Television poised to enter digital age

MAT-SU — We interrupt this newspaper for a bulletin about your television viewing.

Residents who for decades have received free public and network television over the airways capturing analog signals through antennas could see their screens go blank in just over three weeks when broadcasters switch to a digital signal.

After three years of preparation, a federally mandated switch to all digital television is scheduled to happen by Feb. 17. Now 22 days from implementation, there’s a movement in the U.S. Senate to push back that rollout to June 12.

The main stumbling block for the conversion is a lack of federal monies to fund an effort to help mitigate the costs associated with converting analog television sets to receive a digital signal, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says in a prepared statement.

Devices that will convert the digital signals cost between $40 and $75, according to the FCC, and consumers have been encouraged to apply for $40 government coupons that could be used toward purchasing the converter boxes. But that program has run out of money.

“Given that the government’s own program to help consumers prepare for the transition to digital television has run out of money, I think it is only fair to push back the transition date until we can better help consumers adjust,” Murkowski said. “The transition to digital television should be as painless as possible. I don’t think we should go forward with it when potentially millions of Americans won’t be able to use digital television signals.”

In response to concerns expressed by President Barack Obama’s administration, Democrats in the U.S. Senate reached a deal with Republicans last week on a bill that would extend the deadline to June 12. The bill passed the Senate Monday and moves on to the House.

Critics of delaying the conversion to digital television say pushing back the implementation date could cost millions for broadcasters to continue sending both analog and digital signals for another four months.

The Associated Press reports the government, broadcast industry and consumer groups have spent more than $1 billion to educate the public about the Feb. 17 conversion.

“We have been working for almost three years to educate consumers that this is the day,” said Megan Pollock, spokesperson for the Consumer Electronics Association. “How do we re-create that? It will be hard to start over.”

Locally, if Congress moves forward with extending the digital conversion deadline, many broadcasters may still choose to make the switch before June 12, said Lance Hankins, director of engineering for KTUU Channel 2 television in Anchorage.

Although the Senate bill allows to extend the deadline, it doesn’t require it, he said.

“We could still do it by Feb. 17,” he said. “If you polled the stations here at the moment, I think you’d find there’s probably more interest in going ahead and doing it. We would like it to be (Feb. 17), or as close to that date as we can hit.”

The expense and issues in prolonging stations operating both analog and digital transmitters is significant, Hankins said. At KTUU, it’s an extra $3,000 a month just in power expenses. Also, the station has had to back off on its power output of its digital transmitter in the Valley because it interferes with the analog signal of another television station.

Without converter boxes to receive digital signals, people can choose to either not have television or pay monthly service fees for cable or satellite services.

For many seniors who live on fixed incomes, even a one-time $40-$75 outlay for a converter box is not feasible, said Laura McCammon, housing director for Wasilla Area Seniors Inc.

Although the deadline for the digital television conversion has been publicized for three years, many seniors simply aren’t aware of the switch, McCammon said. Those people are likely in for a rude awakening one day when they turn on their televisions.

“They’re just not familiar with what’s going on with the analog,” McCammon said. “A lot of them are not up with the technology. The word is out, but the explanation isn’t.”

Financially, without help from the government coupons, many won’t make the switch, she said.

“For some of them, it’s a huge (financial) impact,” she said. “If they have to dish out another $50 or $60, a lot of them don’t have that. Also, when they do get those coupons, they have to get the boxes within 90 days from when the coupon is sent out, and for some people, it could take more than that long to save up enough (for the difference in cost).”

For other viewers like Valley resident Kim Fitzgerald, whether it happens Feb. 17 or June 12, the switch to digital television could be the prodding they need to either subscribe to cable or satellite service or buy a new television.

“If I don’t get (the converter boxes) then I will be in a rush to buy a TV, I guess,” she said during a recent holiday shopping trip in Wasilla. However, she won’t be happy about it. “It does really smack of materialistic stuff decreeing what we’re going to have in our houses.”

That consumers by now don’t know about the conversion or that Feb. 17 has been the target date doesn’t fly with Hankins.

“They keep saying people don’t know about this or don’t know what to do, and I don’t think that’s true,” he said. “If you’ve spent any time watching TV in the last six months, you’ve seen the crawls, we’ve done several tests, they see the PSAs and it’s in the news.”

As Congress moves toward prolonging the switch to digital television, broadcasters are likely to still follow their original plans, Hankins said.

“The quicker this happens, the happier we’re going to be,” he said. “This is one of those situations where you just rip off the Band-Aid.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.