The US House of Representatives failed to get the 2/3 majority needed to pass a bill that would have delayed the 2/17/09 deadline for analog TV broadcasts. The vote was 258-168 in favor. The Senate passed a similar bill unanimously earlier this week. The 2/3 majority was required in the House because the bill was being considered under a suspension of the rules procedure. The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) said he intends to bring the bill back next week under regular order, which would require a simple majority to pass.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/28/ST2009012802327.html
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Senate delays DTV switch, House expected to do same
Yesterday the Senate passed a bill to delay the date that TV stations will cease broadcasting analog signals until June. The House is expected to pass similar legislation quickly.
The delay is designed to enable more citizens to receive the discount coupons for converter boxes for TV's that use antennas rather than cable or satellite dish for reception.
A mere delay, however, will not solve the problem that some rural West Virginians are experiencing. Those who live along the outer edges of a channel's reception area can at least see and hear a snowy analog image for that channel, but may get no reception at all for the digital version of that channel. So when the analog signals cease those rural residents will no longer be able to see or hear some (or perhaps all) of the few channels they get now.
This access to local TV news, weather, and alerts is especially important to isolated older people. For many of these folks local TV is how they find out about boil water alerts, freeze warnings, flood watches, and community emergencies. This is especially true now that so many of our local radio stations have switched to nationally syndicated content instead of local DJ's.
For digital signals to effectively reach the same audience as the old analog signals they apparently have to be stronger to reach that minimum threshold in the most rural areas.
Hopefully a delay in the switchover will also provide time to identify and address these important issues for vulnerable rural older West Virginians.
The delay is designed to enable more citizens to receive the discount coupons for converter boxes for TV's that use antennas rather than cable or satellite dish for reception.
A mere delay, however, will not solve the problem that some rural West Virginians are experiencing. Those who live along the outer edges of a channel's reception area can at least see and hear a snowy analog image for that channel, but may get no reception at all for the digital version of that channel. So when the analog signals cease those rural residents will no longer be able to see or hear some (or perhaps all) of the few channels they get now.
This access to local TV news, weather, and alerts is especially important to isolated older people. For many of these folks local TV is how they find out about boil water alerts, freeze warnings, flood watches, and community emergencies. This is especially true now that so many of our local radio stations have switched to nationally syndicated content instead of local DJ's.
For digital signals to effectively reach the same audience as the old analog signals they apparently have to be stronger to reach that minimum threshold in the most rural areas.
Hopefully a delay in the switchover will also provide time to identify and address these important issues for vulnerable rural older West Virginians.
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