Obama Urges Delay In Digital TV Transition

President-elect Says Too Many Americans With Analog TV Sets Won't Be Ready For Feb. Switch

(CBS/ AP)  President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won't be ready.

In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta noted that the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don't have cable or satellite service or a new TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their older analog sets working.

Obama officials are also concerned that the government is not doing enough to help consumers prepare for and navigate the transition.

"With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively mandated analog cutoff date," Podesta wrote.

Just as the economic downturn has people foregoing expensive purchases like new TVs, government aid to buy converter boxes dries up, reported CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker. Those hardest hit are the elderly, the poor and rural Americans. And the government isn't very sympathetic, Whitaker reports.

"If they do not get their coupon in time, we recommend that they either buy a converter box without a coupon, buy another television, or connect to cable, satellite or another pay television service," says Meredith Atwell Baker, with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Congress required that broadcasters switch from analog to digital broadcasts, which are more efficient, to free up valuable chunks of wireless spectrum. The newly available room in the airwaves can be used for commercial wireless services and for emergency-response networks.

Podesta's letter went to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Commerce committees. Congress mandated the Feb. 17 changeover and would have to pass a new law to postpone the date.

[barbaram99]

I have to get a TV with head phone jack as I can''t hear it at low vol and the cc helps me as I use it, I have an ext TV card for computer and the cc don''t work. I put my old TV I had since 04 in the wash/dry room and someone took it to their apt. That fine with me. I have a nice TV that runns both formats. I perfer the flat panel TV 19 inch. I welcomr the new ATSC format. Seattle has both format running, I go to the digital as it is clearer. We will as a nation move to it. I think people might be scare to give up analog for digital. I have to trust it will work. I was scacred when I first sat at my computer 2+ years ago. Got over it.

[tmittelstaed]

Some of the comments here from people claiming their ancient relative has an antique TV with a dial just make me shake my head. When I was younger one of my hobbies was fixing people''s TV''s and this idea that older TV''s are better is sheer rubbish. TV''s until the 70''s had vacuum tubes and the average tube didn''t last more than 10 years, that is why you don''t see operating TV''s any longer that are older than the mid-70''s. And the 70''s-80''s TVs used discrete semiconductors and today most of them are falling apart due to thermal stressing of solder joints and suchlike. In the 80''s, Asia flooded the market with cheap TV''s using integrated circuits and it''s a c r a p shoot on those models - some models are still in service with perfect pictures, some were trashed years ago due to funny problems like the TV shutting off for no reason. It wasn''t until the last 20 years that we really started seeing TV models sold with some decent reliability.
In a few months from now, people will be scrapping perfectly good TV''s with crystal-clear pictures right and left as they replace them with HDTVs. It is just going to take the price of the new flat screen TV''s to drop to the $200 range. Anyone with an old TV needs to start asking around since there''s going to be a lot of much newer and better TV''s that people will want you to haul away for free.
And by this time next year your going to see the converter boxes starting to be given away and dumped.

[tmittelstaed]

Some of the comments on this blog regarding the coupon program are really ignorant.

People are complaining about coupons expiring and want to know why they have a short expiration date. Well that is really simple - the program assumes if you haven''t bought a converter box in 90 days then you really don''t want one that bad - and the expiration guarantees that the funds allocated to your coupons you didn''t use will be available for someone else to use with their coupons. In fact there''s a waiting list right now and as unused coupons expire the money is being used to satisfy requests on the waiting list.

People want to know why the coupons weren''t published in the paper. Well that would make it impossible to serialize the coupons which would allow widespread counterfeiting. it would also allow people to stockpile converters then resell them after Feb 2009.

People want to know why the government didn''t just distribute the boxes directly. The reason is that this pushes support of the converter to the retailer - and some people are going to want to ask questions on how to use the converter box even though most of them are very basic devices.

[barbaram99]

Men and their sport programme. Ye left that out.

[libh8er]

That''s right....there are too many STUPID people out there who rely on analog TV in order to catch the CBS Evening News and Oprah. Can''t deprive those losers of their source of propaganda.

If we switched, PEBO would lose a third of his voters!

[barbaram99]

I use the ads on TV to go to the bathroom .I tune them out. I play a paw of solitaire. Mainly it sits there . I don''t turn it on since I bought a clip on light. Need that to see computer. In my day we had CBS,NBC and ABC. Foster mums would not let us watch TV growing up. We heard Baseball on the radio as love hear them play. we will have to wait and see what happens. I just get the local stations by rabbit ears.

[vexit]

If it gets us out of the house and doing something. we''ll save money because we won''t be conned by the stupid commercials telling us we need all this stuff that we don''t.

[barbaram99]

I can''t have a saving -gov rule. I don''t smoke,don''t drink. I am handicapped. I have TV. As fer churches. For get them. I don''t go. TV for me is not the centre of attn. i will turn it on if I need to hear the info or watch a programme worth watching. i let very few in the apt. I don''t live alone. Am in Seattle and been up just about all night. Got a nasty cold is why. The poor we are here and will be here just as always and will be. I would rather inter act than try to see some that i can''t. Alot of it is trash from hollywoodland. Growing up we did not watch much TY. I rather play a paw of solitaire.

[wrmscvsuv]

Come on folks, these people have had four years or more to be saving their nickels, dimes, and quarters...if not for a new TV or satellite, then certainly a converter box.

I''ve found that many folks are poor not necessarily because of their economic conditions as much as their stupidity. They always seem to be able to buy beer, cigarettes, or narcotics, but never the staples.

If this were over medicine or medical care it would be a different matter, but please, digital TV? Forget it.

[rrozsa-2009]

And now I''ll shut up.