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Re-activateSometimes momentum isn't everything. Despite being approved in the Senate, and backed by advocacy groups including Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, the bill to extend the deadline for the shutoff of analog TV was defeated today in Congress. But advocates, including Consumers Union, are still working to try and pass the measure soon.
With 258 members voting in favor and 168 opposed, the measure fell about 30 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage today. Advocates are asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the DTV extension up to the House floor tomorrow, when it will require only a simple majority vote for passage.
House representatives who opposed the bill cited a number of reasons, including its cost. (An additional $650 million would have been allocated to the program to provide coupons to reimburse at least part of the cost of DTV converter boxes for older analog TVs. Proponents of delay counter by saying the funds are a small percentage of the $19 billion the government is earning from auctioning off the spectrum now being used for analog TV broadcasts.)
As we've emphasized before, the decision—and the transition to digital broadcasting itself—has little or no effect on cable and satellite subscribers. But if you receive over-the-air local broadcasts from an antenna, the transition is important, as we cover in our general advice.
"With over 3 million requests for coupons on a waiting list at the Commerce Department, consumers today have been told they're on their own," Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst for Consumers Union. "We're hopeful that the minority in the House will work with Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats and the new administration to come to a bipartisan compromise and give consumers relief for what has become a federal unfunded mandate."
We'll keep an eye on what happens next concerning the DTV transition—and other issues—in our new "morning update" blog postings. And check back here on the Electronics Blog for help and advice on digital converter boxes and DTV transition advice.
—Paul Eng
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