Plan would limit converter-box coupons to broadcast-only households
July 26th, 2006Households that receive all of their TV programming over the air would be eligible for government coupons that will reduce the cost of set-top converter boxes, under a proposal from a federal agency. The converter boxes (sometimes called digital TV adapters) will enable existing analog TVs to continue receiving broadcasts after the digital TV transition is completed in 2009. Eligible households could request two $40 coupons.
Cable and satellite subscribers would be ineligible for subsidies, even if some televisions in the household are not connected to a pay-TV service, according to the plan.
This scenario won’t make everyone happy—and given that Congress apparently underfunded the subsidy program, some folks are bound to be unhappy. Would it surprise you to know that broadcasters are less than completely happy?
“…we would hope that no broadcast-only TV sets are forced to go dark during this transition,” said [National Association of Broadcasters] spokesman Dennis Wharton.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a Commerce Department agency, seeks public comment on whether a means test or other criteria should be used in determining eligibility. The NTIA also invites comments on other aspects of its proposal.
Andrew Cotlar says:
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Good post. Here are few other things to think about that haven’t yet been considered.
First, rural areas rely either partly or completely on TV reception from low power TV translators. There is no official analog shut-off date for this service, so analog transmissions in rural portions of America may actually persist beyond February 28, 2009. What happens, therefore, in a rural community that, for instance, gets 1 or 2 full power stations and a few more via translator? Analog gets terminated for the full power stations and the consumer plugs in a converter box gratis of the U.S. government, only to find that it can only receieve DIGITAL signals! He can’t receive the analog low power translators via the newly installed set-top box and will be angry no doubt. The solution? Either require analog tuners in the D to A converter box or a consumer has to install some sort of A/B switch to view some stations via the old tuner in his set and other stations via the conveter box’s digital tuner. What a mess.
Second, what about legacy VCRs? The reason you can record one channel off air while watching another channel off air is that you actually have 2 analog tuners: one in the TV set and one in the VCR. Plug in a converter box and guess what: this functionality will dissappear because there’s only one operational tuner! We need to either require 2 tuners in the converter box or have customers purchase two converter boxes, one for the VCR and one for the TV set. Another mess.
Andrew Cotlar
Steven Sande says:
August 4th, 2006 at 6:15 am
Thanks, Andrew. You raise tough issues that haven’t received public awareness.
I haven’t closely followed the issue of low-power translators, I confess, but I think it’s a real problem if we have exceptions to the supposed “hard deadline” of Feb. 17, 2009. This could be a (possibly costly) headache for consumers, and it throws a wrench into spectrum reallocation. Most consumers find the transition confusing enough already. I can’t say I’m fond of the idea of solving this at the consumer end rather than requiring stations to upgrade to digital translators. (I realize the transition has already been a huge financial burden for smaller stations, and many of them face uncertain prospects as it is. It’s getting to the time where we’ll need to have a national debate about what, if anything, should be done to help preserve the viability of broadcasting to rural areas.) In some areas, viewers who watch a translator station can also get a fuzzy version of that station’s primary analog signal…and presumably those folks would either get a perfectly crisp digital signal from the primary channel or nothing at all.
The VCR thing is a mess, too, I agree. Some consumers should think about moving to DVRs, and I hope we’ll see converter box/DVR combos come to market, as in Britain (Dish Network has HD receivers that include DVRs and ATSC tuners, too).