TV Broadcasters Looking At Public Safety As Justification For Next Government Handout

from the smoke-mirrors-etc. dept

Plenty of broadcasters are still upset over the digital TV transition, in which they lost their analog spectrum rights -- rights which they never had to pay for -- as the FCC sought to reclaim it and put it towards more efficient and useful purposes. Getting the analog spectrum for free, and then having it replaced with the digital spectrum, again for free, was a massive government handout that's formed the bedrock of broadcasters' businesses. It's a tradeoff that's worked well: the broadcasters get the chance to make some money, and the public gets free over-the-air TV. But broadcasters are now looking for another handout, making noise that the FCC should mandate that every cell phone sold in the US have a digital TV receiver in it (via Ars Technica). It's a great plan, according to broadcasters, because (of course) it will make us all safer. The TVs in every phone are apparently the best way to distribute information in case of public-safety emergencies, so we should all have them. Never mind, of course, that when there aren't emergencies on, we can all tune in to great television programming brought to us by our totally altruistic broadcaster friends.

Apparently it's a foolproof plan, because first, the FCC could mandate it (just like they took away the analog channels, we are reminded), and second, Americans replace their phones so frequently, that the life-saving feature could make its way into most of our phones within 5 years. One major oversight in the piece, though: there's no mention of who's going to pay for all of these tuners, which we'll interpret to mean that it sure as hell won't be the broadcasters who will conveniently then rely on them to help generate revenues. If the real interest here is public safety, why not mandate plain old radio receivers, which are much cheaper, and much more easily integrated into mobile phones? Maybe because public safety isn't the real interest?

Filed Under: digital tv, fcc, handouts, public safety

US Switches To Digital TV And The World Doesn't End -- Nor Does Hollywood

from the phew dept

We were quite surprised to find no further calls for delays on the switchover to digital over the air TV from analog -- but we're not at all surprised to find out that the actual switchover happened with relatively few problems. Sure there are some people who are confused or who are having difficulty getting their new converter boxes working properly, but there's been no catastrophic failure or problems, and most of the issues seem to have been resolved pretty quickly. Perhaps the gov't really did need a few extra months, but my guess is that the same thing likely would have happened back in February... or if we had done the switchover years ago. So, now can we put the old spectrum to good use, finally?

Separately, the EFF is noting that (once again) it appears that Hollywood lied and exaggerated its claim that it needed a broadcast flag that would stop DVR copying of digital TV or it would start pulling content off the air. Funny thing... that didn't happen. As the EFF notes:

Entertainment industries like to argue that they "need" DRM to make works available. And policymakers have eagerly adopted this argument. But when the bluff is called, it turns out that the DRM wasn't so necessary after all.

So will our politicians recognize this? Or will they continue to believe Hollywood, everytime it insists it needs some new kind of DRM with legal backing from the gov't?

Filed Under: broadcast flag, digital tv, drm, hollywood, politics, transition

A Few Million Homes Still Aren't Ready For Digital TV Transition... But Don't Let That Stop It

from the bring-it-on dept

The transition to digital TV, and the shutdown of analog broadcasts, is set to finally go ahead on June 12, after a four-month delay was put into place by Congress. The delay capped off a process that's been pretty bungled from the outset, though things seem to have mostly come together over the last couple of months. Still, though, stories emerge about the 3 million or so homes that aren't ready for the transition, despite the time and money that's been spent on informational campaigns about it. It's been a pleasant surprise to see these stories largely unaccompanied by calls for further delays. The number of unprepared homes has fallen by half since the delay was announced in February, and a good way to get most of the rest (assuming they actually care) to follow would seem to be to go ahead and flip the switch. At this point, if people haven't caught on, perhaps it's the only way to get them to do so. And just in case any Techdirt readers are in that 2.8 million, hit dtv.gov or call 1-888-CALL-FCC to get info and/or help.

Filed Under: digital tv, politics, transition

Latest Digital TV Transition Hiccup: Not Enough Converter Boxes

from the best-laid-plans dept

The transition from analog to digital TV has turned into a real mess, thanks to the bungled converter-box coupon program, but also because of the ham-fisted way in which the delay of the transition's been handled. Earlier in the week, it seemed things might be getting back on track as the coupons started flowing again, but today we come to find out that officials are now worried about a shortage of boxes. You'd think somebody might have looked into the supply situation earlier, but hey, apparently it didn't really matter as long as there weren't any coupons. Once again, this illustrates how poorly the government has managed this situation. The coupon plan has been flawed from the outset, and if the government was so concerned about the supply of boxes, it should have taken steps to ensure it would be sufficient long ago. Stay tuned for another delay...

Filed Under: confusion, converter boxes, digital tv

Maybe The DTV Transition Delay Wasn't Such A Bad Idea

from the kill-your-television dept

While most reports say that those TV stations switching their broadcasts to digital aren't seeing many problems, there are some significant exceptions. Like, for instance, a 70-year-old guy in Missouri who shot up his TV (via Engadget) after he couldn't get his converter box to work. Apparently, he'd been drinking, too. Perhaps we need to revisit the transition delay legislation, and ban booze until June 12, too?

Filed Under: confusion, digital tv

FCC Says Not So Fast To TV Stations' Itchy Switch Fingers

from the not-completely-surprising dept

The digital TV transition mess rolls on. After lots of TV stations said they planned to move ahead with the shutdown of their analog broadcasts, as the recently passed delay allows them to do, the FCC is now telling more than a quarter of them they can't do so without first meeting a number of regulations. The FCC contends (PDF alert, thanks to Fat Tony for sending it in) that 123 stations' plans to switch their analog signals off soon pose "a significant risk of substantial public harm," not because people who haven't figured out the switch was coming will miss Judge Judy and Wheel of Fortune, but because they need their TVs for access to "local news and public affairs."

The regulations say that one station in the broadcasters' metro areas must maintain analog service until at least the middle of April, but also that the stations must increase their "educational" programming about the switchover, and also provide both "local or toll-free telephone assistance, including engineering support" and "provide a location and staff for a consumer 'walk-in' center to assist consumers with applying for coupons and obtaining converter boxes, to demonstrate how to install converter boxes, to provide maps and lists of communities that maybe affected by coverage issues, and to serve as a redistribution point for consumers who are willing to donate coupons, converter boxes, televisions and for those in need of these items."

If this didn't involve the government, it would almost be remarkable. The government botched the converter coupon program, has caused more confusion with the delay, and now wants TV stations to set up call centers and walk-in locations to deal with it. What's even more galling is that stations will be forced to toss resources at an issue that effects a small sliver of the population: take the small subset of Americans that watch TV, but don't have cable or satellite, then the subset of those that haven't yet gotten with the program. From those few people that are left standing, will they be any more ready in June than they would be on the 17th, when the switchover was supposed to happen? And why should broadcasters have to devote so many resources to them, particularly when it's the bungled coupon program that's largely to blame?

Filed Under: confusion, digital tv, fcc
Companies: fcc

TV Stations Say Thanks, But No Thanks To Analog Switch Delay

from the anarchy-on-the-airwaves! dept

As was widely expected, Congress voted last week to delay the switch-off of analog TV signals, sort of. It did move the hard deadline of February 17 until June 12, but it is also allowing TV stations to switch off their analog broadcasts any time before then, and many stations say they'll do so as soon as they can, beginning next week. Over a third of the nation's TV stations plan to move ahead with the switch, as planned, eager to shed the additional cost of broadcasting both in digital and in analog. So instead of a hard deadline, some stations will drop off of the analog air next week, others not until June, and others somewhere in between -- a situation that hardly seems easier to understand for the confused and lost among us that the delay was supposed to help. Furthermore, how does this sort of staggered transition help sort out the converter box coupon mess?

Filed Under: confusion, congress, delay, digital tv

Congress Delays Digital TV Transition: Everyone Loses!

from the good-job,-Congress dept

We were a bit surprised when the House rejected a plan unanimously approved by the Senate to delay the transition from analog to digital over the air TV broadcasting from February to June of this year. However, we knew it couldn't last. A little horse-trading and favor-promising and the new bill has won approval from both parts of Congress with Obama expected to sign it (wonder if he'll wait five days for comments?). The end result is that pretty much everyone loses -- other than some grandstanding politicians and the 12 or so people who haven't upgraded and who will upgrade between now and June. Everyone else -- including the folks who still won't be ready when June rolls around lost out here. It will slow down a variety of other important wireless offerings and increase confusion in a market where the February cut-off date was drilled into the minds of millions.

Filed Under: congress, delay, digital tv

More Details On Proposed DTV Delay: This Just Gets Better And Better

from the idea:-bad,-details:-worse dept

As mentioned, the House has rejected the attempt to push through the delay to the digital TV transition that the Senate approved earlier in the week. The measure needed a two-thirds majority to pass in this attempt, which it did not get. However, it did garner a simple majority, which means it will probably be brought to the floor and passed in the next few days. But it's worth looking more closely at some of the details to understand that this proposal seems likely to make things worse. While the general gist of the measure is that it would delay the transition until June 12th, it actually says that broadcasters can switch off their analog signals any time between February 17 and June 12. So it removes the hard deadline date, instead letting broadcasters make the transition whenever they like in a four-month period. If there's already so much confusion over the transition that a delay is needed, how will the switch from a hard deadline to a whenever-you-feel-like-it plan help? It would seem that one way to ensure people find out about the transition would be to let it happen: if people lose their TV signal (and really care that much), they'll take some action to rectify it. Of course, that still wouldn't solve one of the big issues of the transition: the bungled converter coupon program.

Filed Under: congress, delay, digital tv

Surprise: House Says No To Digital TV Transition Delay

from the wow dept

When the Senate unanamously agreed to delay the digital TV transition to June, it seemed like a formality that the House would agree as well. Apparently not. Plenty of people have spoken up about how silly it is to delay the transition, and it appears that our Congressional Representatives actually have voted down their version of the bill, meaning that the transition date is still on for February... for now. It wouldn't be at all surprising to see some horse trading, where some Reps get some sort of payoff in order to change their vote.

Filed Under: congress, delay, digital tv