Congress postpones digital TV transition to June

[Seen the light]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - After weeks of debate, Congress is giving consumers four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting.

The House voted 264-158 on Wednesday to postpone the shutdown of analog TV signals to June 12, to address growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready by the Feb. 17 deadline that Congress set three years ago. The Senate passed the measure unanimously last week and the bill now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The change is being mandated because digital signals are more efficient than analog ones. Ending analog broadcasts will free up valuable space in the nation's airwaves for commercial wireless services and emergency-response networks.

The delay is a victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who maintain that the previous administration mismanaged efforts to ensure that all consumers — particularly poor, rural and minority Americans — will be prepared for the switchover.

Read more: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090204/ap_on_hi_te/tec_digital_tv_transition

[smiley]

1. Now that football is over....

I'm ready to quit cable altogether.

Yeah Steelers!

[Seen the light]

2. You should

You'd be surprised how little you miss.

Like you, I'm a big football fan and I missed ESPN and the NFL Network and that was it really. However, I'm enjoying those monthly savings a lot.

[Earth_First]

3. You thought that folks were confused with the transition to begin with...

Now it's on again, it's off again, it's on again...

I'll tell you what, with all this back and forth, the folks who can least afford to purchase one now (who could use that extra cash right NOW to keep the heat on) could better afford it in June already have.

[phantom power]

4. We're going to blow this like we blew the switch to metric, aren't we.

Bite the bullet, and switch. Get it over with.

[AndyTiedye]

9. because everybody wants to get up on an icy roof to install a new antenna system

[Heywood J]

14. Most of the time, you can use the same antenna.

The frequency bands are close enough that it's a non-issue. I've got two nice analog VHF and UHF rooftop antennas that give good digital reception.

[AndyTiedye]

17. Many Will Need a Much Higher-Gain antenna or antennas, an amplifier, possibly a towerq

UHF is much shorter-range than VHF, particularly the low VHF frequencies that are being phased out.
It is more line-of-sight, and tends to be absorbed by trees.

[dbonds]

13. We should bring back the conversion to metric, we need it.

[Lionel Mandrake]

18. No. Digital TV will rule. The metric system won't.

The metric system must coexist with traditional units of measurement, such as gallons, quarts, pounds, ounces, inches, feet, yards, miles, acres, etc. Whether we should get rid of the traditional units is debatable. I'd be happy to debate this issue in another thread.

TV is different. It will cost much less to get rid of analog TV than it would to get rid of traditional units of measurement.

[merwin]

19. They've been planning this literally for over 10 years.

I remember hearing about the switch back in the late 90's, and they said it would be within a few years. Just get it over with.

TV is a luxury item. There's been plenty of time for people to prepare.

[onenote]

25. if you heard in the 90s that the switch would be in just a few years, you were hearing voices

in your head.

Facts:
The FCC did not establish a digital broadcasting standard until December 1996. They didn't award licenses for the second channel that stations needed to use for their digital broadcasts until April 1997. The FCC tentatively proposed, in 1996, that broadcasters be requred to cease analog broadcasting in 15 years. When they got around to adopting a rule, however, they made a tentative decision to require the transition to be completed in ten years (i.e. by the end of 1996). That decision was, by its terms tentative and subject to review every two years. Before it was ever reviewed, Congress stepped in and ratified the Dec 2006 deadline, but subject to the condition that the deadline only would apply in markets where 85% of the homes were prepared to receive digital broadcasts. WHen it became apparent that this "deadline" was actually open ended and that there was no actual deadline in sight, Congress, in 2005/6 stepped in again and legislated a hard date for the transition - Feb 17 2009 -- thus effectively moving the date up (not back).

[NashVegas]

5. ... Hmmmmm ...

I wonder: are we giving them extra time to switch to digital or to get rid of their analog sets, which could be capable of picking up emergency networks?

[onenote]

26. no one has to get rid of their analog sets

The extra time is designed to give people time to get the coupons that they've applied for (3.2 million requests currently on hold) so that they can buy a converter that will allow their analog sets to continue to work.

It has absolutely nothing to do with emergency broadcasting, other than the fact that someone who doesn't have a set capable of receiving the digital broadcasts (directly or through a converter or from cable/satellite) isn't going to receive anything but snow on their televisions, and certainly no emergency information.

[Hyper_Eye]

6. I was hoping D.C. would realize the pointlessness in postponing. Shame. n/t

[Tesha]

12. Washington is deep, I'm telling you *DEEP* into "pointlessness". (NT)

[TheEuclideanOne]

7. At least Joe the plumber will have more work.

Is it just me, but who really cares? Is this issue just as useless as the steroids cases? Why is congress making these decisions?

[OhioChick]

8. Seeing how poor people are in Cleveland....

And not getting their govt. coupons, this is good for them.

They had a call in on the local news within the past few weeks and many elderly were calling in stating that they hadn't received their govt. coupons for the boxes and were already cutting their meds in half and couldn't afford this box on their own.

[AlbertCat]

10. This notion that TV is essential.....fer crying out loud!

[Jkid]

11. It's considered a utility.

For news, emergency information, weather and such.

[merwin]

20. The only legitimate item listed for being a utility is emergency information.

And that's covered by radio. Anyone with a few bucks to spare can buy a radio that will give you all of that information and more. TV is a luxury item, pure and simple.

Under the news/emergency info/weather making it a utility, wouldn't internet service also be considered a utility?

[OhioChick]

15. For my bedridden Grandmother, it is an essential. n/t

[merwin]

21. It's still not essential, even for bedridden people.

Essentials are things that you literally can't live without. Food, shelter, water.

[OhioChick]

22. She'd go crazy living in a bed....starring at the ceiling all day. n/t

[merwin]

23. Well that's understandable. I certainly feel your pain. My father has Parkinson's

and it's to the point where much of the day he can't get up or do much of anything... usually only a couple hours a day of actually being able to move around semi-easily.

He's got the TV on most of the time as well. I would assume he would have the radio on all the time if he didn't have a TV :)

[OhioChick]

24. I feel for your Father, as well.

I just feel that waiting until the govt can get these coupons out to people is the best bet. :)

[ProgrezivIndie]

16. The Nielsen Co. estimates that 6.5 million are not yet ready

FWIW--I've posted this in other forums, and am also posting it here, for those who may be interested:

There is now about FOUR MONTHS to go... before the NTSC transmitters (for non-digital tv) go OFF-the-airwaves. Those of you who have ANALOG ONLY TV sets (like me) ... and are ready to say...

...SCREW the Cable, Satellite, and IP TV companies... I'm going back to FREE-over-the-airwaves-TV...

...here are some things to consider. You'll need an Antenna (either outdoor or indoor, and possibly a "signal preamplifier" as well) capable of delivering an acceptable/strong signal to your TV equipment (Set-top-Box/TV/VCR/whatever). So... in no particular order, here are some resources which I've found to be useful:

* goto zap2it.com (http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZBLocalize.do), enter your ZIP CODE, and click the GO button... once the next page is loaded, click on the Local Broadcast (Antenna) link... doing this will show you WHAT is available, over the airwaves (in "digital format") in your local area

* goto antennaweb.org (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) to determine which type of antenna will best meet your needs (and in which direction you'll need to POINT it, for the various broadcast Channels/Stations near you).

* set-top converter boxes vary greatly in quality & features... paying a few bucks more, up front, could be well worth it... CNET reviews (http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-tv-converter/) are sparse & getting quite old... however, Consumer Reports has more robust ratings... and apparently has made their analysis (usually only subscriber accessible) available to everyone ... see brand/model/feature comparison ratings (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/tvs-services/digital-tv-converter/ratings/dtv-converter-boxes-ratings.htm) and/or just jump to their recommendations page (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/tvs-services/digital-tv-converter/recommendations-and-notes/digital-tv-converter-boxes-recommendations-and-notes.htm)

* TWO government $40 Coupons (https://www.dtv2009.gov/) are supposed to be available to any single household/address, but (as of today) the issuing of said coupons has been halted because FUNDING has reached its limit... however, you can still get on a WAITING LIST (https://www.dtv2009.gov/WaitingList.aspx) in the event "already issued coupons expire" -- or more funding is provided by Congress

* many local stores carry set-top converters (which are eligible for a $40 government coupon toward the purchase price)... but these stores may NOT carry the brand/model which interests you... so I suggest searching ONLINE for the best price on brand/model... just input the brand & model number into any/all of the following... these are from the Bargain Hunting section of my "Karl's Goodies" (see http://services-a2z.biz/karlsgoodies/goodies-002.htm#bargains for clickable links to the sites listed below) pages, so some may NOT be applicable here... however they can be useful for researching other items:

bizrate.com, best-price.com, buy.com, buyerzone.com, dealnews.com, epinions.com, froogle (was "froogle" now simply known as "google products"), monstermarketplace.com, mysimon.com, nextag.com, overstock.com, pricegrabber.com, pricescan.com, pricetool.com, pricewatch.com, pricingcentral.com, salescircular.com, (choose your state, then click on the Digital TV Antenna link), CNET shopper, shopping.com, smartbargains.com, streetprices.com, technoscout.com

...be sure to observe any SHIPPING & TAXES "breaks" which the store(s) are offering, and also look for FIRST TIME USER discounts (such as "Google Checkout" or using a "BUY.COM Card" may provide)

- hth

[Seen the light]

28. Welcome to DU! nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. Sites I like for information on DTV converters

You might want to ask at the Wikipedia discussion page for CECBs.

Start at Comparison of CECB units

Go to the discussion page: Talk:Comparison of CECB units

From there go to the discussion that was off-topic for a Wikipedia article: User talk:StuRat/CECB

Finally, there's AVS Forums.