Senate approves delaying digital switch

[mistergq]

Originally Posted by webwalker

Sigh. It is NOT official yet.

Merely that the Senate has voted for it.



While I think it likely that it will pass, it is not 'official'. And that doesn't even say what happens if the House passes a version different than the Senate and it has to go back in to committee to hammer out compromise.

You know how things work in government: politicians pee in it until they like the taste better. Everyone needs to feel like their interests are represented (or at least, their position acknowledged.)

I am actually disappointed that this came FROM the Senate TO the House. The Senate is supposed to be taking in to consideration more attributes of the 'greater good' and doing the switch over piecemeal is not in anyone's greater good; not the networks, not the affiliates, not the spectrum buyers, not the consumers and not the government. Ugh.

when I said official, I meant that the Senate approved it, not that it's a law because the senate passed it. My point was that its consistent with the original post that Senate Approves. Geez...there are more important things in life to get upset about in life than this.

[rlvogel322]

The House defeated the bill. So far, we're still on for 2-17-09.

House Defeats Bill

[SHS]

hehe boy I recall thoses good old days

[HawgGuy]

House defeats bill to delay digital TV transition

Still plenty of time for them to change their mind - again.

* merged *

[webwalker]

I'll be very interested to see if the administration goes back to the well on this one. The Senate vote was massively lopsided. I'm just inclined to think that we've got more important things to do than to fret over this.

Plus, the partisan instinct runs deep: When Grandma breaks her neck trying to put up a new antenna in the dead of winter, the 'obstructionist Republicans' get the blame. The game never ends....only the players change.

[Ryokurin]

No doubt it needed more funding, but it's way too late to change the date. The motivation to keep it as it is is likely more because too many businesses have a lot of money tied into it ending on the 17th, than helping the stragglers. Even if we did hold it back there still would be a few who will complain that they weren't informed or never had the time to get a receiver and so forth. Can't be helped.

[sandor]

It looks like the House disagrees with the Senate. Personally, i
think it should just happen rather than cause even more confusion for
20+ million who already redeemed their coupons.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/Stats.aspx

interestingly enough, it looks like there *is* enough funding,
considering the 53% redemption rate, but the 90 day expiration period
of the unused coupons is the issue. (in other words, if 47% of the 11
million active coupons are not redeemed, that is more than enough to
cover the 2.5 million on the waiting list. It seems Americans are
just good at waiting until the last minute!

[ace007]

I heard the Democrats in the House are going to reintroduce the bill under new rules that don't require a 2/3rds majority, only a simple majority, to get it passed that way.

If you can't follow the rules, change the rules...

[webwalker]

Well, I can think of a few reasons we tend to wait until the last minute:

1. Our knucklehead FCC has changed the date of this transition so many times, another change wouldn't exactly come as a an epic SHOCK to anyone.

2. Most people have been somewhat distracted by the actual state of the world, the economy, their 401k, their mortgage being 'underwater.....etc...etc....etc..

3. Most Americans can't even tell the difference between SD on a big screen, HD on a big screen, and BluRay. So what's the benefit to them? (If you can't explain it without referring to 'bandwidth' you've already lost them.)

4. WE care because it is our dirty habit. Some people collect stamps. Some people collect women's garters. We fiddle with codecs. QED.

[Opus4]

Hold on... you mean I might have to wait until June 12 before I can use my new HDTV??? It has been sitting in a box until the changeover! Quick, call your Senators & Representative and tell them you want to be able to use your new TV in Feb, not June.



- Andy

[Menehune]

I just had a teacher ask me if the reason her VHS tape won't play on her VCR was because she needs a digital converter box...
No, your VCR didn't record the tape correctly-it recorded a static channel not the show you wanted.
But it doesn't play on any TV in the building.
Yes, the tape is bad

I love being tech support

[Ryokurin]

Originally Posted by webwalker

3. Most Americans can't even tell the difference between SD on a big screen, HD on a big screen, and BluRay. So what's the benefit to them? (If you can't explain it without referring to 'bandwidth' you've already lost them.)

At least in the experiences I've had, thats likely is because they don't know how to hook it up correctly (they do it like a traditional cable box, with coax.) or they don't realize that DVD isn't HD or that HD is an entirely different channel. The last one I ran into three separate times during Christmas. They immediately saw the difference after I grabbed their remote and turned it to an HD channel.

[stanger89]

Digital TV transition delay bill fails to pass in House

At least enough of them have some common sense. We're just lucky it needed a 2/3 majority, 60% of them are idiots that wanted to cause mass confusion

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by stanger89

60% of them are idiots that wanted to cause mass confusion

Yup. Sounds about right.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by webwalker

Plus, the partisan instinct runs deep: When Grandma breaks her neck trying to put up a new antenna in the dead of winter, the 'obstructionist Republicans' get the blame. The game never ends....only the players change.

Why would she change her antenna? Once the switchover happens, most "channels" will switch back to their old "analog" channel. The exception will be most (but not all) on channels 2-6 and 52+ (sold, the 700MHz auction). I know of a few in my area (8 is staying on 9, but will still be labeled 8 )

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

Why would she change her antenna? Once the switchover happens, most "channels" will switch back to their old "analog" channel. The exception will be most (but not all) on channels 2-6 and 52+ (sold, the 700MHz auction). I know of a few in my area (8 is staying on 9, but will still be labeled 8 )

OTA analog channels stop broadcasting. Gandma's antenna is older than she is. She may need a new antenna to go with the Digital settop box she has to purchase if she doesn't want cable or satellite.

Gerry

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by gplasky

OTA analog channels stop broadcasting. Gandma's antenna is older than she is. She may need a new antenna to go with the Digital settop box she has to purchase if she doesn't want cable or satellite.

But, why do you say she would need a new antenna? The existing antenna for VHF & UHF should work fine.

If someone bought a UHF-only antenna, they might have a problem if their digital station returns to the VHF range where the analog channel that stops broadcasting was located, but that would probably have been a newer antenna.

Example: right now, digital ABC in my area is channel 45, but should be 'returning' to 7 after the analog channel on 7 is shut off.

Now, if she wants a shiny new antenna...

- Andy

[MeInMaui]

If you give a Grandma digital broadcast TV, she's going to want a converter box to go with it.
If you give her a converter box, then she'll probably want a new antenna too.
Once she's done putting up the antenna, she'll need to warm up. So...

[pjpjpjpj]

That's what gets me about this whole situation. The head FCC guy came to my town about a month ago for an open forum for people with questions. It got nasty - people screaming at him - but most of them (that the local news showed) were clueless. A lot of these people who are arguing for pushing the deadline are arguing about antenna replacement as much as getting the converter boxes ("we shouldn't have to buy a new antenna!"). They don't seem to understand that "an antenna is an antenna", and there is no such thing as a "digital antenna" or an "analog antenna".

Of course, the antenna companies will get as close as they can to saying "you NEED a new antenna for the switch" without ACTUALLY saying it... intentionally leading to confusion, hopefully leading to sales.

If people have been watching OTA for years, odds are they have a VHF and UHF antenna (combo, or two separate, or whatever). And if their signal was clear enough to tolerate, then they are likely going to get perfect digital reception. I think there will be a surprising amount of "WOWs" coming, especially from the Grandmas, when they see just how clear the picture CAN be, compared to the snowy mess they have been watching for ages.

[sandor]

1) i have been using my 35 year old roof top antenna with DTV/ATSC for the past 3 years in Philadelphia. There is no reason to change antennas.

2) All televisions over 32? inches have been mandated to include a DTV/ATSC tuner for the past 2+ years. This means you dont need a converter box.

3) The coupon is ONLY good for a converter box (ATSC downgraded to NTSC) So my HDHRs and A180s were not eligible. The coupon is ONLY good for Digital to Analog conversion boxes and specifically disallows "upgrades"



There is no reason to delay the Feb 17th switch, it needs to happen, and the < 10% (most likely less than 5% given the redemption rates) of the population who have issues can deal with it afterwards.

There was NO REASON to wait until the last minute, as affiliates in all major media markets have been simulcasting in DTV/ATSC for at least the past year, and most the past 3+.