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TV Switcheroo Leaves Millions with No Free TV

Signals disappear as broadcasters move to new frequency band

By James R. Hood
ConsumerAffairs.Com

June 14, 2009

"Since the digital change I have lost all Cincinnati TV stations," wrote Jerry of Rochester, Ohio. "I can no longer get my local news or traffic reports. I do get Dayton news but what for -- I have never even been to Dayton nor do I plan to go."

"Currently, I don't have any digital signals," said Penny of Roselle, N.J. "No New York mainstays, like 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 31 like before. Moving the antenna doesn't help. Basically, I just don't use it. Why bother?"

"Things went about as smoothly as we could have hoped," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. "It's looking more like Y2K than the Bay of Pigs. Certainly, if we had not delayed and prepared, it might have been a disaster. But with the additional time, resources and actual planning, we put things in order just in time."

Tell that to Jim of Minneapolis.

"Digital TV is pathetic," he complained to ConsumerAffairs.com. "I no longer receive major channels. What does come in is OK. I now get channel 2 four times. (yipee)"

Not since the 1950s have so many tried so hard to get a simple over-the-air television signal. That didn't stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from saying there had been "few major problems" while in the same breath saying it had received nearly 800,000 calls from citizens complaining they had lost their free TV signals as the nation's television broadcasters switched to digital transmission on a different set of frequencies than those that have been in use since the early days of commercial television.

According to the FCC's report, the largest volume of calls per TV household among markets registering 1,000 or more calls came from the Chicago media market, followed by the Dallas-Ft. Worth, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore markets.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

While the focus has been largely on the analog-to-digital transition, the change in frequency bands is a more significant contributor to the problem. And why did all those broadcasters have to move? Because the federal government auctioned off the frequencies formerly used by VHF broadcasters for several billion dollars a few years ago, that's why.

The change is being hailed by silver-tongued government spinmeisters as a great leap forward for average American couch potatoes. But what has gone largely unnoticed is that the same demographic changes that have killed afternoon newspapers and clogged freeways -- namely, urban sprawl -- have also greatly increased the geographic size of local TV markets.

As New Yorkers, Dallasites and Chicagoans have moved ever farther from the city center, their distance from the TV transmitters -- typically located atop such structures as the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower -- has increased.

The unfortunate truth is that the new frequency band assigned to television broadcasters simply doesn't have the -- to use a technical term -- oomph that the old one did. And therefore, those in the far reaches of suburbia are suddenly finding they can't get a decent signal.

The problem, though, is not confined to the burbs. Many close-in urban dwellers have for years been able to get by with a set of "rabbit ears," inside antennas that can pull in a strong local signal. But the new frequencies don't penetrate buildings as well as the old ones, so the rabbit ears no longer "hear" anything.

In many urban areas, it's impossible to erect an outdoor antenna. Multi-story buildings generally don't allow it and, in the suburbs, clipboard-toting homeowners association enforcers stand ready to persecute, and even prosecute, those who dare to put an antenna on their house or condo.

The end result is that, for many Americans, free TV is no longer an option. To continue watching local stations, they'll need to subscribe to cable or satellite services.

Government and big media, of course, generally blame the victims for the failure of huge public programs. And so, FCC spokesmen and such outlets as The Wall Street Journal put the onus for signal loss on consumers. "Shift to Digital TV sends Late Adapters Scrambling," sniffed the Journal.

But in fact, many of those who today are left to reacquaint themselves with the Great Books did everything their fumbling government told them to do, hoping to be ready when the switch occurred.

"I did everything the government said to do," said Ann of Annapolis, Md. "Got a new antenna, bought a converter box and the result? I used to get 14 stations from both Washington and Baltimore and now I get 1 station. One. I have rescanned repeatedly, all day. Moved the antenna around inch by inch in a complete circle and still I get 1 station."

"All the info that is thrown to us from the stations and the government are lies. There is no better reception, there are no 'extra' channels, there is no easy fix. These are just lies. There are far less channels, and reception is just awful if you don't live right under the station's antenna (like I do for the 1 channel I can still get)."

"Truly historic"

Government policymakers declared victory and withdrew.

"Yesterday was a truly historic day," said acting FCC chairman Michael Copps. "For TV broadcasting, it was a final farewell to the Dinosaur Age and the dawn of the Digital Age. We said goodbye to the analog transmission technology that has served us well for the past 60 years and replaced it with something that can serve us even better."

Copps might want to talk to Penny of New Jersey, who has given up on over-the-air TV. Her solution to the government-inflicted problem: "I watch old VCR tapes and DVDs. Or internet TV (which is the only bright spot in this wretched transition)."

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