Don’t Delay the DTV Transition

Even before Barack Obama was sworn in as President, he was pushing Congress to delay the DTV transition (which, technically, should be called the “analog TV shutoff,” since digital TV is already on the air).  He wants to push it back four months to June, to give people more time to prepare.  I think that’s a big, steaming load of B.S.  People have had more than enough time to get ready.

First, let’s look at the name of the law which mandates that our country’s television broadcasters will be all-digital as of February 17, 2009.  It was part of the “Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.”  Yes, this law was first passed in 2005… to be exact, it was signed on February 8, 2005 — more than FOUR YEARS ago.

The 2005 law, itself, already pushed the end of analog TV back more than two years — it was supposed to happen December 31, 2006.

Why are we delaying it again?  Proponents of the delay argue that 6.5 million households still aren’t ready.  Um… YOU HAD MORE THAN FOUR YEARS TO GET READY.  If you can’t save up $40 over the course of FOUR YEARS to buy a DTV converter box, how did you afford a TV in the first place??

TV stations have been running public service announcements, news stories and even devoting entire blocks of programming, to telling people the transition will be taking place on February 17, 2009.  That’s it.  That’s the date.  No more second chances; there have already been enough.

Many TV stations have been running both their analog and digital signals, side-by-side, for months, if not years already.  It’s expensive.  It’s using a lot of electricity, at a time when politicians are whining about carbon footprints and global warming.  

Now, the government wants to keep analog TV on the air for an extra 4 months… causing stations to keep running their analog transmitters — which will rack up electricity and maintenance expenses that weren’t budgeted for previously.  Let’s add to the equation, the fact the economic slowdown is severely impacting TV station advertising revenue this year.  If TV stations are required to spend money they weren’t planning to spend, to keep analog transmitters running, that money has to come from somewhere.  

You won’t see the CEO selling his yacht or taking a 20% pay cut to make it happen.  Local employees, many of whom barely make enough to live paycheck-to-paycheck as it is (I should know; I’m among them), will be the ones to suffer.  The local employees will be the ones forfeiting badly-needed raises or losing their jobs, so that stations can remain in compliance with the law. 

So, my opinion — and mine alone, not necessarily the opinion of my employer — is to keep the DTV transition date where it is:  February 17, 2009.  If you’re not ready, too bad.  Some politicians say people will be “left in the dark” if they can’t get emergency announcements via TV.  Did they forget about RADIO?  That’s not going anywhere.  And last time I checked, radios are a lot cheaper and easier to run during a power outage.  

I have yet to even see a cordless digital TV that can run on batteries — and even if I did find one, it would cost a lot more than a simple converter box.  (Actually, I just Googled “portable HDTV” and found 2 models that sell for $249 and up.)  Definitely NOT in the budget of most people, let alone the fixed-income senior citizens the politicians claim they’re trying to help.

It’s time to stop hand-holding everyone.  Some people will still be left in the dark, no matter how many times the transition date is delayed.  Of those, some are just chronic procrastinators who won’t do anything until they absolutely have to.  So let’s FLIP THE SWITCH ALREADY!