Mike McGuireEven though U.S. broadcasters are ready and 95 percent of consumers are ready, the fabled Digital Transition, scheduled for February 17, the Senate, at the urging of President Obama, voted to delay the full switch from analog to digital TV for four months. Citing data from Nielsen, some 6.5 million households would go dark if the analog switch was flipped off next month. Those households who have not made the switch include those who are poor, elderly or just don’t have the wherewithal (or interest) to buy or connect the converter box needed to receive digitally delivered over-the-air TV signals.
Welcome to one of those “only in America” scenarios where it is darned near impossible to serve the best interest of all concerned. By delaying the digital switchover the CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service states will cost public TV stations $22 million as they are forced to broadcast both digitally as well as in analog. It also puts on hold the full deployment of new digital broadcast and wireless services that will occupy the spectrum currently occupied by analog broadcast.
Perhaps there is deeper meaning to the delay. Is President Obama using this event to make a clear statement of a more populist broadcast/communications policy and the direction he intends to follow in his selection of a FCC chairman? It remains to be seen just how many of the 6.5 million analog viewers need to be upgraded by June to satisfy the administration and declare the U.S. a digital broadcast nation. As for the poor and elderly who can not afford boxes, even giving them one for free does not solve the problem. Installing it (as this skit shows) requires some technical knowledge and a steady hand.
Co-authored with Allen Weiner
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