Now Hear This Newsletter, September 25, 2008 Posted by Bob at 09/25/08 12:56 PM

Back in May we told you about Tom Allibone, a longtime telecommunications consultant who had appointed himself an “FCC Deputy,” looking out for his fellow consumers in the runup to the national transition to digital broadcasting next February.

DeputyTom told us his own personal tale of trying to be ready for the DTV transition. In a nutshell, he is facing a total bill of $650 to buy a new, high-tech antenna and get it installed so he can continue to get the same channels he now watches just fine with his old analog TVs.

He concluded with these words: “The government claims that this should go smoothly… and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars for us to drink the Kool-Aid – only to find out that it's now undrinkable purple stuff for millions of customers.”

Luckily for consumers, Deputy Tom has stayed on the job since then and he is out with a new report this week that should send chills down the spine of anyone who depends on over-the-air free television – and hopefully the government officials in charge of the transition.

After his original report and an article in the local newspaper, Tom started hearing from his neighbors in Hunterdon County, NJ, which is located about 60 miles from both Philadelphia and New York City. The county’s residents have always been able to receive analog TV signals from both cities without much problem, but it appears that won’t be the case when the national switchover to DTV occurs next February.

One Hunterdon resident who has been able to receive more than a dozen major network stations from Philadelphia and New York with no problem with his old analog equipment and a large rooftop antenna reports being unable to pick up any of those stations with his digital converter box, with the exception of PBS. In fact, he gets three different versions of his local PBS station with his DTV equipment, but nothing else.

Deputy Tom says he is getting similar reports from dozens of other Hunterdon residents. Nearly all who are hooking up and testing their digital converter boxes are finding they can’t get any of the New York stations they now get in analog. A few are getting some Philadelphia stations with their digital converter boxes, but fewer than they did with standard analog equipment.

Deputy Tom says he is afraid there are hundreds or even thousands of communities like Hunterdon County where the digital transition could be a disaster. He particularly worries about senior citizens who depend on free over-the-air television as their primary link to the outside world, particularly during emergencies.

So do we.

Earlier this month there was test switchover to DTV in Wilmington, NC. In recent testimony before Congress, Federal Communications Commission Kevin Martin said in essence the Wilmington test had been a success, with relatively few problems.

As we've said in earlier blogs, there is a very big problem with touting what happened in Wilmington as a fair bellwether of what will likely happen when the nationwide switchover actually occurs next February. The Wilmington market is quite small and has relatively few people who depend on over-the-air broadcasting. It’s also extremely flat, which means broadcast signals there are able to travel long distances and remain strong.

Places like Hunterdon are more typical, with hills and big buildings that get in the way of broadcast signals and makes reception more difficult.

In places like Hunterdon there is a good chance the whole community will lose its over-the-air broadcasting, not just a few folks scattered around the countryside.

We hope the government officials at the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Commerce will stop patting themselves about what happened in Wilmington and truly tackle the huge problems the DTV transition is likely to create in places like Hunterdon.

comments (6)

1 Posted by David Michael at 09/25/08 02:05 PM

The transition to digital should be allowed to happen. BUT the analog signals should be REQUIRED to be available for another twenty years until all the analog televisions have expired from old age. It is a travesty that millions are being shortchanged for the enrichment of the moguls of media.

2 Posted by lynn at 09/25/08 07:11 PM

amen. those who are close to major cities will be okay, i hope. fcc should run tests in rural, mountain and desert areas away from the 'big cities' and tell the folk if that's a success. unbelieveable paying $650 to get something that has been relatively free. people on cable and satellite should be okay.

3 Posted by Chantelle at 09/27/08 12:46 AM

Since when is it Constitutional or legal for the US Federal Governmnet (and its entities) to OWN and control the air waves in the first place ?! Why is everyone just accepting this take over of free air? WE sure have become obedient robotic sheeple ! Gov't speaks, we say "yes master" ! Gov't just dreams up "laws" and we bow to them without question !

4 Posted by Michael McReynolds at 09/27/08 07:54 AM

The government want's digital T.V. badly. Why? Because they can get 10 digital channels in the same air space (bandwidth) as one analog channel. This means 10 times the money for them. They charge a Hefty sum of money (tax's) for each channel on the airwaves.

5 Posted by twift1 at 10/08/08 10:21 AM

no doubt this a appreciable steps but many of the viewers still take time to adopt it completely.

6 Posted by twift1 at 10/08/08 10:23 AM

What ever the govt is going to do, but it will take the time to wipe out all the analog set with the digital one-perhaps people are more obsessed with the later one.