Senate passes bill to delay digital TV switch

[tron3]

Haven't read the whole story yet. Check it out.

The transition date would move to June 12 from February 17 under the bill that was fueled by worries that viewers are not technically ready for the congressionally-mandated switch-over.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090127/...s_dtv_congress

[Beta Man]

Now I have to add "Call FCC" for June 11th to my calendar

[owa]

I don't think they should do it (shouldn't delay it). There has been more than enough time and how can anyone miss all the promotional messages about it. If they have missed them, I'd guess they don't watch a lot of TV and it won't matter to them anyway.

[SkullPhyre]

You can thank obama for this he wants to help all the poor people out. He did say he was going to do this.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by SkullPhyre

You can thank obama for this he wants to help all the poor people out. He did say he was going to do this.

Didn't I say this could happen in another thread?

As much as I hate the idea, it is nice to know my portable TV's are good for another 4 months.

Besides, if 2.6 million people are really left without a TV signal, it could be catastrophic if terrorists attack. That is a lot of citizens to leave in the dark.

[Sloan78]

Originally Posted by owa

I don't think they should do it (shouldn't delay it). There has been more than enough time and how can anyone miss all the promotional messages about it. If they have missed them, I'd guess they don't watch a lot of TV and it won't matter to them anyway.

+1

On the other hand I kinda glad they did, because I hear alot of confusion from customers everyday about this. Even with all of the ads running for 2+ years now, older customers seem to be confused with it still.

[Terjyn]

Sure, but what makes anyone believe that 4 additional months will somehow inform those who've refused to be informed so far?

[Sloan78]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Sure, but what makes anyone believe that 4 additional months will somehow inform those who've refused to be informed so far?

This thing isn't going to be over in four months, it's taken 2+ years of non stop information and they delay it with less than a month to go? This is gonna get good/funny.

[witheygull]

Originally Posted by tron3

Besides, if 2.6 million people are really left without a TV signal, it could be catastrophic if terrorists attack. That is a lot of citizens to leave in the dark.

Because there obviously wouldn't be any news on the internet or radio of a terrorist attack. Perhaps the terrorists could take out all of the radio stations and the entire internet and all cell phone towers and and all phone lines. They would probably also have to target electronic highway information signs and civil defense/storm warning sirens. If any adult in the U.S. relies solely on analog OTA TV broadcasts for news of terrorist attacks, I believe they are beyond help regardless of the actual date of the digital broadcast switchover.

[Captain Fryyy]

Originally Posted by Sloan78

+1

On the other hand I kinda glad they did, because I hear alot of confusion from customers everyday about this. Even with all of the ads running for 2+ years now, older customers seem to be confused with it still.

+2...i have a feeling this wont be the last delay either..

[My_Two_Cents]

Already reported earlier in the "old" DTV switch thread. Maybe a mod can merge?

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...20#post1550520

[hardcorefrokid]

Big mistake.

[Bobby Henderson]

I'm really disappointed the Senate has passed a bill for this very stupid delay. Moving the cut off date to June 12 will change nothing. There will still be nearly the same number of people possibly stuck with no over the air TV service. Those folks aren't going to change their TV viewing equipment until they are forced to change by having no TV signal at all.

That number changes depending on who is doing the reporting. The Yahoo article claims 20 million households are unprepared for the DTV switch. Nielsen puts the number near 6 million households (down from over 8 million a few months ago). The US has over 130 million households.

Sure, some of the people not ready for the change are low income viewers. However, there is a significant percentage who aren't impoverished and have simply refused to make any changes at all. A lot of elderly viewers don't want to fart around with new technology, even something as simple as a rudimentary converter box. Then there's the conspiracy theory types who think the whole DTV process is just a plot to get everyone stuck paying for cable or satellite service. Last, but not least, a good portion of the hold outs have just been too lazy or dense to get properly prepared for the DTV change.

I wouldn't be nearly as irritated about this delay if the government had brought this up a few months ago -at a time when TV stations and broadcast networks could have done more to adjust their schedules.

Instead, the government is moving to pass this crappy legislation only 3 weeks away from the February 17 analog cut-off date. That's outrageous. A lot of local TV stations are already firing up their DTV transmissions to "full power" levels. A lot of NBC affiliates have been ramping up to 1 million watt DTV broadcast levels in advance of Super Bowl 43.

Not many local TV stations can afford to sustain full power DTV transmission levels while keeping a legacy analog TV signal running at normal levels for another 4 months after the original deadline date.

I guess that's why over $650 million in taxpayer money is proposed to be put aside in the not-yet-passed economic stimulus package being proposed. This DTV delay could end up costing billions of dollars. Local TV stations and large telecom companies could eat those losses and adjust by tossing even more people out of work. Or the taxpayers, as usual, can provide a bail out.

[Geezer00003]

This'll make all them there hillbilly types all happy yeeha.

I think my point is people have had enough time, get on with it!

[Clark Kent]

This delay mostly seems to be a partisan move pandering to certain elements in the Democratic party. Does anyone really think delaying the inevitable is good? They have to pull the plug at some point and so much time and money and marketing has been applied to promote the date in February that it is just going to confuse more than help anyone.

[AKORIS]

................PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!

people have known about hi-def since 2001!! 80% of people already have cable and this doesn't even effect them....

move on and do it!

[Bobby Henderson]

Let's see...if memory serves correct the first HDTV systems were launched at the end of the 1970s. In the early 1990s (almost 2 decades ago) the decision was made to make HDTV a digital based system. The "Grand Alliance" was formed to merge a number of competing standards under one umbrella. It's been roughly a decade since major networks and cable channels like HBO started broadcasting in HD.

Basically, anyone not aware of this DTV switch until recently has to have been living in a cave cut off from electricity for the last couple decades.

[DIY_HD]

Some viewers will go kicking and screaming into the digital age. While I feel bad for some elderly folks with no one to explain this to them, the rest are just too busy pushing buttons on their remotes to request the coupons (debit cards, actually) to get their converter boxes.

There is also an inherent cost to the TV stations for this delay. Many of them are broadcasting in both digital and analog signals. This means they have to pay to power two transmitters.

Do you think TV advertisers are at the root of all this? If 2.6 million people could no longer see their ads, it would be a concern to them. It probably has little to do with poor people not being able to watch the 5 o'clock news.

I believe many will not do anything until they turn off the analog transmitters for good. They were originally supposed to make the switch in 2006. Driving to work I counted 5 roof-top TV antennas (in 30 miles). Heck, I have seen some houses with 3 satellite dishes! I doubt as many people will be affected by this as they claim. Such a hardship not being able to watch old reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by DIY_HD

Do you think TV advertisers are at the root of all this? If 2.6 million people could no longer see their ads, it would be a concern to them.

No. I don't think TV advertisers are at the root of this at all.

For one thing, the viewing demographic the advertisers are trying to reach are people who have things like jobs and money. They only care about reaching viewers who have the potential of buying their product. Most of the people in that demographic have HDTV sets, cable/satellite TV or both.

Also, if this DTV delay was a decision pushed by any big businesses it would run counter to the interests of telcos like AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and others who spent more than $10 billion to buy rights to soon to be vacated broadcast spectrum.

[jceperley]

Is it just me or is this "big switch" just a bunch of steam. Look, it shouldn't affect nearly as much as they say. It really only affects the stations and not the viewers. Sure, there's gonna be some people who haven't upgraded, but that's gonna happen if the switch is today or 5 years from now. But the majority of people use either cable or satellite, very few are using the rabbit ears that are gonna be the problem.