Posted on 02/04/2009 2:17:41 PM PST by An Old Man
(02-04) 13:32 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Television viewers who rely on sets with antennas to pick up their broadcast signals have about four extra months to get ready for the nation's switch to digital TV.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The vote, largely along party lines, gives approximately 6.5 million unprepared households more time to prepare for the day when all analog TV broadcasts are turned off.
"We are not ready for this transition," said U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, during the House debate. "We can fix these problems and minimize this catastrophe if we pass this legislation."
The Senate first passed the bill unanimously last week and then resubmitted it after a corresponding House vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. Wednesday's House vote required a simple majority.
Consumers who rely on traditional over-the-air broadcasts will need to upgrade to a pay TV service such as cable or satellite, use a TV with a digital tuner or buy a converter box for their older analog television sets.
The bill passed by the House does not include new money for a federal program aimed at providing viewers $40 coupons toward a converter box, which can cost $40 to $80. The program has dispensed its allotment of $1.34 billion worth of coupons and is waiting for unused coupons - good for 90 days - to expire before issuing new vouchers.
About 3.5 million requests are now on the waiting list. The new legislation also allows consumers to reapply for a coupon if their vouchers have expired.
Obama's stimulus package includes $650 million for the converter box coupons, but Republicans argued the money will not be available for weeks if not months.
Opponents of the delay said the new transition date only adds more confusion, delays the handover of old spectrum to emergency first responders and doesn't come with money of its own for the coupon program. Some Republicans took issue with the Democrats' streamlined approval process for the bill, which prevented representatives from amending the legislation and adding funding for the coupons.
"We're delaying a hard transition today without any additional money or any way to send out additional coupons," said Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Commerce Committee. "How silly is that?"
The delay does not mean every station will continue to broadcast in analog. Broadcasters will be permitted to shut off their analog transmission before June 12. That creates a potential uneven transition for analog viewers, who might still lose some channels, depending on what local stations decide to do.
Despite that scenario, proponents said the delay was necessary to not only disburse more coupons but also help educate them about issues that arise from the transition.
"We knew there was going to be some challenges moving forward even if the date is moved, but this allows ut so get more information and assistance to folks," said Mark Lloyd, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.
Why don't we just buy all these poor people a new TV set and be done whith this crap.
This whole thing is a goatscrew.
“We are not ready for this transition,” said U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, during the House debate. “We can fix these problems and minimize this catastrophe if we pass this legislation.”
CATASTROPHE?????
Seriously, who doesn’t have cable TV. I have never been to a person’s house who has rabbit ears on their TV set
“We are not ready for this transition,” said U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, during the House debate. “We can fix these problems and minimize this catastrophe if we pass this legislation.”
CATASTROPHE?????
Such an insignificant number when the population is in excess of 500 million. Who cares about such a small group?
WTF??????????????
There’s no point delaying any longer. On June 12th, all over the country, Soetoro voters will turn on their TVs, and say, “What happened? Why won’t my TV work?”
I do. Most of my TV is off the internet now. Broadcast-wise, I watch (a) sports and (b) occasions of national disaster.
And that's it.
Seems I recall hearing that recently about something else....now let's see, what was that?
What year? On June 5th they will simply delay it another 6 months.
Note that the "stimulus" bill give 90 million dollars to "community organizers" to go door to door to "sign up" people for this DTV changeover.
Guess who the door-to-door people are!!!!!!!!
Can we all spell A-C-O-R-N?
Yes. A catastrophe.
Could you imagine the disaster that would befall the Dems if their constituency, without TV to educate them, picked up a book or a newspaper and activated a brain cell or two?
And imagine the horror if that book was on American or European history! Sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.
They mean the useful idiots won’t be able to watch the Chosen One on TV and may have to miss his glowing image. BARF!!!
What they don’t think of is that the idiots who fooled around this long will waste another 4 months and still not be ready. Tools.
Our local CBS station announced on the 6pm news last night that they were making the switch Feb 17, no matter what congress did. Wonder if they and others can really do that?
I think the transition date for digital TV should be the same day that Yucca mountain is opened for nuclear waste.
“Guess who the door-to-door people are!!!!!!! Can we all spell A-C-O-R-N?”
Is that what the 5 BILLION in the Porkapalozza is for???
My local NBC station (WCMH 4 Columbus) just announced at the top of the 5:00 news that they’re shutting down the analog signal anyway. Take that, Obama and ‘Rats!
++
I don't, I do not watch enough TV to make it worth wile.
After rebate, my converter cost $10.00 and now I can see more then snow on the lower channels.
I now have lots more channels that I don't watch.
Yes, they can. My NBC station just announced the same.
“Our local CBS station announced on the 6pm news last night that they were making the switch Feb 17, no matter what congress did. Wonder if they and others can really do that”?
..if they didn’t get bail out money, of course they can. They’re a private business and have made a business decision to increase their business.
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