Posted on Wednesday, 4th February 2009 by Patrick Dorwin
The on-again / off-again digital TV conversion is off again. Now it will be mid-June before America goes totally digital.
House Votes to Postpone Transition to Digital TV
The House of Representatives Thursday voted to postpone the country’s shift from analog to digital TV broadcasts until June 12.TV stations are scheduled to shut off their analog, over-the-air signals on Feb. 17. Many Democrats contended that millions of consumers were still not prepared for the switch. Older TV sets that aren’t equipped or modified to receive digital signals will go dark once the transition occurs.
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10 Responses to “Digital TV delayed until June”
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February 4th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Yes, the community organizers (wreckers I say) would not get their “were going to have to raise the tax” propaganda from the BS MPTV so called PHD experts panel.
Come on Mr. selfprocaliam PHD expert, if the kids can’t get to school (49% truancy), they can not learn and actually reduce the learning resources of the rest. If they are not at school then they are not eating the free lunch and breakfast. You are stealing from our children with this false propaganda. Quit wrecking our community MPTV and stealing from our children!
What does a $40 coupon x 2 actually cost tax payers anyways?
February 4th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
And in June they will delay it again and then again.
February 4th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
What percent of those that didn’t switch will be ready in June? I figure more than half of those that didn’t do anything will still be in the dark come June. The shame is the waste of money for the lazy people in the US. The transition has been pushed back a few times now, but I’m hoping as many stations go digital asap. Only after the stations go off analog will more people get moving.
February 4th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Just turn off the analog already…When the leftovers can’t get TV, they’ll act.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
The shame is the waste of money for the lazy people in the US.
It’s a waste of money for everyone, even the non-lazy people who have already redeemed their coupons. When TV stations went to color, did people expect the government to upgrade their sets? OK, but did the government do it for them (I suspect LBJ resents not thinking of this himself)?
What I want to know, and what no one else seems interested in, is what percentage of coupons distributed have been redeemed? When people request and receive coupons they don’t use before the 90-day expiration date, what happens to the unused money? Obviously the money wasted on processing the request is gone forever, but there’s no retailer to submit the coupon for reimbursement…
(Oh, and I resent this meme that people who haven’t switched are lazy and/or stupid. Between Hulu and YouTube, the only thing I need a live broadcast TV signal for is sports…and there aren’t any teams I follow broadcast locally until April.)
February 5th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a station down in Rockford that is planning to go ahead with shutting off their analog signal later this month, as originally planned. I’m hoping more stations join in doing so; there’s been too much planning put in up to this point that can’t be redone before June. When will the government figure out they can’t meddle in every aspect of our lives?
February 5th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Coop, NBC 15 (WMTV-TV) here in Madison is planning to do the same thing, and has been making it very clear to viewers that they’re shutting off their analog signal February 17th, regardless of what the government has to say.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Well, B/W TV to color TV wasn’t the same, because the FCC ultimately approved an analog color system that was (and is) compatible with B/W TV. Then again, early TVs were VHF only- until the FCC mandated that all TVs sold in the USA must have UHF as well. Of course, there were no free UHF converter boxes- but they were available at retail for awhile (you tuned the UHF on the converter box, and the box produced output on ch. 3 or 4).
But, millions of these coupon-subsidized boxes are going to be attached to old CRT TVs that will almost surely be discarded within a year or two anyway. Which makes the subsidy a collosal waste, as the going price for a used DTV converter may be all of $5. within a year or two.
So, how’s that market for UHF converter boxes?
February 5th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Tim Cuprisin reports that WVCY will go all digital, joining some others around the country that are also making the move on their own.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:30 am
It is not as “simple” as connecting a digital box to your TV. Some people will have to install a rooftop antenna to receive the digital channels and that will be close to impossible in the Northern areas in the middle of Feb where there is snow & ice on the rooftop. And in many areas, cable is not available and satellite does not carry local channels. The only way to get local channels is to have a digital box and a rooftop antenna. I have a new antenna and a new digital box and I am prepared but will lose some channels when the change occurs.