Posted on 01/08/2009 9:27:20 AM PST by lewisglad
Consumers Union is urging Congress to delay the nation's transition to digital television, saying the program to help TV viewers prepare for the switch next month has been underfunded and poorly implemented.
In a letter sent last night to President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the consumer advocacy group said Congress should push back the transition "until a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals."
The request comes two days after the federal government said it has run out of money to provide coupons to help offset the cost of converter boxes. Analog television sets that rely on "rabbit ears" or rooftop antennas to receive broadcasts will need a converter box to get a picture after Feb. 17, when all full-powered television stations will stop airing analog signals and move to digital-only broadcasts.
Lawmakers are looking for ways to make sure consumers who need coupons get them in time. "But with the date looming, moving the date back certainly warrants further discussion and may be a wise choice," said Daniel Reilly, a spokesman for Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
As of Sunday, consumers requesting $40 vouchers to help purchase a converter box are being placed on a waiting list, and federal officials warn that TV watchers may not receive the coupons in time for the switch.
A coupon is not needed to purchase a converter box. But with boxes costing $80 in retail stores, Congress allocated $1.34 billion to provide coupons to help offset the price. Consumers who have a newer digital television or who subscribe to cable or satellite service will not lose programming.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
A coupon is not needed to purchase a converter box. But with boxes costing $80 in retail stores,
I call BS. The typical price point is $50 and it will probably drop to $20 after all the coupons are gone.
Oh please, give me a break. If they do this, then the resurgent over-the-air antenna business will need a bailout, right?
Government handling anything is a complete cluster f#$k.
I cursed the day that Monday Night Football got switched to ESPN. A sad day that a common man and his son couldn’t watch unless they had satellite or cable.
I suspect they’ll drop to $9.99 after the coupons are gone.
I agree the price will drop without the Government giveaway to pump up the price. It may not be $20 but it will be lower.
They shouldn’t have had the stupid coupon program in the first place. Typical federal government.
Add the BCS College bowl games to that list in 2012, according to ESPN’s new deal.
This transition has already been delayed several times... let's get it over with and move on.
forget it...it will boost the economy
The station I watch most often for local news, WAVY-TV, out of the Hampton Roads area of VA did a test Tuesday morning. We made a point to be up and switch all TVs to that station at the appointed time. The result is we do not need converters boxes as all TVs received the digital signal just fine.
14 years wasn’t enought time for people to prepare.
Cut over now.
Promulgated by you same bunglers who were supposed to have a plan the first time around? No.
This is off topic a little; but I was wondering if anyone out there was experincing problems with their computers. I thought it was just me at first; but friends here and all across the country are having delays with loading, sending and recieving emails; emails with no text, computer pages jumping back and forth. Can’t list all of them. A lot of viruses.
The only reason I am asking is there are a lot of people experiencing this.
There are tons of them on the shelves at Best Buy and other electronics stores. Even my local grocery store had lots of them on the shelves. I bet there will be quite a few people who will wake up on February 17 and not understand why their TV's can't pick up a signal.
I got the coupon last summer. (hey it’s just redistributing my tax money) Boxes were $39 to $60 when I used my coupon in August. I paid a grand total of $7 for my box with the $40.00 coupon. The only think I don’t like about it is that you have to use the remote. Taking out the coupon, I agree that the price point will be somewhere under $20.00
Aw geez, is this going to mean that the Walmart employee died for nothing? Those rioting consumers, who were driven to despair by the threat of the looming end of analog tv, will have fought each other for nothing. At least they will be able to watch the inauguration of their messiah in HD.
Parenthetically, it’s good to see that Congress has its prioities right. Television is a critical national asset.
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