JANUARY 8, 2009, 3:19 P.M. ET Obama Pushes for Digital-TV Delay
By AMY SCHATZ Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123144336503065213.html WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama's transition team asked Congress Thursday to consider delaying the U.S.'s planned Feb. 17 switch to digital-only television, citing concerns about consumer readiness for the transition. "We have discovered major difficulties in the preparation for the February 17 conversion," wrote John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama transition team in a letter to congressional leaders Thursday. "In addition, the government's programs to assist consumers through the upheaval of the conversion are inadequately funded." The Obama team asked Congress to reconsider the Feb. 17 analog cut-off date and push it back further into 2009. On Monday, Bush administration officials announced that a $1.5 billion coupon program to help consumers buy digital boxes needed to keep older TVs working after the switch is running out of money. Consumers who apply for coupons now are being put on a waiting list, but administration officials acknowledged there was no assurance that consumers who apply now would get the $40 coupons before the switch. They urged consumers to buy at least one set-top converter box, which retail around $50 to $80, without a coupon. Congressional leaders were already considering pushing back the digital conversion date by three or four months. They're also looking at how to add more money to the troubled government coupon program quickly. "Considering the federal treasury is going to book nearly $20 billion in revenue from the DTV spectrum auction, we think this is the right move. Consumers shouldn't have to pay for this transition they didn't ask for," said Chris Murray, senior attorney at Consumers Union, which recommended a delay on Wednesday. ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
