Obama asks Congress to delay digital TV switch*

President-elect Barack Obama today asked Congress to delay next month’s planned switch to all-digital broadcast television, warning that the TVs of millions of Americans could lose their pictures because of major problems in the government's preparations.

In a letter to Congressional leaders (PDF), John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama’s presidential transition team, urged that the Feb. 17 conversion date be extended. A major reason was the announcement this week by the Commerce Department that it had run out of money for a government program to provide $40 coupons for low-cost converter boxes to allow older TVs to receive the new digital signal. But Podesta also cited problems with the government’s effort to educate the public about the switch and help prepare people, particularly the elderly, poor and those living in rural areas.

"With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively mandated analog cutoff date,” Podesta wrote to the chairmen and top Republicans on the Senate Commerce committee and the House Energy and Commerce committee.

According to the Nielsen Co., about 6.8% of U.S. TV households, or 7.7 million homes, were unprepared for the digital switch as of last month, meaning they had no TVs capable of receiving a digital signal. The percentage is higher in Los Angeles, with 9.46%, or about 535,000 homes unprepared for the switch.

The digital TV transition is being hailed as broadcast television's most dramatic upgrade since it bloomed to color from black and white half a century ago. The technology gives free viewers vastly sharper pictures and enables TV networks to offer a wider range of channels. What's more, a wide swath of the analog airwaves will go for free to public safety organizations, such as police and fire departments, so they can improve their communications systems.

People with cable, satellite or phone company TV services will continue to get broadcast stations. But those who rely on antennas to watch TV must ...

... either own a newer set with a digital receiver or get a digital-to-analog converter box. No-frills versions of those boxes cost between $40 and $70.

To offset the cost, the federal government allocated $1.5 billion to provide households with up to two $40 coupons. But the agency running that program announced Monday that the program had reached its limit and that new requests would be put on a waiting list. As existing coupons reach their 90-day expiration, the Commerce Department has said it could send out coupons to those on the waiting list.

Time is running out. Podesta said in the letter that 1 million requests were on the waiting list and that the number could climb to more than 5 million by early February. Obama supports waiving federal rules to allow the Commerce Department to start sending out more coupons and is planning to include additional money for the digital TV switch in the economic stimulus package it is drafting.

The problems with the converter box coupon program led Consumers Union to call for a delay in the switch. And Rep. Rick Boucher, a Democrat from Virginia who's the incoming head of a House subcommittee with oversight over telecommunications, said today he was also considering a delay.

But broadcasters, who have spent billions of dollars preparing for the transition and are eager to turn off their old analog signals, oppose a delay. They're pressing for Congress to quickly provide more money to make sure people who need coupons get them.

-- Jim Puzzanghera and Christi Parsons

Photo: Charles Wolfe, a retired software engineer in Sylmar, holds a converter box he bought to covert digital broadcasts for his analog TV. He has had signal problems. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

* This post was updated with additional background about the digital TV transition and a link to Podesta's letter.

Comments

[Analog Kid]

And why won't they tell us who the kook is in the picture? I definitely need that guy to have TV so he stays inside.

[Doc Manhattan]

This sounds like the tyranny of the minority to me. Let's hold up everybody because a few can't quite get it together. If I remember correctly, this is the SECOND delay in making the digital transition. Just please implement the move and let the chips fall where they may.

[DigiAlpha]

Dave9 wrote:
"Actually, you only really need internet service as all the good bits from your favorite programs show up on YouTube the next day with all the commercials cut out as well."

Yuck, watch my favorite programs on YouTube? With that horrible looking MPEG4 compression? Even the new higher resolution is only a little better. Ahh...no. I like my 32" HDTV and its 1080i resolution with 5.1 surround sound in Dolby Digital (Bose speakers with an Onkyo amplifier) and I just hooked up my Blue Ray player yesterday. No thanks.

[Analog Kid]

Stations have already had to pony up a lot of cash to make the switch, which was forced upon them by the govt. Stations in smaller markets suffer the most. The gov't will make billions when the freed up spectrum is auctioned off, so they should fund the boxes. I agree that all those on the waiting list should be mailed library cards in the mean time, and delaying the switch is silly.
All my channels got much clearer after I installed the box. Who knew?

[Dark in 2009]

After the switch over to digital, I will lose all channels except for CBS. The radiation pattern for digital television is different than that of analog television. the area coverage will differ. in my area nobody will receive digital television signals. I doubt that this is an isolated situation. I am certain that millions will discover that while they presently can receive analog signals, when the changeover occurs they also will be in the dark. Not because of lack of decoders, but because the broadcast pattern now excludes them

[Chris in Texas]

"It's time to move forward and get our countries collective head out of the sand."

Agreed. And once we pull the plug on analog TV maybe we can pull the plug on the useless English measurement system and join the civilized world in their use of the Metric system. Then perhaps we can do away with pennies and paper dollars as well.

[Kate Maver]

Christ! It's freakin' TV! It's not like they're cutting off our oxygen supply! Get a clue, America. TV sucks. Why is this like A Declaration of War or something? "Oh No! Slit my wrists! Regis and Kelly have turned to snow! Wah!"

[J Huff]

I don't see why this needs to be delayed, if people can't cope without TV for a while that's more the issue than the coupons. However, to imply (as some comments have) that the coupons are there for the poor is incorrect, there is no maximum income limit when requesting coupons and I can assure you there are people from all backgrounds requesting them. Also, I do not have any respect for Bush but I don't agree that not enough has been done to prepare people. I have seen endless ads and had many a program ruined by scrolling messages warning of the impending transition to digital and I don't watch a lot of TV, so there is really no case to answer there.

Just continue with the current arrangements and I am sure people will find their own way to sort themselves out - or are we really a nation of idiots who can't even do that without being spoon fed by the government?

[stewart]

AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED THE GOP-BUSHCO HANDED OVER FREE TV TO THE MONEY GUYS WHO HAVE MADE OF WITH BILLIONS OUT THE BACK DOOR!
SUPPOSE THE ENTIRE DIGI SYTEM GOES DOWN DURING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY THEN WHAT?
SMOKE SIGNALS? RUNNERS? BELLS?

[Bob in L.A.]

I agree that it's time to get this done once and for all. It won't get much better if we wait. It's true that some people will need to get cable or satellite for TV coverage who don't now need it, but that won't change later.

I find the DTV pictures to be better than the analog pictures. Even with compression, there is more detail available in the original picture, and analog transmitters have required filters that remove a lot of detail from the original studio picture anyway.

There is a spectrum saving in this change because DTV channels can be on adjacent channels. (Channels 4 and 5 are NOT adjacent in the spectrum. Nor are 13 and 14 or 6 and 7,) Putting the channels closer together results in a more efficient use of the spectrum and provides an block of spectrum, though it's not really an "analog block."

Although many newer TV sets do have DTV tuners, many sold as recently as a year ago, especially less expensive ones, do not have DTV (ATSC) tuners. The announcements I have seen do say that you need a converter or a newer set with a DTV tuner, but many people don't notice that. And this is one of those matters that will be part of the digital transition, which has already taken place in some TV markets, by the way,

As a last note, I was able to buy a DTV DVR with all the features of the cable and satellite DVRs and without the on-going monthly fee that one manufacturer
requires.

[alan]

Fact is that regardless of what you think of the programming worth of current TV offerings, the idiot box has become the great pacifier of the unwashed masses.

This is actually a pretty smart move by Obama. With the economy in the toliet, unemployement sky rocketing, massive bailouts, stimulus packages, continued conflict in Iraq and Afghanastan (spl?), the last thing he needs is to unleash the wrath of the US couch potatoes.

[Ron Hardyman]

1.) When did television become a right?
2.) Is there anyone out there STILL using antennas?
3.) You're not missing ANYTHING. 900 channels full of crap and nothing to watch. Turn it off and talk to your family.

[cbk16]

7% are unprepared, what about the 93% that did not procrastinate? The 93% of the public did prepared, so they could enjoy all digital channels in Feb. If there is a delay, should the 93% who did not procrastinate, get a bailout, since they will not be getting the TV they were promised? With a delay, the broadcasters will keep broadcasting the old Analog signals, taking the rights away for the 93% of those that took all the warnings seriously.

[Doug]

For crying out loud, $1.5 Billion funds 37.5 million coupons. Surely there weren't that many tv's in use that don't have cable or digital converters. Now we're 7 million households short??? I'm sure many coupons have been waste, but it also sounds like Obama's team may be dealing in fuzzy math.

[Daniel]

TV is not a necessity, it is a luxury. If after more than a year of constantly being barraged with warnings some people still haven't got up off the couch and taken action, then I have no sympathy.

And do not tell me that 40 to 70 bucks is a backbreaker, if you have enough money to have a TV and the electricity to run it, you can spend the 70 bucks needed to keep it going. If you cannot afford a converter box, why are you watching TV in the first place? How do you feed yourself?

[Dark in 2009]

If the Government controls TV broadcasting, there can be no discrimination in choosing who can receive signals. It is public domain and excluding any group of people is unconstitutional. You cannot just require that now some people will no longer have access to the medium unless they now pay for a connection.

[Craig]

I haven't converted because I don't care. Maybe I'll be ready by the World Series. Isn't converting the analog spectrum to more beneficial uses an economic stimulus? It should proceed.

[GarsLuber]

Is the digital conversion in metric or standard?

[Matthew Heckmann]

I think our country needs to get their priorities straight. This is a complete and total waste of the congress's time and our countries money. If someone values their precious Television enough to inconvenience themselves in order to keep using it, they should use their, not the governments, money to make the conversion.
We, the United States, should be focusing on getting ourselves out of this financial mess instead of worrying about our precious waste of time: Television.

[kj]

fcc gets 19B for selling the spectrum and only allocates less than 1/10 that amount to transition viewers to their new standard. what a joke. martin and his cronies are pocketing too much of the public's money.

[Timber]

Most of the DTV stations are on UHF. After the changeover they'll be switching back to their old VHF channel as digital. The RF propogation characteristics are going to change significantly.

IMHO terrestrial broadcasting becomes much more relevant with digital and multicasting. I know quite a few people who've gone back to OTA (over the air) from cable after getting a digital set.

[James]

Dear America,
You wanted change. You got it.

This is a total and complete waste of resources and our tax dollars. If you don't have a new t.v. Go buy one. If you can't afford it. Save your money and buy one when you can. Get a job and stop watching TV!!!!!