Senate Passes Digital Delay Again

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The “on again, off again” Digital TV transition is off again. The Senate voted to postpone the transition date from February 17th until June 12th.

Representatives in the House were concerned about confusing consumers by moving dates and the cost local broadcasters would have to endure to keep the analog equipment running for another four months. Sources say the bill approved last night by the Senate is the same version the House tried to pass on Wednesday - only with a few tweaks by the House.
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Seems they can't make up their minds.. Don't forget they're trying not to confuse consumers.
 
Ummmm...Apparently I'm confused too...I thought a bill had to pass the House and the Senate to be passed? Or is it the other way around (Senate first, then House)?

It's the fault of the lobbyists. Gotta be.
 
This isn't going to hell the situation in the least... The best thing would be to just pull the plug, and let the people so out of it figure out why they have no picture on their own. There is NO excuse for not being prepared by now...
 
I thought that the February date was the cut off and that stations could transition before that if they wanted. If I was a broadcaster then I would just switch anyway.
 
The gob'nment has been dragging its feet on HDTV since the early 90s. Does any of this actually surprise you? I don't think the delay will make an iota of difference. People will still be confused and untrusting. Many people have problems setting the time on their VCR!
 
Out of those 6 million people who don't have a converter box yet, I wonder how many still won't come June 12th?
 
Re-f'ing-diculous. Here we are catering to the Jim Bob's trailer park crowd (no offense to those who live in trailer parks) so they can decide whether or not to be prepared for the digital transition. These are the same folks with dial up we cater to by not progressing our broadband speeds leaving us in 16th place worldwide in that area. 16th?! Are we not supposed to be a leader in innovation and technology? This unofficial "No Consumer Left Behind" program has worked a hundred times better than the official "No Child Left Behind" program ever did! Maybe we need to model one after the other. Thanks again, Congress, for being truly in the dark about something you have never understood and probably never will in this
administration unless something drastic changes. Sorry, gotta log off now to free up the phone line for my sister/cousin and adjust the rabbit earS on
the Zenith picture box.
 
And then we wonder why our economy is down the shitter... it's because these people who has much more important things to do are so stuck on the stupid politics of digital tv... this is a colossal waste of tax payer money.
 
Frankly I think it is an almost criminal waste of taxpayer $$ to hand out these rediculous converter box coupons in the first place. No one is garunteed the right to watch TV. if you can't afford a $50 converter box, then go pick up aluminum cans until you can. Actually I think they are just delaying the conversion until the $650 million dollars garunteed for the digital conversion is available from the new stimulus bill. That's right folks the economic "stimulus" plan is full of pork like the TV conversion money and Global warming research and carbon capturing demonstrations.While many of those are arguably good use of money, they are not in the least going to "stimulate" the economy.
 
Kenworth said:
Re-f'ing-diculous. Here we are catering to the Jim Bob's trailer park crowd (no offense to those who live in trailer parks) so they can decide whether or not to be prepared for the digital transition. These are the same folks with dial up we cater to by not progressing our broadband speeds leaving us in 16th place worldwide in that area. 16th?! Are we not supposed to be a leader in innovation and technology? This unofficial "No Consumer Left Behind" program has worked a hundred times better than the official "No Child Left Behind" program ever did! Maybe we need to model one after the other. Thanks again, Congress, for being truly in the dark about something you have never understood and probably never will in this
administration unless something drastic changes. Sorry, gotta log off now to free up the phone line for my sister/cousin and adjust the rabbit earS on
the Zenith picture box.
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None taken, Almost None do OTA(3 or 4 channels total for OTA-Translator) here as It's either TWC or Satellite and I have Dish, Others have either Dish or DirecTV. We're Good. :)
 
Chiplg said:
Yeah well, that's what no term limits gets ya.
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No that's what we get ourselves for not voting these morons out of the seat.

These are PRIME examples of perfect instances that showcase the ineptitude of senators.

These are the occasions to remember when you are going to vote and are trying to figure out who to vote for and who not. The problem is these people give us SO MANY of these examples, we can't keep up with them.

We need a way to remove these people from office the MOMENT they vote with stupidity in mind. That would keep them a little better in touch with us common folk.

Out of these six million people who are going to be left in the dark.....how many are complaining about the date and that they are not prepared? Zero. Why? Because they don't get exposed to normal channels, so exactly what good is it going to do to push back the deadline?

Flip the switch, let them call in and settle it all then. Their children might get smarter with a few days away from the television sets.
 
Wait, I thought the Senate was the smart half?

Yeah: the ability to watch TV is not a right that has to be protected, lol...Maybe people will get off their bum after they find out their TV doesn't work.

The coupon thing was nice....in a stable economy.

Thought I'd join the bashing; it's always nice to be part of a herd. :D

~Ibrahim~
 
Do you think they are doing it on the bases of its a good thing to go ahead as planned or on the bases of anything to screw the president?
 
WtBadAss said:
Frankly I think it is an almost criminal waste of taxpayer $$ to hand out these rediculous converter box coupons in the first place. No one is garunteed the right to watch TV. if you can't afford a $50 converter box, then go pick up aluminum cans until you can.
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No it's not a right. But you can't exactly tell someone all of a sudden that they have to $50 to get the same exact TV service they've had for free for eons. This change doesn't benefit the consumer so it's completely understandable for it to be subsidized. Now they've had way too long to see this coming so delaying it further is not only a waste of time and money but it won't make a difference. The same people who haven't switched by now still wouldn't have switched by June.
 
trinibwoy said:
No it's not a right. But you can't exactly tell someone all of a sudden that they have to $50 to get the same exact TV service they've had for free for eons. This change doesn't benefit the consumer so it's completely understandable for it to be subsidized. Now they've had way too long to see this coming so delaying it further is not only a waste of time and money but it won't make a difference. The same people who haven't switched by now still wouldn't have switched by June.
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They had no obligation in the first place to provide free tv over the air. If technology evolves and changes, the government has no obligation to use our tax money to prop up people who don't stay current with the technological climate. Where the hell do you get the idea that the government has to use MY money to give other people something so they can watch TV? It's nothing more than a collectivist nanny state ploy.
 
The government is really borrowing money from the taxpayers to fund the coupon program. They will make billions back by selling off the frequencies. So I really don't have any problem with the coupon program at all except that the coupons expire too quickly.
 
bigstusexy said:
Do you think they are doing it on the bases of its a good thing to go ahead as planned or on the bases of anything to screw the president?
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It's the president's own party that's pushing this. Thanks for playing though.
 
spatula said:
I thought that the February date was the cut off and that stations could transition before that if they wanted. If I was a broadcaster then I would just switch anyway.
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As far as I know that is correct. I know some areas already went all digital as part of the testing phases. I dont' think that the stations HAVE to wait till the cut off date, they just had to be done by then. However since that will cost them viewers most are probably going to wait till the last moment to keep their numbers as high as possible.

plinko said:
The gob'nment has been dragging its feet on HDTV since the early 90s. Does any of this actually surprise you? I don't think the delay will make an iota of difference. People will still be confused and untrusting. Many people have problems setting the time on their VCR!
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HDTV and Digital TV are not the same thing. This crossover has nothing to do with HDTV.

Gott said:
Out of those 6 million people who don't have a converter box yet, I wonder how many still won't come June 12th?
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5,999,999,990 of those
 
snowcat said:
The government is really borrowing money from the taxpayers to fund the coupon program. They will make billions back by selling off the frequencies. So I really don't have any problem with the coupon program at all except that the coupons expire too quickly.
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It doesn't matter. Money lost as a tax payer is still money lost.
 
Ockie said:
And then we wonder why our economy is down the shitter... it's because these people who has much more important things to do are so stuck on the stupid politics of digital tv... this is a colossal waste of tax payer money.
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+1 to that. Total waste.....
 
w1retap said:
They had no obligation in the first place to provide free tv over the air. If technology evolves and changes, the government has no obligation to use our tax money to prop up people who don't stay current with the technological climate. Where the hell do you get the idea that the government has to use MY money to give other people something so they can watch TV? It's nothing more than a collectivist nanny state ploy.
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Actually they do, it's called the Emergency Broadcast System which everyone in this country is obligated to have access to. It's a product of the Cold War where if there was an ICBM launch, the EBS would kick on the OTA TV and radio so people could duck and cover. Now it's used for weather alerts too.

Ignorance is bliss and free OTA tv isn't a liberal idea.
 
spatula said:
I thought that the February date was the cut off and that stations could transition before that if they wanted. If I was a broadcaster then I would just switch anyway.
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All the stations went digital in Hawaii on Jan. 15th

At the last place I was living at before i moved out at the end of Dec., my roommates were still using rabbit ears. So I guess they qualify as those "unprepared" people.
 
Are the people that this is really for going to live until the deadline?
 
oscrogo said:
Actually they do, it's called the Emergency Broadcast System which everyone in this country is obligated to have access to. It's a product of the Cold War where if there was an ICBM launch, the EBS would kick on the OTA TV and radio so people could duck and cover. Now it's used for weather alerts too.

Ignorance is bliss and free OTA tv isn't a liberal idea.
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Last time I checked radios still worked.
 
kirbyrj said:
Last time I checked radios still worked.
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Who's listening to radio's all the time in their homes (outside of the blind for you nitpickers)? It's not the 30's. I'm not saying I agree with putting it off, people had enough time to convert over and the gubment were giving converter boxes out for free. The people who haven't switched over have no one to blame but themselves.

My argument is that everyone has a right to free OTA TV because of EBS and that's a fact...it isn't a political issue that some people are ignorantly making it out to be here.
 
oscrogo said:
Who's listening to radio's all the time in their homes (outside of the blind for you nitpickers)? It's not the 30's. I'm not saying I agree with putting it off, people had enough time to convert over and the gubment were giving converter boxes out for free. The people who haven't switched over have no one to blame but themselves.

My argument is that everyone has a right to free OTA TV because of EBS and that's a fact...it isn't a political issue that some people are ignorantly making it out to be here.
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I respectfully disagree that TV is included as a fundamental right of an American. I understand the argument of EBS, but there are ways other than TV to get an EBS message out.
 
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