DTV transition hits speed bumps
The transition to digital TV is not going as smoothly as some had hoped, according to some government agencies that testified to Congress earlier this week.
A report issued by the Government Accountability Office showed that nearly half of the households that could lose TV service after the transition to digital broadcasting are still unprepared for the switch.
About 84 percent of consumers were aware of the transition, but many didn't know what they had to make sure their TV service wasn't interrupted, the GAO report said. More than half of those surveyed said they were aware of the government's voucher program to subsidize the cost of converter boxes that are needed to view digital TV on older analog TVs. But about two-thirds of those people didn't know how to get a coupon.
Even consumers who won't be affected by the switch were confused, The Washington Post reported. Roughly 30 percent of those who don't actually need a converter box said they were getting ready for the transition.
The confusion is occurring despite broadcasters and cable operators airing public awareness campaigns on TV.
The vouchers, which cover $40 of the cost of the converter boxes, started being sent in February. But they expire after 90 days. The agency overseeing the program reported that more than 40 percent of the 800,000 vouchers that have already been sent out have not been redeemed. And the agency doesn't have enough money to pay for the postage to resend these vouchers.
In February 2009, TV broadcasters will vacate wireless spectrum used to broadcast analog TV signals. Instead, broadcasters will transmit digital TV signals, which use spectrum more efficiently and provide better picture quality. The transition to digital means that some older TVs, and TVs with analog-only tuners, will have to be retrofitted to tune into digital signals.
Preparation for the switch to digital TV is being closely watched since some older TVs that have not been retrofitted won't work after the analog signals stop broadcasting.
Many of the 70 million or so analog TV sets that rely on over-the-air signals belong to minorities, senior citizens, low-income individuals, and people who live in rural areas. The fear is that these individuals will not be ready for when broadcasters stop transmitting analog TV signals in February 2009.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
Have a central registry on the internet that lists which addresses or zips have already used a voucher to keep track of how many vouchers are used per address, and perhaps set a limit.
Hell, the vouchers could even be e-vouchers, available to retailers on-line, and there would have been no postage costs at all.
Maybe the people responsible for the program aren't much smarter than the people who can't figure it out.
Here is a long thread with some good information on this issue.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1001979
I'm not sure sure why this whole thing is such a big deal!
Eight million homes go into foreclosure each month and Congress is worried about THIS!
Also, many of the boxes being sold to people have only RF or composite out! Even people with newer TVs which have Component or better inputs are being sold these. It's kind of crazy... people will eventually find out they were sold a bunch of junk.
Hang on and enjoy the show.
In my experience over the air DTV in my area is quite good with rabbit ears much better than the old ghost plagued analog tv and is actually even better at times than my $75/month digital comcast cable. I am so fed up with the external boxes that cable and satellite require for dtv that i would chuck them all if it weren't for ESPN and FOX sports cable only channels.
I may have an older TV, but it works. Why should I have to spend $1100 if I don't need to on hardware (TV) just to bring myself up to todays "standards". My only upgrade will be the Computer TV box input. I need to upgrade to the digital compatible unit. Hopefully they have not disabled any of it's other functions the prior model has.
The big thing the FCC wants is to free up bandwidth and auction it (old analog) off for other uses once we go to digital. That means more licenses, little bit more money for them once they have the bands reallocated for specific uses.
Well okay, yeah, it will happen - but not per the mandated deadline. There are simply too many folks out there with TVs that're too old. There's no way that advertisers - y'know, the folks who make it possible for television shows (outside of subscription channels, of course) to exist and be broadcast - are going to allow this large a segment of their consumer-base to suddenly fall out of viewing range.
There will be an extension.
Now, this won't stop Circuit City, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and every other retailer from cashing in on this in a HUGE way. Starting with the "Black Friday" sales after Thanksgiving - if not sooner - through Christmas, these opportunistic so and sos will profit handsomely off of the public's naivety. And of course, there'll also be the post-Holiday "we didn't bleed you dry enough already" sales frenzy continuing through January.
Moral of the story: if you're looking for a new TV anyway and can afford to do so without going into debt to get it - and no, those "13 months with nothing down and no payments" offers do NOT count - then go for it. But don't let this deadline pressure you into a costly move if you're otherwise happy with what you've got.
I did use one to purchase a Magnavox Model TB100MW9 DTV converter from Wal-Mart, for an end cost of about $10.00.
I live in the midwest in a suburban area about 25 miles from the transmitters of most of the stations I watch. I've tried it using plain rabbit ears, rabbit ears with signal booster, and my outside antenna (without rotator).
The converter works reasonably well, pulling in the most digital channels with the amplified rabbit ears, just as it did on analog channels, because I can easily reorient it toward the signal source. Heavy rain does seem to disrupt the digital picture far more than analog channels, which just become 'snowy'.
I get a rudimentary Program Guide showing the next several hours of scheduled digital programming, and I get additional digital subchannels that were not available on analog, BUT...
The DTV converter remote control cannot control a television set.
It was not designed to control a TV set.
Not even for a MAGNAVOX TV!
Thus TWO remotes are necessary: one to turn on the TV (set to analog channel 3) and adjust the volume, and the second one to (initially configure the digital converter and) select or change digital TV channels.
Try explaining to your 90-year-old mother why she will have to use TWO remotes
starting in February 2009, just to watch the same TV set and the same programs she views now.
That's LUDICROUS!!!
I've had a unified remote for VCR, DVD, and TV for at least TEN YEARS, and they worked with many different brands.
What's the deal? These DTV converters probably cost the Chinese manufacturers about $4.00 to manufacture. Can't they throw in a $10.00 retail-price Universal Remote???
Problem #2: The retailers have suddenly run out of the boxes! How can I use this 90-day limited coupon when the retails are suddenly out of them!
While you are changing the "air waves", how about passing a law that makes it illegal for stations to blast the sound level in commercials 10 times louder than regular programming? Especially now that I can no longer use my remote to turn down the sound when the commercials come on.
- by food4througt July 30, 2008 6:11 PM PDT
- If they don't have the postage to resend vouchers to replace the expired ones (I have 2 expired ones), why not just rescind the expiration date. Make them good until they are used. Thay way, they would only need to replace the ones that were thrown away.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(24 Comments)Naw . . .that would be too easy.