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FCC chair blames Bush administration for DTV problems
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Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps placed blame for the confusion and legislative scrambling surrounding a possible digital television (DTV) delay on the Bush administration, saying the preparation for the switch should have been more focused and sustained.
"At this point, we will not have--we cannot have--a seamless DTV transition," Copps told the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee. "There is no way to do--in the 26 days new leadership has had here--what we should have been laser-focused on for 26 months. That time is lost, and it's lost at a cost. There is consumer disruption down the road we've been on. We need to realize this."
Last week, the House, by a vote a 258-168 vote, defeated a measure to delay the transition until June 12, a bill which had previously passed the Senate unanimously. As of right now, the transition is still scheduled for Feb. 17. Congress is scheduled to vote on the measure again sometime this week.
The transition program was stalled earlier this month when demand for the $40 coupon that Congress had been issuing to consumers to buy a digital converter box had outstripped supply. Converter boxes will allow consumers with old analog televisions to continue receiving television signals following the switch. The Nielson Co. estimates that 6.5 million households are still unprepared for the switch. President Obama had called for a delay and Democrats on Capitol Hill had supported the move.
Wireless companies, notably Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, had paid billions of dollars for spectrum in the 700 MHz band last year in hopes of using the spectrum to build out their networks for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. AT&T, whose LTE deployment plans are not as aggressive as Verizon's, had originally supported a delay, while Verizon opposed it. Verizon later reversed its position and said it would support a short delay as well.
For more:
- see this article
Related Articles:
House defeats DTV transition delay
Senate votes to delay DTV transition
Top 700 MHz auction winners support short DTV transition delay
AT&T, Verizon split over DTV delay
DTV delay could affect 700 MHz spectrum owners
Verizon, AT&T big winners in 700 MHz auction
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | February 2, 2009 - 4:24pm
Michael Copps, you have to be kidding. Blaming the Bush administration for this entire debacle is simply bogus. What about the FCC's part? The television industry has done a great job following your guidelines, giving up inventory in major time periods to promote the switch. Not to doing stories in their local newscasts and producing their own half-hour specials. From the very beginning, the FCC and the television community was believing all of these surveys proclaiming that the word was getting out. The viewers were seeing the spots and stories and claimed to know about the switch and what they needed to do. Unbelievably, in just a matter of months, the news and promotion departments across the country were able to accomplish the impossible. Achieve awareness levels beyond those of their top anchors.
The stations are doing their job, now the FCC needs to tell Congress pound sand. Waiting another few months will not make any difference.
In the meantime, I have a project for you, speaking of confusion. Why don't you crack down on all of these television stations promoting themselves as being HD on their non-HD channels. It's no wonder so many people go out, plop down a thousand dollars and think all they need to do is go home, plug it in and, voila, I'm watching HD television. Why? Because my favorite news station tells me over and over I'm watching KXXX 15 HD News.
When will the FCC ever start hiring people who work on the television side and get some common sense inside that agency..............
Posted by Anonymous | February 2, 2009 - 4:33pm
Funny how an admnistration can put together a $700-850B stimulus package in a week, but cries they need more time to handle the DTV switchover? While I must say the whole coupon thing was just a poor waste of money (why incur all the administrative costs - just contract with some vendors to create the boxes and force the retailers to set the price at $20 (similar to sony's set pricing strategy for their TVs).
Are there really that many people who haven't prepared themselves for the switch? If there are, I wouldn't worry about them - they apparently haven't turned their TV on for the past 6 months.
Posted by HKM | February 3, 2009 - 8:57am
one thing is clear...FCC has become more and more political organization over the years. Everybody is pushing their own agenda rather than what is good for the country. Yes I have been watching the ads for the DTV transition help and if people haven't bothered to take note of it then they deserve to be left behind. The whole idea of govt subsidizing the converter box is complete waste of taxpayer money. Companies stopped making the analog sets long ago and the ones out there need to be discarded anyway for various other reasons besides DTV transition.
Posted by Anonymous | February 22, 2009 - 2:45am
As of this date, I must say I am raelly disappointed with the DTV. While the channels which are available (and there aren't many) give far better quality than did analog tv, there is a lack of quality programming. I get a worship,channel, qubo, kids, create, another channel with Alfred Hitchcock era shows and WB. All other stations have signal problems. Nothing should have been changed until all stations were on the same page with channels and signals.Does this mean that we can't watch our favorite programs on those channels that will not make the switch until June?
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