And now: The $250 million Boob Tube bailout
Scroll down for updates…
Every boob under the sun is getting a bailout. Yesterday? The adult entertainment biz. Today? The digital TV industry.
Unlike the tongue-in-cheek porn bailout, the Boob Tube bailout is happening here and now. Pricetag: $250 million.
A Hill source sent me this e-mail from the Bush administration outlining the giveaway, which provides for a new cash injection to the federal TV converter box fund. Yes, there is such a thing. The fund ran out of money last month:
From: Wieneke, Nat; [xxxxxxxxx@DOC.GOV]
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 3:39 PM
To: xxxxxxxxx
Cc: Wasilewski, James; Popelka, Randall
Subject: Proposed Administration Legislation to addressing TV Converter Box Coupon Program Distribution
Colleagues:
The Department of Commerce is working closely with Congressional authorizers to find solutions to allow TV converter box coupons to resume processing and distribution of coupons without further delay.
The attached language would enable NTIA to resume timely processing and distribution of TV converter box coupons by increasing NTIA’s budget authority by $250 million. Under the Administration’s proposal, NTIA would recapture an estimated equivalent amount from de-obligated funds realized after March 31, 2009, based on an assumption of 65 percent redemption of coupons going forward. The intended effect of this Proposal would be total Coupon Program outlays not exceeding the approximately $1.5 billion funding limit established under the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005.
We welcome the opportunity to work with you on this matter, and to move expeditiously on resolving this problem. Please feel free to contact me or Jim Wasilewski, NTIA’s Director of Congressional Affairs at 202.482.1551, if you have any questions.
Nat
Nathaniel F. Wienecke
Assistant Secretary
for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs
U.S. Department of Commerce
George Will dubbed this federal entitlement the “No Couch Potato Left Behind” program back in 2005.
Here’s background from Wired last month:
It’s the season for bailouts and the digital television switch program is the latest to ask for a little help.
Broadcasters are set to switch to digital transmission starting Feb. 17 but many consumers could be left out in the cold as funding for converter box coupons that can make analog TV sets digital-ready could fall short.
“The expected surge in consumer demand for converter box coupons is occurring and the fact that NTIA now projects it will have to delay or possibly deny the issuance of converter box coupons to consumers without additional funding is of great concern,” says Congressman Ed Markey in a statement.
Congress may need to “quickly” pass additional funding for the converter box program in early January, says Markey.
That means up to $330 million more in funding to sustain the converter box coupon program, estimates the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The coupon program has already been an expensive one. About $1.34 billion has been ear marked so far.
The converter boxes that can make analog TV sets digital ready can cost up between $40 and $80. But a government-issued $40 coupon (limit of two for each household) can subsidize almost all or most of the cost.
NTIA expects to receive about 60 million coupon requests by March 31, 2009. However, the current level of funding can support only about 50.5 million coupons.
When funding runs out, the program will hold out on issuing further coupons, says the agency. “NTIA realizes that this would likely result in consumer confusion and dissatisfaction with the program,” it said in a letter to Congressman Markey.
There are an estimated 300 million TVs in the U.S., of which about 70 million use antennas and require a converter box to switch to DTV. Till date, nearly 43 million converter box coupons have been distributed.
***
I’m telling ya, like I been telling ya: Not long until the NYTimes gets theirs. Latest on their financial troubles at Ace of Spades.
***
Eye-rolling concern from Barack Obama’s compassion police, who consider it an apocalpytic hardship to go without subsidized TV:
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 said the digital transition needs to be delayed largely because 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 Americans — particularly those in rural, poor or minority communities — 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.
In 2005, 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.
Because Congress set the Feb. 17 date for the change, it would have to pass a new law to postpone it. Podesta’s letter went to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Commerce committees.
Obama’s request for a delay is a victory for Consumers Union, which had asked for a postponement of the digital TV shift.
“We are extremely pleased the incoming administration is supportive of consumer efforts to ensure that the poor, elderly and rural consumers do not face economic hardship as we move broadcasting to digital transmission,” said Gene Kimmelman, the group’s vice president for federal policy.
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Crimeny.
At some point doesn’t the public have to wonder where all this money is coming from?
I still can’t believe that there are THAT many analog TVs in this country. Gimme a break.
Oh, and BTW, since when is it a constitutional right guaranteed by the gov’t. that you will be able to watch TV? Outrageous.
Um, not cool. See I heard months ago that people are getting their discount converter box from Uncle Sam and selling them on ebay at a profit. The fund should not get any more cash.
Mtsedge – if you have an antenna on your roof & you don’t subscribe to cable, you need a converter box to get anything.
Why is the Gov telling us we HAVE to go to digital anyway???
Hey, GREAT!
I was HOPING to pay to make sure everybody can watch TV!!
This is insane . . . it’s a freaking boob tube for God’s sake. Tell that brain dead government to stop wallowing in trivia and find something constructive to do with our money.
How else are they going to continue to
indoctrinateinform the proles?They control the masses with the Idiot Box, you know. It’s in their best interest to make sure all the peons are still watching.
Ha – flmom beat me to it!
On January 8th, 2009 at 4:33 pm, MtsEdge said:
Oh, and BTW, since when is it a constitutional right guaranteed by the gov’t. that you will be able to watch TV? Outrageous.
————————————–
Haven’t you ever heard of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of brainlessness”?
Or how about, “give me cheesy sitcoms, or give me death?”
That’s a first for me, Alohaguy, your posts nail it every time. Hats off!
This one may not be too bad since the government is making billions of dollars from auctioning the public airwaves to private companies.
Of course if the auctions were held last summer they would have paid of better. I don’t think a frequency band for real public use will be provided as was asked.
The Right of the People to watch ‘Idol’ shall not be infringed.
Let’s be honest here, the lack of television is a threat to the gov’t. If people lose their tv, they might actually pick up a book, or engage in some other activity that might stimulate their mind or give them knowledge and a better understanding of history and why the world is the way it is, or light in them a fire of curiosity to better understand their surroundings.
An ignorant population is easy to control. Our overlords in Washington know this. Keeping the people satiated with “American Idol” and “Survivor” is good for politicians because when the populace is invested in which dumbass can “sing” the best, they’re not invested in which dumbass is promoting the newest dumbass proposal in Washington, or the various state capitals.
This is very important, and goes hand in hand with the Internet Access Plan the Democrat Party, and it’s giver of party favors, P.E. Obama has suggested.
There is a crisis in America right now, of epidemic proportions. Millions of poor Americans cannot afford to upgrade from analog televisions to the modern digital sets. This is a real problem, that must be remedied now!
Without the distraction of MTV, The View, MS-NBC, and others afford, these unfortunate people may be forced into a life of crime, or actually have to go out and find a job.
Those black-hearted members of the Republican Party must realize that if America’s poor are forced to choose between new “kicks,” the latest CD, “bling,” street medication, Bulls or Kanye West concert tickets, and, yes, even food, or having to buy the required TV converter, they are being forced to make an impossible decision.
C’mon Mr. Prez-Elect…you promised parity. Sign on to this proposal now, and help eleviate all the potential pain that not having an essential service might create.
Isn’t it the government that is forcing everyone to digital in the first place?
On January 8th, 2009 at 4:59 pm, Jay777 said:
Isn’t it the government that is forcing everyone to digital in the first place?
————————————–
Yup – they’re the reason anyone who doesn’t already have satellite or cable needs to get one of those lovely converter boxes – but, as MtStEdge pointed out, how many people don’t have either one of those already?
I have been in stores numerous times (such as Walmart and Best Buy) and have seen what appear to be “undocumented persons” with these vouchers in their hands. I have never seen one person purchase the converter boxes. I can almost guarantee that there is some fraud going on – people using the vouchers for things other than converter boxes.
I am someone who got some coupons so might be biased that said:
my TV works just fine and I get about 8 stations FREE, had canceled cable about
4 years ago. I would have been very content to stay analog as all noncable people folk would have, but nope the gov had to force the change. I look at this as a funded mandate which we need more of as it provides transparency of the cost. Examples of other gov meddling that were not funded and cost
citizens untold piles of cash:
propane tanks made obsolete
air conditioners made obsolete
many more come to mind.
Perhaps ( yes am dreaming ) if more
of the lunatic mandates were funded at
the source there would be less of them. I’ll take some gov coupons for curly lightbulbs too when they take away normal ones!
And the winner of this season’s Biggest Loser is… the American Taxpayer!
suckers.
The way I see it, if the “poor” can buy a 52″ flat screen t.v., they should be able to afford a $40-80 converter box.
What’s the problem. I am getting money for watching TV instead of the other way around!
righton,
MTV nor msnbc are available without cable and will not be with digi-box.
This is not free cable or even close to that. I would be happy to send “the view” to cable tho and get it off my free tv
(note I don’t watch it)
Ronald,
NO you cannot use the coupon for anything other than a digibox and they expire after 90 days limit 2 per address
JBgood,
I am not an expert in this by any means but I think those large screen tvs are digital already so they would not need the converter box. One only needs the converter box if you don’t have cable/sat and have non digitv.
TV – $250m
Big 3 – $23 BILLION
AIG – $350 BILLION and the exec’s took in more than the TV’s $250m
Problem with the math here?
I don’t have cable and I don’t watch
mind controltelevision. I guess that’s why there’s an unmarked van always parked across the street from my home.“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.”
George Orwell
PC Rose in to call you a bigot in
5…
4…
3…
The second I heard about this program (over a year ago when it started, I believe) – I ordered my maximum of 2 “coupons” (they really look like credit cards) to ensure that my $80 of Federal giveaway wouldn’t be claimed. I have no use for them, having had cable-ready TVs since the early 80′s, but I will keep them for posterity – who knows, they might be collectors items some day.
We don’t.
So I can’t get broadcast TV. Big, whippin’ deal. Outside of a PBS kids show or two the kids sometimes watch, we only use the tube for movies (often old B&W ones borrowed from the library) anyway.
I suppose dh will want a converter at some point, but the Redskins are done until autumn, so there’s no rush.
I overheard a woman with three kids in line at the grocery store yesterday, talking to her friend about the new converter box. She was all excited because her old TV was going to “magically” be able to get HDTV. Yes, HDTV!
I got a real dirty look from both of them when I started laughing out loud. I just didn’t have the heart to burst their bubble. And yes, she was using food stamps, in case you were wondering.
It makes me wonder how many people believe that this switch is to digital, not HD?
Southpaw,
I hope you have a tv that will work post the changeover or a radio for emergency notification issues.
right,
my guess is every obambi voter for starters
There is a picture of the “boob” on the lead story on MM.
L
On January 8th, 2009 at 5:30 pm, letget said:
There is a picture of the “boob” on the lead story on MM.
L
————————————
since i stopped watching tv, except a couple of programs, years ago….
they can just pay my WoW subscription so i dont have to turn to prostitution or selling drugs to pay for my world of warcrack addiction…seems fair (and cheaper) to me!
I actually think 37 million people who use antennae and don’t have the box already are probably disporportionately elderly and rural.
From my experience, the poor tend to have no problem subscribing to cable or dish.
OT:
This will make MM bang her head again! If you don’t like the terms of your mortgage stop paying it now:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Citi-reaches-deal-with-apf-14007877.html
Because they’ve already sold the spectrum rights.
Well, if the govt can control what kind of signal must be broadcast, how soon until they control what kind of content must be broadcast?
All this must be in the Constitution somewhere. I must have missed it.
On January 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm, CleanGuy said:
Well, if the govt can control what kind of signal must be broadcast, how soon until they control what kind of content must be broadcast?
All this must be in the Constitution somewhere. I must have missed it.
————————————-
Constitution, Schmonstitution. Look what they did to Burris.
If the Gov’t does not fund this how can they allow the MSM to continue to tell the masses what to think and feel?
And just how many people don’t have coupons?
And just how many people are getting insufficient support?
And just how many people are getting insufficient education?
And just who are the vulnerable?
The only group that is a member of all groups are the homeless. So are we gonna delay the conversion because of the homeless?
I applied for my two free ‘coupons’ but did not know they came with an expiration date.
My mistake was not picking up mail soon enough to discover this. I really have no intention of switching over to digital TV, but the coupons were free.
As soon as I opened the envelope and saw that ‘the coupons’, they are actually plastic credit/debit cards, had expired, I threw them in the trash, unused.
For free, I would have bought the cheapest converter boxes I could find at walmart. Now I’m really bummed I missed my share of the free government ‘cheese’.
You don’t get a second chance, either. The ‘coupons’ can not be re-issued. (Unless that changes.)
Like Werekoala, I got my two coupons and purchased two of the converters right away. I gave one to someone who does not have TV, and have the other hooked up in my porch. It is my money so I got it back.
A lot of old people get it over the air. I worked in an assisted living home for a summer, and the bulk of them do it that way. I was surprised myself.
Funny thing about not watching television, your instincts are more in tune to what’s going on around you.
Example: You can often hear an earthquake approaching before things start shaking.
After Hurricane Katrina, I wonder how many people headed to the New Orleans convention center after they heard in the media that others were doing the same.
During the D.C. area sniper shootings, all of the media outlets were constantly referring to a suspicious white van, misinformation.
In an emergency, I want to be able to trust my own instincts.
Alot of non old people get free tv as well. I got tired of endless rate hikes and funding thru my cable bill CNN MSNBC and other commielib agenda crap. Also canceled netflix and get free dvds from my library.
( free in so far I already paid for them thru taxes )
I agree.
personally, i just stopped watching tv more because of the fact that if i wanted something as horrible as whats on shoved into my face, i’d just go outside and get a sharpened stick to shove in my eye.
Southpaw,
Godspeed
bansharia,
I am really, really sorry that a major technological advance has inconvenienced you. Unfortunately, there are some areas where the government just has to call the shots. Allocation of the radio spectrum has been a government role forever, and I don’t see how it could be otherwise. Does this mean that we must never have any innovation because whiners like you are happy with what you have?
The coupon thing is a boondoggle, but it was necessary to placate people like you. You got your darn coupons and still you are whining.
Are you still fighting over flouride in the water supply? You know — I am sure — that communists were responsible for that little dirty trick. It is real important to keep fighting these battles. Thanks for all you do.
All I have is a 20 yr old box sitting in my den. I think its holding down paper or something. I don’t watch TV anymore. I catch everything online.
TV is soooo yesterday.
Are you ready?
Are you prepared?
OK
RACISSSSSSST
[Did I get that right?]
And for those non-enthusiasts of TV (like myself), the benefits of the new technology can be huge.
I am not an “enthusiast” for TV, but I have one and watch it a little. Actually, I watch it a lot more since the digital thing.
Many people do not seem to realize it but many cable subscribers (perhaps all…I have Time-Warner) can subscribe to only the basic package for about $12 a month and get many additional channels, including HD.
So for a very modest cost, I watch most of the big sports events that interest me in HD and especially enjoy the HD “side channel” from my local PBS outfit. No, I don’t watch their politics. But I love their cooking shows, gardening shows, nature shows, the current India series, etc.
(I don’t think the cable companies want it to be this way, but I understand that they are technically unable to block HD signals from local stations that they are mandated to supply in a low-cost “basic” package.)
Thats fair. I just really dislike most of the programming…and the stuff I do like, i just watch online. for me, its just easier to download a show i like to watch, than it is to mess with the television (and thus, defeating an earlier argument you posed, since i’m all about technology).
From the FCC website: ( http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html )
What the last highlighted part means is that the government can sell off frequencies that are freed up and make money.
One of the issues with digital TV that they don’t tell you about is being able to pick up weak signals. As in you won’t be able to.
With analog TV a weaker signal would have “snow” and “ghosting” on the picture and audio variations, but could still be watchable. With digital TV you either have a good signal or you don’t. It won’t fade or snow, it will just pixalate, freeze, or disappear. The audio may be choppy or not there at all. All this is guaranteed to happen at the most inopportune time.
Happy viewing!!!
BHO wouldn’t want his brainwashed, devoted fans to be unable to see him on TV. That would just be too tragic for words. Another voilin moment save by THE ONE.
An addendum:
That 52″ flat screen should already have a digital tuner. Besides, don’t the housing projects come cable ready?
abstractmind…I am totally with you on wanting to get my video online, although I have yet to find it an adequate replacement for my particular choice of content.
I recently heard Bill Gates, reflecting on his career, say that TV delivery via net was something that had quite surprised him in how slow it has been to take hold. I think maybe while Google was thinking about a great search engine, MS was thinking about internet TV. Not great timing by MS from a profit perspective. Anyway, Gates said that he does believe that we really are poised now for a big move toward internet TV.
As it stands now, I get some great quality stuff real cheap. But I can’t time-shift. So I do feel a little like back in the day when you scheduled your life around the TV schedule. But I don’t do it that much.
This is pathetic. Washington and Jefferson must be spinning in their graves.
Besides just being fed up with Washington’s antics…. I’ve opted out of the contributing to these asinine bail-outs… now that I’ve been laid off I have no income to be taxed… a silver lining in every cloud…
Ignorance and procrastination are the reasons people haven’t switched to DTV yet. Congress passed the Telecommunications Act that started the transition back in 1996, so it’s not like this crept up on us. Yet our compassionate, PC P-E feels he has to substantiate the compulsion to give to the wants — yes, wants — of the people.
Entitlements R’ Us (the jerk store that’s never out of anything) needs to chill. It’s getting really, really, really old. Like New Deal old.
I think Gates had it right, in the assessment that its taken so long to get to this point. Watching tv and downloading content online is easy, and accessible, but still..such delays.
For instance, there are 2 shows i watch during the week without fail. I watch Terminator:TSCC and Bleach.
Fox posts their show online, at such places as sidereel and hulu…but almost never before noon the day after the show broadcasts. To me, thats not a huge issue, but…i’d rather see it sooner. the fact they dont have streaming content for their programs (which i wouldnt think would be hard to do) isnt optimal, but…i’m not picky.
Bleach, on the other hand, is coming directly from japan, so they have to subtitle and translate, causing a delay. but better than waiting 6 months or so for the english version
I think internet tv is just around the corner, either for free or very limited costs. internet traffic and ads make up for costs of placing the shows there to begin with. I also saw yesterday on the news where netflix (i think it was them) is poised to sell televisions with their service already built in so you could use their services and never have to go anywhere or do anything other than turn on your TV. Microsoft, speaking of gates, is looking at that same idea using the xbox 360, though i dont know if its netflix or someone else doing that through them.
Close, but not quite… Yours had way too few AAAAAAAAAAAAAs and too many SSSSSSSSSSSSs. It should be RAAAAAAAAAAAAAACIST! The number of AAAAAAAAAAAs is directly proportional to the degree of racism one thinks the real bigots will think you’re displaying. See?
Quite a few of us, frostrt! I’m not about to pop thousands for a new TV everytime some new whistle, buzzer or flashing light comes down the pike.
Since I watch very little on the telly, I’m fine with the ol’ analog hooked up to a converter. No sense in tossing out perfectly good electronics.
The internet meets most of my tube watching interests, the telly is for those rare times when there’s something on it actually worth watching.
But anyhoo, yeah, I know a lotta folks who are content with standard broadcast and opted for a converter box. You can get a good one from Radio Shack for about $60.
For all intents and purposes it is here, AbbieM. e.g. you can go to sites like Hulu.com and watch some great stuff.
When the networks wise up and start simul-streaming their broadcast online, that will be the turning of the corner.
I expect that PC-based viewing (and HDTVs) will eventually be replaced with an “Internet TV”, a dedicated unit designed for viewing streamed online “signals”.
They “estimate” that a certain number of people are going to need the coupons. How do they make these estimates and how often are they right anyway?
Is there anything George is unwilling to bail out? Seriously. Anything he would say “No way in hell!” to. He’s kind of the reverse of that classic Davie Crocket story from the dawn of the Republic.
“It’s not yours to give,” we plead..
“Oh yes it is,” gloats George the Compassionate. “It’s all mine.”
This is a story about Obama.
And all of these happenend during so called conservative republican presidency and leadership. Now we will see what happens under a liberal rule!!
And how many is “a certain”? I know it’s half as much as 2 certain, 4 times as much as a quarter certain, but how much is “a certain”?
Sounds like Barney Frank math, and him I won’t take to lunch (even though Tera Patrick stood me up)
If the government wasn’t offering $40 rebates, the stupid boxes would probably only cost $10 to begin with.
I wonder what country they’re made in?
As soon as the government stops subsidizing the boxes you’ll be able to pick these boxes up on eBay for $1.99 plus shipping.
The town where I live does not have a TV station.At my location I can not receive either the Dish or Direct satellite signals but can get a few of the old C Band satellites. However it now is almost impossible to find new manufactured receivers capable of getting the 4DTV signals now needed for the C Band. For any one not knowing what C Band is, it was the signal obtained from the large diameter dish you may recall seeing in past years
Will The One pass out some money make the equipment for me so I can watch all the lies the so called news puts out?
Heh – take my word for it, you don’t know how close you are.
I believe this government mandated switch to digital will prove to be a *huge* waste of money for exactly that reason.
This is just another example of government screwing things up. There was nothing wrong with analog TV in the first place (aside from the fact that there isn’t anything on worth watching anymore). A government mandate for low-flush toilets awhile back forced consumers to use more water to get the thing to work at all; government mandates to make cars more fuel efficient have caused gas tax revenue to drop; government (at the federal level, most certainly) involvement in education has effectively served to dumb down America; government welfare and other subsidy programs have forced the deficit into the trillions of dollars; ethanol legislation is causing food prices to rise (and consuming more fossil fuel consumption and wear and tear on vehicles); the sub-prime lending push from government caused a large-scale economic down-turn… and now the government has to dictate the means by which networks will broadcast, then has to bail itself out on a promise to provide consumers with a converter box that they shouldn’t have to buy in the first place. It is insane. The rest of the world (aside from the equally wacky and liberal UK) has a lot more to laugh at us about than who is/was/or will ever be sitting in the Oval Office. And none of my left-leaning friends seem to really understand what it is about these inane governmental policies that is causing a lot of our woes (of course to them, it’s all George Bush’s fault).
Based on what I witnessed in the 2006 election and (even more so) in the 2008 presidential and senatorial races, I have little hope that Americans in general will wake up. We need a Constitutional Convention to repeal the 16th and 17th Amendments, and need to add one for congressional term limits. I’ve heard some discussion about that on the conservative blog-o-sphere lately, but I’ve been thinking it for more than a decade. Take the money, power, and lifetime career prospects away from Capitol Hill, and give it back to the states where it belongs. It will take a revolution to get us there… a REALrevolution; not the ‘Yes, we can’ garbage paraded out in this last circus of a campaign. It makes me so sick to see what is happening to our country.
I haven’t watched much television in about the last four or five years. When the switch to digital happens next month, my TV is going in the closet, never to see the light of day again. Wish I could say I’ll find some comfort in that, but it won’t be long before the government begins to regulate the hell out of radio and the Internet, too. Don’t think it isn’t already in the planning stages. We’re in a real mess here folks, and it will all start to hit the fan within the first 100 days of the 111th Congress.
One of the main reasons for going to DTV is to free up the electromagnetic frequency spectrum. DTV uses a smaller bandwidth than analog TV. The government/FCC controls who can use what frequencies. They will take the saved frequency allocations and sell them to the highest bidder and more that recoup any money invested in DTV.
A 2005 deadline for land mobile radios (walkie talkies to non-techies) in the 150-174MHz range mandated 25kHz channel spacing be converted to 12.5kHz channel spacing. A 2008 dealine for the 136-150MHz range mandated the same thing. The govt then had more frequencies to sell to make more money.
The govt is doing this all the time.
Jbgood & Right_On:
If one gets MTV & MSNBC, it means they have cable, and will not need a coupon for a converter. If one has a flat-screen TV, it also means no converter is needed, b/c it is digital TV. Those of us who can’t afford a digital TV and/or cable are the ones who will be using coupons–you know, us responsible folk who work for a living (while going to school) and don’t spend money on things we can’t afford, and don’t live in cable-ready housing projects (re: Tennessee Dave). The government is forcing us to either buy cable, buy a new digital TV, buy a converter box, or render our TV a big, useless box. Damn’ right they better defray the cost with a coupon. No doubt someone is making $$$ off of this switch, and it’s not us poor, working folks. The classist comments on this thread are disgusting. I watched the campaign debates on TV. My family relies on TV during the Summer and Fall to track hurricanes coming our way, or to just stay informed on national and local news. And by the way, I can’t get newspaper delivery to my house. Newspapers are going the way of the do-do bird, anyway. Any other brilliant, wise, holier-than-thou, or know-it-all observations?
Yup, MP. I been around long enough to see more than my share of the “latest technology” come and go. It’s wise to think ahead before sinking too much money into something that will be outdated before long. Moreso, with the ever-increasing rate of change in technology.
I can’t get too outraged over this, Christy, for that reason. It’s like as if (when?) the Feds were to force all Americans to dump their current vehicles and buy electric cars to replace them, most folks just couldn’t afford to make the switch.
On the one hand, I see the wisdom in compensating consumers forced to shell out money because some ill conceived FCC decree is going to make their bought and paid for TV sets useless…
I’d be pissed if I had to junk my paid for car because CalTrans decided to rip up all the asphalt and replace it all with rail-tracks.
… I’m just missing the part where this dumbass FCC change was necessary in the first place? It’s almost impossible to buy a new TV that DOESN’T have a built in digital tuner already. So you wait a few more years until all the older steam powered TV’s have broken down and been discarded, then you make the changeover and nobody gives a darn. Nobody has to buy a converter box, nobody has to oversee a slush fund, and nobody has to throw funding down the black hole of an “awareness campaign.”
This is an excellent example of Government’s inability to perform tasks (at any cost) that should be left to private industry. The hard part of the conversion to digital has been accomplished; the purchase and installation of hardware and software, testing and readying the broadcasts. Private Industry did all this.
The Federal Government only had to give money away and inform the People that a switch was going to occur that MAY effect their TVs. They couldn’t even do that correctly.
I’ve got an idea – let’s have the Gov’t provide heath care.
Oh, and another brilliant mandate from our government.
All products sold for children 12 and under must be tested for lead and phalates, according to a law going into effect Feb. 10.
THIS INCLUDES SECOND HAND CLOTHING. So if you buy your kids’ clothes from a resale shop, they have to test it for lead/phalates (at a cost of $20-$50k) or toss it.
So in a bad economy, when people are trying to save, our government is passing a law that affects something that saves lots of people money.
Televisions are not cheap. If you purchased something of value and then the Gov’t decided to outlaw that, wouldn’t you be a little pissed off. The Gov’t is forcing everyone to go digital. What business is it of theirs to do this is anyone’s guess, but the fact is, they are eliminating the opportunity for the masses to easily get any info via a television. Many of you take shots at the TV viewing audience, but look at all the wonderful newspapers that they could get their info from if they don’t watch TV…The New York Times for instance. More than likely the folks who haven’t gotten a digital TV haven’t needed to purchase a new television in a while. Although everyone out here has the web, we are not all under 30 and all hip with our new gadgets.
My point being, the Gov’t is OBLIGATED to rectictify the problem that they themselves are causing. Had they left well enough alone, no problem. This helped the broadcasters so that they will no longer have to send out two signals.
I’m surprised they haven’t made the networks pay the bill for the conversion.
The new converter boxes will be magic! It will make your old 9 inch black and white TV into a 36 inch color tube capable of 1080i HD resolution. And you will receive free cable and satellite programming over the air.
In addition, the converter boxes will improve your complexion and remove warts.
The new converter boxes will lower your cholesterol and you will lose inches and pounds without diet, pills or exercise!
Your TV will be able to pick up extraterrestrial transmissions from Alpha Centauri so you will be able to get the Roswell incident updates first-hand.
And when every home in America has a set there will finally be peace in the Middle East!
This is the best thing since other great government programs like “the war on poverty,” the MBT-70 and Spacelab!
I am SO excited!
On January 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm,
I just jumped into this conversation and haven’t read all the other posts yet. But I am starting to get very paranoid right now!! Forgive me for what I am about to say because it is a “conspiracy theory” and will sound like I’ve been drinking the Kool Aid. I am starting to think this entire economic meltdown and subsequent push for trillions of dollars to “save us”, is a gigantic hoax. This could be a huge plot to get us all under the government’s thumb, under leftist rule, where we will no longer have a voice. Then Obama can use that money any way he wants. And we know he wants to create this domestic “police force”, in my mind like the black panthers to tame the masses. He has the media mostly in his back pocket. Half the country thinks he is their Anointed One. Now I am starting to look at this switch to digital TV as another link to the whole thing. It is mandated by the government. Why? Could it help them control the content somewhere down the line? O.K. Tinfoil hat off now. If you think I have gone off the deep end, just tell me. But first, let me say, I am a fiction writer so I have a good imagination.
Ha!! You do realize, don’t you, that half the country probably believes this? The ones who believe that Obummer is their Lord and Savior.
The spectrum is reported to be worth about 10 billion. Of course, not one cent received from the auction of “the public” airwaves will end up in the public’s pocket. It will be used by Congress to buy votes from idiots and morons (Obama supporters).
I agree with you. Many people are looking at this like a freebie or a bailout but this is nothing more than just another government unfunded mandate.
The government has never stopped playing with the electromagnetic spectrum. They have made changes to the way frequencies are allocated since they first started allocating frequences. This is just the latest round in changes and the most major change to the UHF and VHF frequencies ever.
Note to happpyscrapper. Why do you suppose digital broadcast signals make government control of content any easier than analog signals? You may not have gone off the deep end but you are certainly close to the edge!
I know my theories are crazy and are just a product of a lot of current events all converging at the same time. I will get over it. But there sure are a lot of very strange coincidences going on here, starting with that convenient economy collapse just in time for The One to win the election. Things are accelerating. Maybe some of my thoughts are a bit crazy, but some many not be so far off the mark.
This program is a scam anyway. I ordered a couple of coupons to hook up to stand alone DVRs and never got them. When I went online to see what was going on it said I had been sent coupons with serial numbers on them but they had expired unused. They can tell that they were never used, but they still won’t replace them. It sounds a little too convenient to have a policy like that.
Was just reading my Constitution and nowhere in there was there the right to T.V. Could someone help me out here?
I think wareagle82 is hallucinating on the Blue pill.
I’m not one to defend bailouts, but it’s the federal government’s fault that people are going to need these converter boxes, so yeah, it’s only right that the stupid government pay for them. They’re mandating all television be digital, even free-to-air antenna signals.
I don’t think you really wanna follow that line of reasoning, Kairee. Aftterall, there’s no right to highways in the Constitution either.
There’s also no right to go to the bathroom, But I expect most folks can’t hold it in all their lives!
What am I going to do when Blu-Ray replaces DVD?
Will the gubmint start handing out $40 coupons to help buy a Blu-Ray players?
Oh, and Windows 7 might be as big a resource hog as Vista and my PC is old and slow… perhaps a coupon I can used to buy a newer and faster PC?
I’d like an iPhone too…
Amazing what I can find in the penumbras and emanations in my copy of the Constitution.
Really, they should just remove the malarkey about protecting and defending the Constitution from the oaths our dear leaders take.