Barbara Eliasson's digital confrontation

"No Longer Free in a Digital World"

by

Barbara Eliasson

June 7th, 2009

The New York Times

HERE we were, my two television sets and I, happily growing older together. But then, with one act of Congress and one presidential signature, all three of us became obsolete. No election. No referendum. Not even a chance, as consumers, to decide whether we prefer digital to analog TV.

I huffed, I puffed, I procrastinated and, finally, I considered my options: Get a converter box; buy two new TVs; subscribe to cable.

At first, I chose the converter box. It was cheap, and I kept my TV sets. I watched an online video with instructions for connecting the box. The process was more complicated than I thought, and there was a risk of dropped stations.

The second option, buying two televisions, was not only expensive, but wasteful. Overnight, my two functioning machines would turn into scrap. I resisted.

So, it was Option No. 3: cable. Of three possibilities, I called the first cable company, gave my address and ZIP code and was told it did not, in fact, service my area.

At the second, I spoke to someone who was not sure whether his company covered my neighborhood and was unwilling to find out. I said, "Thank you," and hung up.

Two months earlier, a representative from the third company had come to my door. I had not yet made a decision (I still had so much time!), so he left his card. Now, though, June 12, the conversion deadline, was days away.

I called him; he came back to my house. He was a personable, reassuring young man — until we came to prices. He gave me a quote. It was more than double the amount on the company's Web site. I protested; he backtracked.

His figure, he explained, was for the extended package, not for the bare-bones coverage I wanted. How about a package that included telephone and Internet? Much cheaper. No, I said, I liked my phone service. Well, then, the installation charge he quoted did not apply: It would be 75 percent more. I could live with that; it was a one-time charge. Then he came up with a possible deal breaker: he wanted my Social Security number. "No," I said, "I wouldn't even give that to the pope." It was his turn to compromise; he did.

The installer is scheduled for a visit in a few days. After he has come and gone, I hope that watching television will be the same glitch-free experience it has always been. But there will be at least one difference: It will no longer be free.

Every month, as I write my check, I’ll be reminded of those interfering government officials who forced me into paying for what I never wanted.

[Barbara Eliasson is a writer and former college teacher who lives in the Norwood section of the Bronx.]


Digital is near

Digital is near

The start up time for all digital television is June 12th and all is not good.

"Millions Face Blank Screens in TV Switch"

by

Stephen Labaton

June 6th, 2009

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Millions of households will lose television reception next week when about 1,000 broadcasters around the nation shut off their analog signals and complete their conversion to digital programming, federal officials say.

The government has spent more than $2 billion to ease the transition to digital television, and in the last few months has cut in half the number of households that are unprepared for the final conversion on June 12. But the latest survey by the Nielsen Company indicates that as of the end of May, more than 10 percent of the 114 million households that have television sets are either completely or partly unprepared.

Michael J. Copps, the acting head of the Federal Communications Commission, said that the people most likely to lose reception are society's most vulnerable — lower-income families, the elderly, the handicapped and homes where little or no English is spoken. The transition will also hit inner-city and rural areas hardest, he said.

"We are much better prepared than we were in February, when the original transition was to have occurred, but there will nonetheless be significant disruptions," Mr. Copps said in an interview. "In the past five months we've tried to accomplish what should have been done over the last four years."

More than three million homes that do not subscribe to cable or satellite services are totally unprepared for the transition and will lose their reception, according to Nielsen. Another nine million homes that subscribe to cable or satellite services but that have spare television sets — typically in bedrooms and kitchens — that are not connected to any service are also expected to lose reception. The conversion does not affect cable or satellite distribution.

And officials say that millions more who thought they were prepared are likely to experience technical problems like poor reception or improperly connected antennas. Their problems arise because the way the digital signal travels is different from analog and can be more affected by topography, weather or even heavy auto traffic.

A list of 49 particularly vulnerable markets includes New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston and Dallas-Fort Worth. Officials said Puerto Rico is also among the most susceptible to problems, as it has the highest rate of households that receive their television signals over the air.

In the New York broadcasting market, 92,000 homes are completely unready for the transition and another 348,000 are partly unready, according to Nielsen. That represents almost 6 percent of households in the region.

Early this year, the administration persuaded Congress to postpone completion of the transition to June, from February, and to provide another $650 million, mostly for coupons for converter boxes, on top of the $1.5 billion that had already been spent by the Bush administration.

The Obama administration has enlisted dozens of groups, including AmeriCorps, the national volunteer organization, civil rights groups and even firefighters to help people install the converter boxes and antennas. The program is the most ambitious technology transition effort since the Clinton administration's enormous Y2K program, which was set up to avert major software problems caused by the inability of computers to process data beginning on Jan. 1, 2000.

Concerned about a possible political reaction, President Obama issued a statement on Thursday urging consumers to take steps so they do not lose television reception. "We have worked hand in hand with state and local officials, broadcasters and community groups to educate and assist millions of Americans with the transition," Mr. Obama said.

"I want to be clear: there will not be another delay," the statement added.

Other officials said that the high number of households reflected the inclination of Americans to put things off.

"There are so many people who are always waiting until the last minute, whether it is college students doing term papers, or people filing taxes, or people like me who wait until Christmas Eve to do their shopping," said the commerce secretary, Gary F. Locke, in an interview on Friday.

While applauding the government efforts, he said he was frustrated that the early public service announcements did not provide specific enough information about the problem.

"Earlier on we could have more crisply and clearly indicated who was affected by the switch," he said. "I've been critical of the public service announcements that just say, 'The switch is coming' or 'Are you ready?'"

He added: "Too many people don't know the difference between digital and analog. I didn't even know myself until a few months ago when my brother-in-law explained it to me."

Analog technology transmits a video signal through an electronic impulse. Digital technology breaks the signal into 1's and 0's, allowing far more data to be transmitted through a far smaller amount of broadcast spectrum.

The transition has already been a huge windfall to television and equipment makers and retailers, as millions of consumers have had to buy digital television sets or converter boxes and special antennas for their old sets.

Shawn G. DuBravac, chief economist at the Consumer Electronics Association, said that sales of digital television sets were up 32 percent this year over the comparable period in 2008, even in the midst of a deep recession. Other officials at the association said the spike in sales was attributable to many factors, including declining prices and availability of more programs in digital, as well as the mandatory transition.

But consumer experts said that many households were buying more expensive television sets and equipment than they needed to continue to receive television signals. Polls by Consumer Reports found that many people were aware of the transition but were confused about how to navigate it, said Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst at Consumers Union.

Bracing for a wave of complaints, the Federal Communications Commission is preparing to fully staff a $40 million call center on Friday and through the weekend. The government will also continue to supply $40 coupons to households toward the purchase of converter boxes.

Officials advised consumers to rescan the channels of their television sets after the conversion was completed on Friday to make sure they were pulling in all the correct signals.

The conversion is the final step in a long-running plan for more efficient use of the broadcast spectrum. The plan took spectrum licenses from broadcasters, replacing them with other frequencies. It will reallocate some of the broadcasters' former spectrum to public safety providers. Other frequencies were sold for billions of dollars, primarily to the large wireless telephone companies, whose demand for spectrum has risen with the proliferation of hand-held devices that can surf the Internet and send and receive e-mail.

Consumers seeking assistance on how to upgrade their television sets or on the availability of digital stations in their communities can go to www.dtv.gov or call the government hot line on the transition at 1-888-CALLFCC (1-888-225-5322).


DTV and easy money...for whom?

DTV officially postponed

Four more months of chaos and cost.

"Obama signs bill delaying switch to digital TV"

Some stations have asked permission to turn off analog signals on the originally planned date -- Tuesday.

by

Jim Puzzanghera

February 12TH, 2009

Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington — President Obama made the digital TV delay official Wednesday, signing legislation to put off the switch until June 12, the White House said.

He and Congress hope to give millions of unprepared viewers four more months to upgrade their equipment so they don't lose over-the-air programming.

Although the major TV stations in Los Angeles won't turn off their analog signals until the new deadline, the law allows stations to apply to switch on the original date -- at the end of the day Tuesday -- or any time before June 12.

More than a quarter of the nation's 1,749 full-power stations have applied for permission to turn off their analog signals on the original date. They include Fox, CBS and ABC affiliates in San Diego; NBC, ABC, CBS and Telemundo affiliates in Santa Barbara; and KJLA and KHIZ, independent stations in Los Angeles.

But the Federal Communications Commission, concerned that all major network affiliates in some markets want to turn off their analog signals next week, told 123 of the 491 stations seeking waivers that they first must comply with several conditions.

One is a requirement that at least one station in the market continue analog broadcasts of local news and public affairs programming, as well as emergency and digital TV transition information for at least 60 days.

The NBC, ABC and CBS stations in Santa Barbara are among those 123 stations.


More on DTV...Kansas City style

Done deal...analog broadcasting switch on hold

Jacques Steinberg's esaay on DTV switch

The House negates digital delay

Digital TV switchover is postponed

Junk televisions and recycling

Jacques Steinberg's esaay on DTV switch

"Digital TV Beckons, but Many Miss the Call"

by

Jacques Steinberg

January 29th, 2009

The New York Times

HOUSTON — Vesta Clemmons, who is 77 and lives alone, relies on the battered Zenith television in her tiny apartment here as more than just a lifeline to the outside world.

"It's like a friend," she said in her living room, which is also her dining room and bedroom. "I would feel very isolated without it. I get lonesome anyway."

So Ms. Clemmons was concerned to learn from a public-service campaign that after Feb. 17 the rooftop antenna connected to her television would no longer function properly, and thus neither would her TV — unless she bought and installed an adaptor. On that day the country's broadcast stations have long been scheduled to shut down the old-fashioned, analog signals that have carried their programming since the days of Milton Berle, and replace them with high-definition digital signals that offer a clearer picture, among other benefits.

But less than a month before the Feb. 17 deadline, so many American households have yet to take the necessary steps to continue to watch over-the-air television — more than 6.5 million, according to Nielsen Media Research — that Congress has considered giving them more time.

On Monday night the Senate passed a bill, supported by President Obama, that would extend the deadline until June 12. The House of Representatives took up the same measure on Wednesday but failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed for it to pass on a fast-track procedural vote. Its fate is now unclear.

Regardless of when the switchover takes place, viewers with cable or satellite systems, and many others with digital televisions purchased after 2004, need not do anything in anticipation of the deadline, nor will they notice much of a change afterward. But for those older and low-income viewers like Ms. Clemmons who still use set-top rabbit ears or rooftop antennas to pull in images of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" or "The Young and the Restless," the switchover to digital television has often proven a bewildering and cumbersome burden.

That so many viewers here and around the country risk losing something as basic as a free television signal is a function, at least in part, of the government’s failure to anticipate that those most affected would be among the nation’s most frail and vulnerable. Further aggravating the confusion and uncertainty has been that a coupon program established by Congress to defray the cost of converter boxes — each American household is entitled to two $40 vouchers, which cover most, if not all, of the cost of the adaptors — ran out of money in early January, leaving hundreds of thousands of applicants to languish on a waiting list. (The program has already issued more than $1 billion worth of coupons.)

Ms. Clemmons, a woman whose slight frame and white mane belie her taste in music — Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne and Nine-Inch Nails are her favorites — said she had made several attempts to call the government’s toll-free number in recent days to request a coupon and had not been able to get through.

Ultimately she received peace of mind from an unlikely source: Meals on Wheels. For several months now, drivers and volunteers for the Houston-area program have been delivering and installing digital converter boxes for its clients — as a side dish alongside the baked chicken and stewed peaches that are their usual fare. Ms. Clemmons's turn came last week.

In Houston, which is the nation's 10th-largest television market and whose flat topography makes it relatively easy to watch TV with only an antenna, the problem is particularly acute: 1 in 10 households remains out of compliance, by Nielsen's estimates, ranking it behind only Albuquerque and Dallas.

Mindful of the need for such efforts, Consumers Union, the nonprofit advocacy group and publisher of Consumer Reports, is among those that lobbied Congress to put off the Feb. 17 deadline by four months. It has estimated the cost of replenishing the coupon program alone at nearly $1 billion, said Gene Kimmelman, vice president for international affairs. To defray the cost of the efforts by Meals on Wheels here, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, the social service organization that administers the program, appealed last year to congregants in churches and synagogues around the city to donate the converter coupons they may have already received; more than 1,500 people answered that call.

"After I heard about the process of what it would take for a person to get the coupon, and get the boxes, I was pretty livid," said Bridget Samuel, chief operating officer for Interfaith. "I still go out on the routes making deliveries. Most of them are sitting in front of their TVs. They’re watching 'Price Is Right.' They're watching 'Judge Judy.' That’s their company."

Meals on Wheels is hardly the only entity in Houston, or around the country, that has been trying to bring viewers' outdated equipment into compliance. The National Association of Broadcasters estimates that its stations and networks, have, collectively, allotted more than $1 billion worth of advertising time to raise public awareness.

The CBS affiliate here, KHOU-TV, ran a series of tests during its local newscasts in which viewers were told that the analog signal was about to be temporarily replaced by the digital one — and that if their screens go to a test pattern, they should call the phone number listed to learn how to get up to date.

When KHOU and several other local stations ran the tests one day in December, nearly 14,000 viewers called the hot line in response. When the test was rerun on Jan. 6, 8,000 more calls were logged.

KHOU also joined with a local grocery chain, H-E-B, for a series of promotional events at which thousands of customers lined up to apply for coupons, and, if they already had them, to buy converter boxes. Most were able to do so at no personal expense, with H-E-B having priced the boxes at $40, the value of the coupons. (Other electronics retailers have been charging as much as $100.)

Through surveys of its nearly 4,000 clients, Meals on Wheels identified Ms. Clemmons as among those needing assistance. And so, on Jan. 21, Samantha Greenwood, the program’s assessment coordinator, arrived to install her converter box.

As it turned out, Ms. Greenwood couldn't get the converter, which is about the size of a cable box and is connected to both the antenna and TV, to work, because of some wiring problems in the back of Ms. Clemmons's Zenith. But she vowed that her husband, an engineer, would return well before the Feb. 17 deadline to solve the problem.

Ms. Clemmons, who risks losing access to "World News with Charles Gibson," her favorite news program, said she would be waiting.

Earlier that morning Ms. Greenwood had fared better in the apartment of Ramona DeFore, a widow in the same building who is also 77. On her own Ms. DeFore had gotten a coupon and a box but had been baffled as to how to connect it to her Magnavox TV, a set so old she couldn’t remember when she had bought it.

After Ms. Greenwood made the connection successfully, Ms. DeFore was able to tune in Channel 2, the local NBC affiliate, for the first time in years. "I think Phil is on 2," she said, with obvious excitement, in reference to "Dr. Phil." "I've missed him. I wish I had him a few years back, when I had my husband."


The House negates digital delay

Digital TV switchover is postponed