has had to of seen them.

They need to stick to the deadline and drop those analog broadcasts because that is the only way to move people. I want those digital transponders moved up to where the analog ones are so the digital signals can be stronger. There is no reason to keep broadcasting in two formats.

[From The Ashes]

21. not true:

They were going to give out coupons until they ran out and the fact that they haven't run out already simply shows people aren't taking the time to apply for them.

Actually the program has run out of money:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010502688.html?sid=ST2009010802630&s_pos=list

TV Converter Program Runs Out of Funding

By Kim Hart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 6, 2009; Page D01

The government's billion-dollar program to help people prepare for the transition to digital television has run out of money, potentially leaving millions of viewers without coupons to buy converter boxes they need to keep their analog TV sets working after the switch.

[WriteDown]

26. Read post 20, pretty much sums it up for me. nt.

[Hyper_Eye]

32. They intended to give coupons until it ran out of money.

Nothing surprising happened. They had a limited amount of money to spend on coupons and they knew it was going to run out and that they had less than there were people who needed to transition. But it wasn't until a surge occurred last month that the program ran out of money. Requests trickled in before that. This is because people have been slow to switch. The demand could have been better gauged in time had people been getting the coupons upon learning of the program. The information has been pushed hard and it is out there. These people aren't late to the game for lack of knowledge but for lack of trying. I had absolutely no problem getting my coupon (which I requested only one because I didn't need two) and I have had my box for months. It took me less than five minutes to apply.

Find out more about the program on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon-eligible_converter_box

[AndyTiedye]

35. We Have the ATSC Tuner and the Roof Antenna and The Amplifier — No Stations!

According to Antennaweb, we should only expect to pick up ONE station on digital.
We currently pick up about 8 analog stations and NO digital stations.

Why?

Because almost everything is going to UHF, and UHF gets absorbed by the trees and hills here.

VHF, especially low VHF, gets through much better in this kind of terrain, but stations on
channels 2-6 (the strongest ones here) are all being moved to UHF channels which require
unobstructed line-of-sight to the transmitter. We would need a tower, at least 100'.

We are only 25 miles from San Francisco. I don't know what people who are really out
in the stick are going to do.

[guitar man]

44. hang on

After the analog cutoff, that is all very likely to change. The digitals can't be brought up to full power until the analogs are cut off, especially at stations that have 2 transmitters sharing a common antenna line. When the transmitters are cranked up and puffing, it's going to get a lot better.

[Hyper_Eye]

45. That was my point.

That is why I said I want the digital transmitters moved up to where the analog ones are now and full power pumped into them. There is no reason to wait. This needs to happen on schedule.

[guitar man]

47. exactly

we're not gaining anything by waiting. Some areas may need repeaters upgraded and a lot of people are just not going to get with the program until faced with the actual loss of signal. My guys and I have been volunteering at manning the phone banks for the cut off tests taking calls and helping people get ready. We've all been volunteering as DTV speakers to groups of seniors etc to do demonstrations and explain how to hook it up. Every one of us here has bought at least one person a converter box out of our own pockets and we've helped everybody that has asked us to get their transition done. All volunteer, no pay.

But I think we've done all we can do and it's time to get on with the next phase.

[AndyTiedye]

51. Looks Like Our Digitals Are At Full-Power Already

I only see one station that is expected to get stronger, and that only because it will be moving its digital signal to VHF, so we might be able to pick up that station, maybe.
The one station that we are supposed to be able to pick up already is slated to get weaker. I assume they are not actually reducing power, but re-aiming their signal.
All the others are staying the same, and staying on UHF.

[guitar man]

59. you may have repeaters

You may also have repeaters in your area that won't carry the digital signal until after the transition. If they have to wait until changeover to switch the repeaters over, you might see the signal come up then. Of the analog channels you are currently getting, how many are UHF?

[AndyTiedye]

60. The TV stations and the FCC Don't Think Anybody Lives Up Here

No repeaters are planned for this area AFAIK.

All the stations that come in well are VHF, mostly low VHF.

What UHF stations are detectable are extremely snowy and ghosty.

[guitar man]

61. that sucks

I hope you will be able to at least get something after the transition. If enough people in your area call in and complain maybe they will do something. I'd recommend calling all the stations you currently receive via analog and give them the business about not being able to get their digital signals if you haven't already.

[1776Forever]

14. Good - I wondered if anything happen to the satellites how would we get our signal?

And also there are so many that will not be able to have cable now with the recession. My bill is $56.00 a month for Direct TV and that is one of the cheapest billing accounts. I am going to get one of the boxes if an when they do go to the transition because of this.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

17. is this a priority at this time?

People had months to apply for the coupons. Just get it over with and move on.

[abq e streeter]

19. Too bad, I was looking forward to going cold turkey with watching TV

Actually not kidding---I was just not going to get the converter box, and see how long I'd last ( hopefully forever) without TV. Don't have the willpower to stop on my own......

[guitar man]

23. well, if you have low power stations

..within range, you'll still have TV of some sort for another couple years. I think the low powers have 2 years to either shut down or move below channel 50 IIRC. You might just be watching poorly produced religious programming or en espanol, at least that's what we have on most of our low powers here anyway. :crazy:

[abq e streeter]

27. Religious programming etc---I ain't THAT addicted ( I hope!!)

Hey, how's the music goin' in Okla...? Pretty slow here in NM all of a sudden. ( Sam Franklin's friend from Albq. in case you'd forgotten).

[guitar man]

29. I remember

It's been pretty slow here too, starting to pick up again finally. Oct-Dec of '08 was just dismal, couldn't mail ourselves into a gig for a while there :(

On the "glass half full" side though, it gave me a chance to get my amps serviced and work on building a leslie cabinet for our keyboard player plus learn some new material to add to out tired songlist.

[totodeinhere]

20. I think that's a mistake.

Some people will never be ready for the transition no matter how long we delay it. IMO we should go ahead with it. Then those who wake up to no more TV will finally have an incentive to get with the program and convert.

[guitar man]

22. you sir

are correct. :thumbsup:

[pattmarty]

24. This administration can't do ANYTHING right, can they?

[tammywammy]

54. This was approved in 1997

And Bush delayed it in 2001 from a 2006 conversion to 2010.

[pattmarty]

57. I rest my case.

[high density]

28. No.

If people haven't figured it out by now, they will NEVER FIGURE IT OUT.

[PufPuf23]

30. Jobs

As cycling $ is more important than debt now, why not keep the date and have a pro-active program implemented by piggy-backing on existing federal, state, and local government programs? Picture a CETA-like management in various several agencies and regional or local contracts for materials and technical labor. Lots of job opportunities!

Pro-active means 100% household survey contact with users of TV services to assess and recommend on their situation, provide and install at no cost conversion boxes, and educate the citizens as to use and benefits. Vendors of conversion boxes would have more business as well. The aged, poor, mentally challenged, and immigrants of limited means would be fast tracked on the conversion rather than left behind. Every time society makes technical jumps, some are left behind.

Keeping the cutoff date firm makes an urgency for pols and bureaucrats to respond and get programs in place ASAP. There would be several good jobs with transformable skills created all over the USA Spring 2009. What are we looking at here? One or 2 billion $? There would also be useful demographic/economic data generated too.

I worry tho about the media consolidation, I have TV and internet available by satelite (internet by phone as well as backup and once only choice). Imagine waking up one AM and the media and the government and etc. --gone --- just not there and I am not Rapture-oriented.

Something drastic needs to be done so that media feeds better info to citizens and less propaganda on the airways.

[Madison knows]

33. Huh...? People who can't figure this out are watching way too much TV.

[Grinchie]

39. Are they subsidizing the Cities that have to dispose of the mountains of obsolete TV's?

Just imagine all the raw materials forced into the waste stream by this boondoggle.

[Hyper_Eye]

48. There are no obsolete TV's. That is what the digital-to-analog adapter is for! n/t

[Generator]

40. Oprah could solve this

FREE digital teevees for everyone over 60. I think she owes them anyway.

[Dappleganger]

42. Thank you, Mr. President!

[KamaAina]

49. They better hurry! Out here, D(TV)-Day is *a week from today*!

They moved it up so they could be finished working on the transmitter site on Maui before the migratory season of some kind of bird. This could get ugly: the Kona side of Big Island gets its signals (except Ion/Pax) from Maui now, and the digital signals probably aren't gonna get over there.

[Rwalsh]

50. They ran out of money

because they gave a coupon to anyone who asked, including the rich and those living in gated communities (who don't need one).

If they had only given coupons to the poor and needy, there would have been enough coupons.

[MilesColtrane]

52. There are some people out there, a small percentage, but a significant number who...

...will never be ready for the switch.

The only way is to drag them kicking and screaming into the new technology.
It's not like there hasn't been a buttload of advertisements warning of the impending change.

Lets get on with it.

[tammywammy]

55. Agreed. n/t