Archive for January 12th, 2009
What The Analog Shutoff Means To You
Take one: Probably nothing, thanks for reading.
Take two: OMG, in just a few weeks, free TV goes away (um, no it doesn’t).
Take three: What’s an analog shutoff?
In case you haven’t already heard, on February 17, 2009, all analog television broadcasting in the U.S. will cease and be replaced by digital television (DTV) broadcasts. If you’re not aware of this rather momentous news, don’t blame the manufacturers, the retailers, the FCC or Consumer Electronics Association, all of which have fought the good fight and spent many millions to educate the public and promote the DTV transition.
CEA even went so far as to create a “Convert Your Mom” educational program, starring Florence Henderson of Brady Bunch fame as “America’s Mom.” As an aside, we’re genuinely puzzled by the CEA’s seeming fixation on the Brady Bunch, whose theme song was also used for the organization’s CEKnowHow sales training program. Hint to CEA: everyone under the age of 40 and over the age of 41 is rolling their eyes.
Back to our point – the end of free TV. Well, not really. Just the free analog TV that people watch through an antenna, instead of paid cable or satellite TV delivery. Those old over-the-air (OTA) analog broadcasts are being replaced by free OTA digital TV broadcasts, which are also received through an antenna. In other words, it’s an upgrade for everyone, what’s the problem?
Well, if you get your television programs from your local cable company, you probably don’t have a problem, though you might. If you do, it’s up to your cable provider to make things right for you. If you get DirecTV or Dish Network, you probably don’t have a problem. Then again, you might.
On the other hand, if you’re one of the estimated 7% of people in the U.S. who watch TV only through an antenna, don’t receive any pay TV services, and still have an old analog (non-digital) TV, the airwaves will go dark for you on Feb 17. Your TV will not be able to display any programs without (at the very least) a digital converter box.
The DTV converter box is a small device that goes between your antenna and an old analog television. The antenna connects the to the converter box and the box connects to the TV, either through a coaxial cable connection (also called an RF or simply “Antenna” connection), or through the standard yellow-red-white cables for composite video and analog stereo. Feel free to check out Wirewize’s glossary for more information.
The box converts the digital video broadcasts into analog video that any TV can display. The boxes are simple and relatively cheap — $40-70 each. A government program was even set up that would allow eligible households to get up to two coupons, worth $40 each, toward the purchase of eligible DTV converter boxes.
For various political and economic reasons, the analog shutoff date had been delayed through the years (the original date was 2007), but until last week, the Feb 17 date had been firmly fixed. That day was chosen because it falls between two of the year’s biggest TV events, the Super Bowl and March Madness.
All seemed well and finally on its way until President-elect Obama suggested last week that it might have to be delayed yet again. It seems the Commerce Department has run out of money for the coupons that subsidize DTV converter boxes. Obama officials are also concerned the government is not doing enough to help viewers in rural, poor or minority communities with the transition — in other words, the people most likely to be dependent on free analog broadcasts with an old analog TV.
Obama’s call for a delay was met with controversy from all directions. According to CEA, there are plenty of coupons available, but bureaucracy is holding up the distribution. According to electronics retailers, a delay now would confuse the public. The FCC says that a delay would hurt wireless carriers that are waiting for the airwaves that will be freed up by the transition. Public safety groups waiting for those same airwaves are also against the delay. A growing number of lawmakers are for it.
We’ll keep you posted here at Wirewize on other things you ma or may not need to know about the DTV transition. Whenever that is.
# # #
Add comment January 12, 2009
