Will the transition to digital TV be postponed?
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Home, Technology
You pretty much have to be living under a rock to still be ignorant of the looming Feb. 17 deadline for the transition to digital TV. On that date, all old analog TVs will go dark, and the FCC will begin broadcasting in digital only. But some lawmakers now say they want to postpone that deadline by 90 days, in response to some criticism that not everybody is ready. The FCC says a delay will only throw a wrench into transition plans and intends on moving forward with the switch.
While the majority of TV-watchers now own digital sets, or are served by cable or satelite service, which won't be affected, there are still a lot of folks out there who aren't ready.
According to the New York Times, only 6.8% of the viewing public are unprepared for the change. And consider who still uses old analog TVs: The very poor and the elderly. is it fair for those who for economic reasons or technological naivete be cut off from their favorite shows?
Not helping matters is the fact that the government has run out of coupons to help defray the cost of the converter box analog-TV users must install to keep their broadcasts coming in. There are reports that people claiming their coupons recieved expired coupons in the mail, and then had to get on waiting lists for new ones.
So far, this whole exercise has cost the government some $1.3 billion in subsidies. I don't know why it can't just print more coupons (as long as the Fed's printing money like it is). And the troubles don't end there. Still, a delay will end up costing more money. Which is preferable?
What do you think? Should the transition be delayed?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-13-2009 @ 8:20PM
Don Self said...
I think the whole idea is farce. Why not just wait a few years till all the old TVs are used up?Besides Im not all that impressed with digital.I bought a new SonyTV a few months ago . I dont have cabal or satelite , just indoor antenna ,, and in certain weather I have to switch back to analog to get a .picture It just disappears.I live in the city limits of Houston about 4 miles from the attenna. In 40 years here I have never had this problem with analog I have a bad feeling I will miss analog very much when its gone.This is just another instance of the government cramming stuff down the peoples throats and I dont know 1 person who has asked for this change.But I'll bet a lot of money will change hands somewhere. Don Self
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1-13-2009 @ 9:34PM
Jingle Star said...
Don your silly, why will we continue to wait for people to get out of the middle ages, that do not want to. Digital has been here since the early 90s. Its time Dude, its time. Get real and keep progress moving. Get Cable.
1-13-2009 @ 9:49PM
Lee said...
I do not want to pay a monthly cable bill and haven't for years. My big screen tv and widescreen tv are both HD and only a few years old yet they did not have a digital tuner so I had to buy 2 converter boxes. What a pain in the butt.
The only plus is that the picture is cable-clear. But the negs are plenty. They said we'll get many more stations. Most of the sub-stations I get are worthless (either Mexican or Asian). And when I go past channel 13, I have to rearrange the direction of the antenna until I get a decent picture. I bought new amplified antennas too.. the best & strongest ones available without installing on a roof. Sometimes the reception will be fine.. for awhile.. then the picture breaks up and I have to get up and fiddle with the antenna again. The digital signals are weaker than analog signals and don't reach as far.
Now if that weren't enough problems, I cannot get channel 13 on either of my 2 tvs. I also just bought a new 26" flat panel digital tuner tv for my office that doesn't need a converter box, and can't get channel 13 on that either. I can get channel 7 on two of the tv's but not on the one I watch the most. So if I want to watch that station, I have to go into another room.
With the old analog tv, I never had to move the antenna whatever station I switched to and I got all the UHF and VHF stations plus a lot of double-digit stations. I'll take the old analog picture anytime over this pain in the butt digital baloney.
1-13-2009 @ 9:40PM
DanEboy said...
I have had a digital converter for 5 months and I can't receive most stations over digital even with a special outdoor electronically amplified digital antenna mounted on the roof of my house.
I can't afford cable; so I think the gov should make them first prove the new signal will cover the same areas as analog does now!
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1-13-2009 @ 10:06PM
J said...
Delay? Get rid of it PERIOD!! This whole SCHEME has done nothing but make the poor poorer and the TV mfrs. stores, etc RICHER! Not to mention the money government has made in sales taxes on people buying all these new TVs!! Wow what a conspiracy!
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1-13-2009 @ 10:16PM
A.M. said...
heard on the radio the other day that these digital converter boxes' signals are tracked.....suppose that means Uncle Sam will be monitoring us even moreso...... and/or, is the converter box being used at the address to which the coupon was sent?
Be careful. Big Brother is watching/lurking.
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1-13-2009 @ 10:30PM
ELDERLY UP CRICK said...
i to wonder just how this came about. one day it just appeared , goverment mandate to go to digital. no one said anything to me about it. i didn't see where we could vote on it either. i lived on a very fixed income and to old to work. my cabel bill just tripled with payment due this month.the goverment is supposed to be, for the people. what a laugh! we are supposed to be a free country. free to do what were told, is my opinion.
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1-13-2009 @ 10:33PM
CK said...
Wow, no one is very happy with this. I plan to go buy cheap DVD players if need be, any manufactured after March 2007 have to be digital-ready and the box is more expensive!
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1-13-2009 @ 10:52PM
Bob Reynolds said...
What really sucks about the DTV transition is that most if not all battery powered portable TVs will be practically rendered useless since the converters are AC powered, and it appears no one is willing to address the problem. If the power ever goes out at your home and you still want to watch TV, your only alternative is to have a laptop with a fully charged battery and an ATSC TV tuner. Otherwise, you're "up the creek without a paddle."
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1-14-2009 @ 4:02AM
ladyljl said...
Battery powered portable tv's will be useless after Feb. 17. I heard on the news that there will be nothing made to convert these portable tv's to digital.
1-13-2009 @ 11:12PM
Hunter said...
The whole reason the FCC is doing this is simple.
They want you to not use Analog.
So everyone will have to pay for tv.
I remember my friend had a Analog tv down in the basement.
We would get some channels for free (Local mostly)
So odviously they are going to stop it.
Because like everything else they want your money.
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1-13-2009 @ 11:33PM
justmabel said...
It is amazing the Government just mandated this without anyone really understanding why. Now I guess we just need to figure out a way to keep watching the shows we want to.I have found a gadget that allows your PC to pick up television signals. It is able to receive 12,000 channels! Fantastic!It sells for 44.95, and it is a one time fee, with no hidden costs. The best part of this is that you can get rid of your cable bill! It is also guaranteed, so there is nothing to lose. Check it out, and you will be glad you did.Beat the DTV switch! https://paydotcom.com/r/46007/justmemabel/21994699/
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1-13-2009 @ 11:40PM
Margaret said...
I for one would like to be able to watch TV after the deadline for digital only signals. But I lost my job in November. I am forced to live with my 83 year old mother and now ended up living off of her limited social security. I cannot find work and there is just no money available for a new TV, or cable and I did not have the money to put with the coupon from government for the converter box. So guess I will never watch TV again in my lifetime and only in 50s. Why, if we had to go digital against our wishes, couldn't the government provided either free cable for those households that could prove no means to pay for cable or new TV or gave one small digital TV to the households proving poverty. My household has been classified as 135 percent below poverty level. How do they expect poverty level people afford all this new stuff. And how are we supposed to know things if we cannot learn about it on TV. CAn't even afford a newspaper. And I can either only use a friends computer when home or go to library which is 12 miles away and use one for 30 minutes. I say NOT FAIR. The government is all for themselves and not for all the people, especially not the poor people. Makes me ashamed to be living in this country sometimes the way the poor are treated. Can't even go to the Dr. since I no longer have health insurance. Give us poor people a break. It is not like I asked for this situation.
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1-13-2009 @ 11:45PM
Jamala said...
This is crazy....what is the NEED for digital tv? Point is, there isn't one. I am happy with my tv situation the way it is...this is all about money. If it were national security or a cure for brain cancer, sure I'd be all for it.
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1-13-2009 @ 11:58PM
arlene whitlock said...
I believe it's away for big brother to get in your home as well.What about a vote,no one got to where is a freedom gone to. I got 2 of the cards to get the boxs but it wasn't for me.Now my cable has gotten higher and higher and i wish i had 2 boxs myself.I feel it should be stoped and a vote given to the people.If not they should give the boxs to the people who don't bring in enough money and for anyone over 65.People who live on a fix income have it the hardest and no one is bailing them out like the car com.'s are getting.I was told afew years ago a t.v. will come out that will let the cops know if someone has broken into your home and that if you call out for help it will send E.M.S. out to you.I was told that one thing it wouldn't tell you is that the goverment would be monitoring what when on in your home hold money guns and what you were saying about them.
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1-14-2009 @ 1:03AM
Female in California said...
All I have to say is... that this Digital transition is BS!
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1-14-2009 @ 5:25AM
Julie said...
Last year I bought a digital TV and digital antenna. I do not have cable or dish, as I see no reason to pay for 50 channels of junk. I live in an urban area of Western NY, and when the weather is changing, or we have high winds, the digital channels "freeze" and I must revert to analog. Yes, when it's functionaing properly, the digital has a beautiful picture. Unfortunately, it is rarely working properly. I find it enormously disturbing that a $900+ TV with a $50 antenna can't seem to reliably do the job that a $400 TV and $15 antenna once did. I'm guessing this is to force people like me to get cable or satellite TV. And then we're told we need to learn to "economize" for the lean times we're in.....
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1-14-2009 @ 7:43AM
Martha Rosser said...
I have a TV with digital tuner and also have a satellite and vcr hooked on to it. When I switch over to digital with the remote, I cannot get a channel 3 in order to turn on my satellite or play or record o n my vcr.I was all over the internet with this problem and called every place I could think of, including the FCC, but noone knew anything. Now I have to spend money to have a technician come to my home to find out what is wrong. Also, I ca get only a few channels. Now, without the digital being on, I can get 17 channels on my antenna. I live about 50 miles from Baltimore Md. Cant get any of them I can get all of the Wash DC channels. I knew this was going to cause trouble and cost a lot of money to fix any problem.
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1-14-2009 @ 2:08PM
Lee said...
I have all the same problems with the digital conversion as stated in the comments above + my own lengthy comment above. Just another example of government crapping on us.. AGAIN..!! Oh, you'll all be interested to know that we are being switched to digital signals because it's CHEAPER than analog..!!!!! I think the government is going to SELL the MORE VALUABLE broadband analog segments according to something I read a while back. But screw whether we antenna users can watch tv anymore....
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1-14-2009 @ 6:08PM
rick rebar said...
were my house is setting i cannot use a dish,hill block's sat signal.
cable people will not install a line for one user at the end of a street of dish users
for year's i have been useing 4 tape vcr's to record programs.
analog served me well.------now with converter's if sig. is great
pic's are great,-----hdtv sound stink's ----lips not alway's in sync.with pic's----for my money can HDTV -------
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