Digital TV Deadline Faces Vote, May be Delayed

[Osiris]

Digital TV Deadline Faces Vote, May be Delayed

Congress will vote this week on a bill introduced by WV Senator John D. Rockefeller that pushes back the deadline for the digital TV transition. The original deadline is Feb. 17 but if the bill passes, the new deadline will be June 12.

"The shameful truth is that we are not poised to do this transition right," Rockefeller said in a statement. "We are only weeks away from doing it dreadfully wrong -- and leaving consumers with the consequences."
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[Osiris]

Senate OKs delay of digital TV transition


Overcoming partisan divisions, the Senate on Monday night unanimously voted to delay the digital television transition until June 12.

U.S. broadcasters were to begin transmitting their TV signals only in digital format on February 17.

Senate Republicans earlier this month blocked a bill to delay the national switch from analog television broadcasting to digital broadcasting, which was originally scheduled for February 17.
The so-called DTV Delay Act, though, was brought back to the Senate floor after Democrats and Republicans in the Senate reached a compromise.
The approved bill would allow television stations to switch to digital signals before the June 12 deadline if they are ready, for the vacated spectrum to be allocated to public safety services.
The coupon program to subsidize digital converter boxes is also extended under the legislation, allowing consumers with expired coupons to apply for new ones.



Since the coupon program ran out of money, hundreds of thousands of consumers have been waiting for a coupon.
"I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time," said Sen. John Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
"The Senate acted responsibly to give the Obama administration time to attempt to bring order to a mismanaged process."
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to review its own version of the digital TV delay bill Tuesday morning.

Senate OKs delay of digital TV transition - CNN.com

 

[NightSurge]

If only those 6 million americans weren't so lazy

I mean, the switch info has been available for over a year and has had that coupon program going forever and yet still there are procrastinators.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Yes the info has been available, but I have had computer customers come to me, and I go out to there houses only to be sitting there trying to figure out how best to hook these boxs up to there tvs as there tvs usualy only have coaxal in, and there VCRs and converters only have RCA jacks and the such... It has become incredibly expensive for a lot of people in my region of kentucky, mostly because one of the stations should be in the VHF band and they are in the UHF band and another one is vice versa, so finding equipment to pick them channels up is next to impossible. And once found costs a very pretty penny.

 

[carnageX]

IMO, they need to just do it. I've been having to go through all this coupon crap forever for customers, and they need to just switch it over. I live in a very rural area, and there's still quite a few people running off of antenna; most are switching to satellite now, or putting up digital antennas.

@ charles_scott: RF Modulator. Gives older TV's RCA jacks.

RF Modulator @ radioshack: $25
coverter box after coupon: $20

 

[NightSurge]

Yes the info has been available, but I have had computer customers come to me, and I go out to there houses only to be sitting there trying to figure out how best to hook these boxs up to there tvs as there tvs usualy only have coaxal in, and there VCRs and converters only have RCA jacks and the such... It has become incredibly expensive for a lot of people in my region of kentucky, mostly because one of the stations should be in the VHF band and they are in the UHF band and another one is vice versa, so finding equipment to pick them channels up is next to impossible. And once found costs a very pretty penny.

Woa... all the converter boxes I saw used simple coax since that is what like all antenna use. I've also never experienced any issues where the equipment could not pickup all the channels. My rents and cousins all just got the simple magnavox converter from wal-mart and installed in a breeze.

 

[D-Rocks]

my thought is that we make the digital switch now or later either way someone is going to complain so we might as well do it now.

 

[carnageX]

Woa... all the converter boxes I saw used simple coax since that is what like all antenna use. I've also never experienced any issues where the equipment could not pickup all the channels. My rents and cousins all just got the simple magnavox converter from wal-mart and installed in a breeze.

The ones I sell are like this as well; they have coax that go in from antenna to convert digital signal and then a coax out.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Oh I told them to get the converter, well nearly all the customers blew up at me wondering why the **** they had to buy one of them, but here the biggest issue is the fact that most equipment only picks certain channels up at certain freqs, well one channel didn't get there proper license and is now brodcasting in a freq the equipment by default can't pick up, just because they filed for the wrong one.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I don't see the point in trying to force it thru, I have seen some serious crap here in kentucky and PA, there is hardly anyone ready, all my customers either cant get there stations because they live slightly to far away, or there equipment wont pick that station up because they broadcast on a different freq than what the equipment can pick up on that channel number. Either the gov needs more restrictions on the equipment and freqs or they need to give the local stations the correct license so they can broadcast on the freq there channel represents.