Televising The Revolution

Article Updated January 2, 2008

Happy New Year. Your federal government has a late holiday gift for you. If you follow Televising The Revolution you already know the FCC has set February 19, 2009 as the date when analog television will end its broadcast day and begin to broadcast in digital.

GET YOUR COUPONS HERE

Beginning January 1st, 2008, American consumers will be able to log in to http://www.dtv2009.gov/ and request up to two coupons worth $40 each to assist in purchasing new digital-to-analog converter boxes. Alternately you can call 1-888-DTV2009 to apply over the telephone. Printed applications will also be available at post offices and at public libraries, in English, Spanish, and other languages.

THE CHECK COUPON IS IN THE MAIL

Once you apply be patient because the coupons won’t be sent out until mid-February of this year. Starting February 18, 2008, the government will send coupons via The US Postal Service in the form of a gift card consumers can use at electronics retailers that sell the set-top converter boxes . Currently the selection of converter boxes on the market is slim but that should improve as more manufacturers jump on the bandwagon over the next several months. As of this writing the converter boxes are retailing for $60. to $70.

BACKED BY UNCLE SAM

The coupon program itself is administered by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). It is backed by $1.5 billion appropriated by Congress and established in Title III of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (PDF)

TELL THEM WHAT THEY’VE WON

What will this “converter box” do for you? Not much more than the basics. According the NTIA proposal the converter box shall:

THERE’S MORE 

For more information, or to sign up for coupons, you can call 1-888-DTV-2009 or visit http://www.dtv2009.gov/. -33-

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) took the wraps off a 30 second spot to inform the public of the February 17, 2009 advance to all digital television transmissions. Here is a link to the spot on dtvanswers.com. The spot is said to promote consumer awareness of the digital transition. Presented below is a transcript of the spot.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

“Notice how digital’s made pretty much everything better?

Especially television.

Digital TV’s got
Better picture
better sound
more channels—

In fact, digital’s so much better that, by law, ALL broadcast TV has to be digital by 2009

But there’s a catch:

Some TV’s need an upgrade to get digital. You could even lose your signal.

Get the facts.

Visit DTVAnswers.com to learn about television’s switch to digital.

Or call this number to see how you can stay connected”

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

The question is, does this spot arm consumers with the information they need to help them “go digital?” It says little about what action to take. It offers a link to a website for more information but how about those who do not have web access or do not own or know how to operate a computer?

To avoid chaos, confusion and to make it as stress free as possible all facts pertaining to the digital cut-over need to be presented in a very simple, concise manner. Consumers need to be clearly informed that on February 17, 2009 and for some time following there is going to be a very difficult period to cope with if they want to watch over-the-air TV.

Will consumers be ready? Will the over-the-air television viewing public possess the information needed to be able to watch TV on February 18?  Does this spot address these questions? 

For more information see the related stories, A Requiem For Analog TV from September 4, 2007 and Spreading The Word from September 7, 2007 elsewhere in the Televising The Revolution blog.                                         -33-

 It was announced today that the Cable Industry will be pumping $200M into advertising to educate consumers that the analog to digital cutover announced for February 17, 2009 will not affect cable subscribers.

EDUCATING CONSUMERS

According to the Associated Press, The $200 million advertising campaign includes both ads that have been purchased on broadcast channels and donated time from cable systems, the cable association said. It will run through the digital transition date.

The National Association of Broadcasters has pledged to begin its own campaign beginning in December.

FROM THE AIR

In a report from the Government Accountability Office dated 2005 about 19 percent or 20 million households rely on an antenna for over the air broadcasts rather than cable or other means of close circuit reception. See the story A Requiem For Analog TV elsewhere in the Televising The Revolution blog for more information. -33-

Imagine if you will. It is February 18, 2009. A television viewer receives TV over the air through a roof antenna. On awakening, instinctively the TV is turned on only to find snow-not outside but on the TV screen. Switching to another channel, snow… and another. Snow. Our viewer begins to fear that aliens really have landed in New Jersey as Orson Welles announced over 70 years ago.  Panic sets in as the radio is switched on, to just catch the news announcer saying “Analog TV died today. Film at Eleven.”  Nothing seems real. There is a sign post up ahead. It reads – You have reached the end of the Analog Zone.

Why Wasn’t I Warned?

You were warned. Didn’t you see the signs? Says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on their Website, “At midnight on February 17, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format.”

Broadcasters have been gearing up for this cutover for a long time. Unfortunately getting the word out to the public seems to be slow. Some sources say that only 20% of American viewers have heard about the end of analog TV.  Some people in the broadcast and television profession are even uninformed when asked about the digital transition.

What is the Digital Transition Date?

The digital transition date is the deadline for all US broadcast television stations to broadcast exclusively in a digital format. This means analog signals will no longer exist.

Will I Need a New TV set?

You should not, but if you receive your television stations only with an antenna you will need a converter box to convert the digital over the air signal to an analog signal so your TV can receive it. Alternately you will need a TV receiver with a tuner built-in that is capable of digital reception.

If you are old enough to remember when UHF stations with channels 14 and up started broadcasting but your television receiver only received stations from channel 2 through 13 on VHF it will be like Deja Vu. If you wanted to receive the “new” UHF stations you purchased a “Converter Box” which was attached to the antenna inputs on your TV and you tuned the higher channels with it. You should be able to procure a similar converter box to convert the new digital channels to your existing analog television receiver, attaching it either via your antenna terminals or your audio and video input.

If you rely on cable or satellite then the digital transition probably won’t affect you as much. 

Caveat Emptor

When purchasing a new TV from now on you should be sure it has a tuner capable of receiving digital television transmissions. Insist on it! If it does not it will not receive over the air, digital broadcasts when the day comes. Many televisions today have dual tuners for receiving both analog and the digital transmissions.

You will begin to find all kinds of great buys on TVs. Just be sure the set you purchase will not obsolete itself in a few short months. The old saying “Caveat Emptor” or Buyer Beware should be foremost in your mind.

Above all, don’t panic! It is not the end of the world, just the end of analog television. Knowledge replaces fear. Do your research. Ask questions and above all, be an informed consumer. -33-