Congress May Delay Television Digital Switch - I am Not Making This Up

"Delay in analog TV shutdown presents challenges "
Wired (January 23, 2009)

" WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the clock ticking toward the Feb. 17 deadline for TV broadcasters to shut off their analog signals and go entirely digital, analysts say more than 6.5 million households are not ready. Now Congress appears poised to postpone the transition to June - but a delay could bring its own problems.

"To avoid blacking out TV sets in unprepared homes next month, the Obama administration is seeking the delay to give the government more time to fix a subsidy program that has run out of money for coupons that help consumers pay for digital converter boxes for older TVs...."

Oooh-kay.

Let's review.

• For about three years, we've been hearing and reading about
  • Analog television going away
  • Digital television coming
  • In February, 2009
• The federal government has been spending money telling us about it.
• The television industry has been spending money, getting ready
  • And has plans in place, deals made, and people ready to make the change
  • February 17, 2009
  • Less than a month away, now

Now, some politicos in Washington discovered that they didn't authorize enough money to pay for their coupons, so they want everybody else to wait?!

Honestly: How Many People Couldn't Get Ready?

I suppose that there are people in remote rural areas (like where I live), who either didn't hear about the switch, or heard about it and couldn't raise the $50 or $60 dollars it takes to buy a converter box - in three years.

(I got the $50 to $60 price rage from "Digital TV converter boxes: First Look" (Consumer Reports (March, 2008)). I checked a few minutes ago, and I can get a Magnavox Digital-to-Analog TV Converter Box at at Walmart for $49.87, so those Consumer Reports prices should still be in the ballpark.)

My opinion: it might feel good to wait until everybody, everywhere, could be given a converter box - and a television set to go with it, while we're at it. But the other 300,000,000 or so Americans would be in for a long wait. And, we'll wait even longer, if we're going to wait for Congress and the bureaucrats to 'fix' the system. (I'm not cynical: I just think that they don't get things done very fast over there.)

I've written about this before:

• "Analog-to-Digital Television Switch: Oh No! How Will I Ever Afford a New Television Set?!"
  (January 8, 2009)
• "Analog-to-Digital Television Switch Coming February 17 - Or Not"
  (January 8, 2009)