DTV: FUBAR?

The date February 17, 2009, has been repeatedly hammered into our minds as the day that old style analog TV signals would cease to be broadcast. Anyone still relying on a TV antenna on that date, and without the appropriate equipment to receive the new digital signals, would be sh*t out of luck when The Price Is Right next came on.

Then last week Congress voted to extend the deadline until June 12. The reason was that the coupon program--intended to help people offset the cost of a new set top converter box--was in disarray. For one thing, the program had run out of money for new coupons. A further complication was that the supply of converter boxes had been erratic, and people who had gotten their coupons early on now had expired coupons.

If that wasn't bad enough, many people who had already received their converter boxes found that they didn't work because they also needed to upgrade their antennas. Apparently no one in the government had thought of that little detail.

But then the TV stations said not to worry, that once they shut off their analog signals on February 17 they'll be able to boost the power devoted to their digital signals. That would presumably take care many of the problems people were having.

So rather than fixing the coupon book problem last fall, Congress waited until two weeks before the final deadline to act. But rather than simply extend the deadline and leave it at that, they voted to give TV stations the option of still doing a complete switchover on February 17, or broadcasting both types of signals until June 12. That only seemed fair, since many stations had already committed crews and personnel for the transition this month.

Now along comes the Federal Communications Commission, which says not so fast. Their concern is that not everyone has their converter boxes yet, and those people would be left without their precious Judge Judy and Oprah if ALL the stations in any given market make the switch on the 17th. So now they want to set up the transition in such a way that at least one station keeps broadcasting analog signals in every city. Problem is, that's not Congress wrote the new law, and its unclear whether the FCC can do this. Also, who's going to pick up the tab if some broadcasters are forced to incur extra costs because of the delay?

The end result is that no one seems to know for sure what's going to happen this coming Tuesday. That February 17 deadline, which we had repeatedly been told was set in stone, now seems etched in jello. Consumers are confused, TV stations are confused, and the government is confused.

Boy, I can hardly wait until Obama takes office and fixes this latest fiasco by the Bush administration.