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Civil Rights Coalition Slams DTV Transition

Advocates say more action, better planning needed

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

July 9, 2008 

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights' (LCCR) report urged better planning, leadership, and oversight of the transition, in order to ensure that low-income, elderly, and minority citizens would not be left without television service.

"For many members of these communities, who too often may be among society's most vulnerable and disadvantaged, free over-the-air broadcast television is a lifeline that, through news and other local programming, helps to keep them informed and engaged in their communities," LCCR said. "It also warns them about potential life-threatening situations, such as dangerous weather or public safety emergencies."

Among the key issues the LCCR noted:

• Consumer awareness of the transition and what to do is still lacking. LCCR noted that the $5 million Congress appropriated to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) was "woefully inadequate" to fund information programs in even a few states, let alone the country. LCCR compared the scope of the outreach effort to a Congressional campaign, noting that"[t]he cost of a Senate campaign in Ohio in 2006 was nearly $9 million."

• The coupon program is problematic and restrictive. The NTIA's voucher program, where consumers can receive a $40 coupon towards the cost of a digital set-top converter box, has several significant barriers to usage according to LCCR. The program is administered in two phases--the first enables consumers to download or receive coupons on a first-come, first-served basis. Once those coupons are procured, the only way to receive a coupon in the second phase is to certify in writing that the household relies on over-the-air television signals and will lose service after the transition. LCCR said that the two-phase structure means that the households which are hardest to reach may not have access to any coupons, and non-English-speaking households may be deterred by the written certification requirement.

• Many television stations and channels will still be inaccessible after the transition date. According to LCCR, "more than 2,900 low-power community broadcasting stations and about 4,400 signal-relay stations, known as 'translators,' which extend broadcasts to rural areas, are not required to turn off their analog signal by that date. Indeed, many of these stations will remain analog after the transition date because they lack the resources to convert to digital broadcasting." Worse, the very converter boxes needed to process analog signals into digital will not pick up many low-power broadcasters, costing them viewers and depriving the audience of needed information, the coalition said.

• There is no contingency plan in place to deal with problems. "At present, the government has no plan in place to rapidly assist those who, for whatever reason, find that they wake up on February 18, 2009 and discover their over-the-air television service has vanished," the coalition said. "Low-income households, seniors, minorities, or persons with disabilities cannot be permitted to lose their television lifelines, even for just a day or two."

LCCR recommended releasing much more funding for outreach on the transition program, and for improving overall awareness of the DTV transition through greater use of government resources, such as putting links to DTV-centric information sites on every government agency's Web site or page.

The coalition also recommended immediate adoption of the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for more organized leadership and measurable benchmarks in the transition.

"The stakes are too great for our nation to let complacency and hubris turn the digital television transition into the Digital Television Divide," the coalition said.

No game plan

Congress has also been pressuring the Bush administration to step up its efforts in providing greater education and resources for the transition, and for addressing the problem of the $40 coupons expiring 90 days after receipt, well before most set-top converter boxes have come onto market.

Although the NTIA admitted that it may need more money to address changes in the program, it has refused to ask Congress to authorize more funds.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, whose agency oversees the NTIA, said that the expiration date of the coupons should not be extended. Gutierrez, the former chairman of the Kellogg Company, compared the coupons to those found on the back of cereal boxes.

"Ninety days is] long enough to give consumers a chance to think about when they are going to buy and what they are going to buy, but it's short enough to force a decision," he said.

Meanwhile, multiple surveys and reports have indicated that millions of households may go dark and lose all television service after the February 17 switchover, and even those who purchase set-top converter boxes may not get full-power digital signals unless they buy additional equipment, such as new "rabbit-ears" antennae.

What you need

The following sites have more information about the analog-to-digital transition:

• Our Dawn Carlson provides a thorough overview of what you need to know.

• Visit the FCC's official DTV site to get more information.

• Apply for a converter box coupon at the NTIA's converter program Web site.

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