DTV Transition Follies, The Sequel
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
Indications are that the bill passed to delay the digital TV transition from Feb. 17 to June 12 is just beginning to create confusion. Broadcasters want to shut off analog before the new deadline.
One hundred broadcast stations have been given permission by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stop analog and begin all-digital TV broadcasting before the new deadline, even before the bill was passed.
And under a proviso in the DTV bill legislation, the FCC released a list today of 500 TV broadcasters who requested to shut off their analog broadcasts because they can’t afford to pay the additional electricity or support to maintain both analog and digital.
Before Congress runs to throw in a bailout package for the broadcasters who can’t afford to keep analog TV going past Feb. 17, Michael Copps, acting FCC commissioner, said today that 63 percent of U.S. TV broadcasters have “stepped up to the plate” to continue analog broadcasts until June 12.
But what about the other 37 percent of TV broadcasters? Isn’t their audience more than the 5 million households the legislation was supposed to protect?
Of course, just because 500 broadcasters have appealed to shut off analog before June 12, it doesn’t mean the FCC will appeal all those requests, Copps warned, saying it would work quickly and look closely at requests especially in “vulnerable” markets.
Let’s hope that the FCC approval process for this is a little bit quicker than its work in the Sirius and XM merger, but that’s another story. (Check out senior editor Amy Gilroy’s blog on the latest about Sirius XM.)
Click here to take a look at the list. There aren’t just small municipalities involved, but multiple TV stations in multiple major cities.
Consumers would have been confused if the Feb. 17 date were kept in place. But there may be plenty of irate phone calls to TV stations and the rest of the DTV stakeholders as analog signals disappear before June 12.
Reginald Johnson commented:
In the world of reality, some people will always have difficulties
with computers, atm's, instruction books, and anything involving
change in their environments. Giving them more time to adapt, is
like giving a bird more time to learn arm wrestling. Reggie
Johnson, Success Tapes
Reginald Johnson commented:
In the world of reality, some people will always have difficulties
with computers, atm's, instruction books, and anything involving
change in their environments. Giving them more time to adapt, is
like giving a bird more time to learn arm wrestling. Reggie
Johnson, Success Tapes
Reginald Johnson commented:
Gary commented:
On the money, Steve. If Congress had stuck to the established date
there might have been a brief period of confusion but consumers who
needed to would have figured it out pretty quickly and retailers
could have helped them simply. With Congress' inept effort to
"solve" the perceived problem, we now face the prospect of analog
stations shutting down seemingly at random; customers will have to
be asked "where do you live?" and "exactly which station were you
watching?" before we can say with assurance that the "problem"
they've had is DTV-related. I wouldn't trust our current Congress
to plan a birthday party, much less something as complex as a
coordinated migration to a new broadcast technology.
Gary commented:
On the money, Steve. If Congress had stuck to the established date
there might have been a brief period of confusion but consumers who
needed to would have figured it out pretty quickly and retailers
could have helped them simply. With Congress' inept effort to
"solve" the perceived problem, we now face the prospect of analog
stations shutting down seemingly at random; customers will have to
be asked "where do you live?" and "exactly which station were you
watching?" before we can say with assurance that the "problem"
they've had is DTV-related. I wouldn't trust our current Congress
to plan a birthday party, much less something as complex as a
coordinated migration to a new broadcast technology.
Gary commented:
Wayne Bradby commented:
So you're telling me that the supposedly millions of people who
have been bombarded for over a year with ads, warnings, etc. about
the change on Feb. 17 and haven't done a thing about it are
suddenly going adhere to a June deadline? Really??? Please. If you
really believe that, then I've got a really great deal on some
HD-DVD players. Minor (in my opinion) issues with the converter
coupon program notwithstanding, the same people who are asleep at
the wheel now and not taking action will be the same folks who
start squawking in June when their sets go blank. It's not fair to
the broadcast community who, at least in my market, have done a
great job of telling people about the transition. If people just
refuse to listen or act, I can't see that being the fault of the
broadcast industry. They should have left the date as is and people
would quickly get into the program and figure it out.
Wayne Bradby commented:
So you're telling me that the supposedly millions of people who
have been bombarded for over a year with ads, warnings, etc. about
the change on Feb. 17 and haven't done a thing about it are
suddenly going adhere to a June deadline? Really??? Please. If you
really believe that, then I've got a really great deal on some
HD-DVD players. Minor (in my opinion) issues with the converter
coupon program notwithstanding, the same people who are asleep at
the wheel now and not taking action will be the same folks who
start squawking in June when their sets go blank. It's not fair to
the broadcast community who, at least in my market, have done a
great job of telling people about the transition. If people just
refuse to listen or act, I can't see that being the fault of the
broadcast industry. They should have left the date as is and people
would quickly get into the program and figure it out.
Wayne Bradby commented:
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