I guess that the American people are really more stupid than anyone has guessed. After more than 2 years of public service announcements, innumerable news stores and the insufferable commentary by the talking-heads ‘We the People’, apparently, still aren’t ready for the DTV conversion. The US Senate has just passed a bill delaying the transition for 4 months. Passage by the House is expected as early as next Tuesday.
This is a load of crap — if you aren’t prepared by now 4 more months is not going to help you. It is going to be painful for some no matter when it happens. This is akin to delaying a trip to the dentist because it is going to hurt and you are not ‘mentally prepared’ to deal with the pain.
This approach rewards the procrastinators and penalizes those that planned ahead. There are very real costs to broadcasters to maintain the old analog systems, costs that were to be eliminated come February 17th.
Paula Kerger, president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service,estimates that delaying the digital TV transition to June 12 would costpublic broadcasters $22 million.
These are the same PBS stations that have seen thier public funding cut dramatically over the last few years. Where do they get a coupon to cover their costs of extending the deadline?
Where does this leave Hawaii that has already converted to all digital transmission?
Changing the rules so close to the end of the game will lead only to confusion and additional costs.