# Consumer Groups Want Viewer Help During DTV Transition



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Consumer groups weighed in on the digital TV transition Wednesday, suggesting that the government should help defray the costs some TV viewers may encounter if they stick with their analog TV set after the anticipated switch.

Congress is debating a bill that would shut off analog TV broadcasts in January 2009. Unless analog TV sets are connected to cable or satellite TV, they will stop receiving broadcasts after the final transition.

Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America released survey results Wednesday showing 39 percent of U.S. households have at least one television relying solely on over-the-air broadcasting. Without a converter box, those TVs will go dark following any federally mandated hard date for the transition to digital television, the groups said.

Combining those research findings with government estimates that suggest a tuner for receiving DTV could cost $50 may mean a government-mandated transition to digital-only broadcasting could cost $3.5 billion or more, said Mark Cooper, research director for the Consumer Federation of America.

"As Congress weighs what, if any, compensation to provide consumers for rendering their televisions useless under the transition, they should rely on estimates that have consistently found as many as 70 million or more affected television sets," Cooper said. "Anything less will understate the true impact on consumers and leave them footing the bill."

Said Gene Kimmelman of the Consumers Union, "Consumers will already have to bear the inconvenience of acquiring new equipment to keep their otherwise perfectly good TVs working. They shouldn't also have to fork over $50 per set."

http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

I love that line - "Consumers will already have to bear the inconvenience of acquiring new equipment to keep their otherwise perfectly good TVs working. They shouldn't also have to fork over $50 per set." And just how much have the stations spent to transition ?

Besides, the CHEAPEST ATSC tuner I've seen so far is about $200. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2598451


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## KingLoop (Mar 3, 2005)

> Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America released survey results Wednesday showing *39 percent* of U.S. households have at least one television relying solely on over-the-air broadcasting.


That number is too misleading.

A lot of people still had cars that took leaded gas when they stopped making it. So, what did those people do if they still wanted to use their cars? They bought the required additive. If people chose not to buy a digital TV then that is their choice. If they wish to continue the use of that TV, they need to buy the required hardware. It's over 3 years away. I don't want to subsidize the purchase of a digital tuner to everyone that doesn't want to subscribe to cable or DBS. Granted, not everyone can afford cable or DBS, I understand that. How did they get a TV. TVs aren't free. Why should the transition to digital broadcasts be free?


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## jpurkey (May 15, 2003)

I believe it has something to do with people no longer being able to receive emergency broadcasts, news, weather alerts, etc. Of course, there is still radio, but I guess that just isn't the same.


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

Ya know i'm one of those people who have an older TV that can't tune in digital OTA signals and I do only have that one TV in my house. That being said I think three years warning is plenty! Not too mention that they've been talking about this for years for anyone that has bothered to pay attention. I mean knowing that you're going to have to replace your TV in three in a half years should give you plenty of time to save your pennies. Not to sound cruel, but if that's not enough time to save up for that TV, I guess you don't get to watch TV. A little harsh maybe but people are acting like being able to watch TV is some kind of right. No, being able to watch TV is a privilege you earn when you have enough money to buy the necessary equipment to do so. And guess what? That necessary equipment is changing as of 2009, here's your advanced warning. Anyone who's bought a computer knows that you have to get a new one every few years at least just to keep up with technology. And we don't have people running to congress to help those who are less fortunate to pay for computer upgrades when theirs is out of date. So finally we have to replace our TV because they need to keep up with current technology and standards and you have three and half years to do it doesn't seem too outrageous to me.


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## Dave (Jan 29, 2003)

So what happens to the individuals purchasing a new TV set right now? In three (3) years it will still be like a new TV set. Are you telling them to throw it out if it is being used for OTA? Then we come to the second part. When and if the manufacturers and I mean all of them, are they going to be required to put out new Digital only TV's? You can not blame the public for the manufacturers fault. So yes I think the government should buy all the consumers a Digital tuner or a New TV. I know you would rather spend your tax dollars somewhere else. But as I said they can not buy a new TV today with the Digital Tuners installed at a reasonable cost. Congress get out your check and do the right thing.


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## Mike500 (May 10, 2002)

I'd mandate the local channel providers to pay for the ATSC tuners for NTSC sets as part of their licensing fee. 

They charge the dbs providers a sizeable fee for dbs retransmission rights to local channels, don't they?

Eddie Fritts of the NAB complains and complains on this OTA matter. So, let him pay for it. They have obstructed dbs retransmission over and over again. Otherwise, don't renew their licenses.


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## nostar (Jun 22, 2003)

Mike500 said:


> So what happens to the individuals purchasing a new TV set right now?


Don't buy one right now unless it has a digital tuner!

The retailers should warn people of the impending analog shut off.

As the cutoff approaches the price of digital tuners will come down. Yes, the cheapest digital tuner I've seen right now is ~$200.00, but you don't need one right now.

Digital TV is far better than analog in almost every respect and the sooner they shut off analog the better.


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

Dave said:


> So what happens to the individuals purchasing a new TV set right now? In three (3) years it will still be like a new TV set. Are you telling them to throw it out if it is being used for OTA? Then we come to the second part. When and if the manufacturers and I mean all of them, are they going to be required to put out new Digital only TV's? You can not blame the public for the manufacturers fault. So yes I think the government should buy all the consumers a Digital tuner or a New TV. I know you would rather spend your tax dollars somewhere else. But as I said they can not buy a new TV today with the Digital Tuners installed at a reasonable cost. Congress get out your check and do the right thing.


Be smart enough to buy a TV with a digital tuner if it's going to be used for watching OTA. More than three years notice is plenty. Sorry but I don't think congress should be using our money for anything but necessities and despite what some people seem to think being able to watch TV is a luxury. Our government is already way too big and bloated and spending more money than we have putting us further and further into debt. We shouldn't be looking for more things for congress to be spending our money on but less and if we are going to spend more tax money I think there's more important things than making sure people can watch tv. :soapbox:


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

nostar said:


> Don't buy one right now unless it has a digital tuner!
> 
> The retailers should warn people of the impending analog shut off.
> 
> ...


I'd bet salespeople do not warn paople of the old & new cutoff date. I still say millions of people don't know about it, like my aunts in Buffalo. I asked them if they have heard about it & they said they just bought a new 19" analog TV and new rabbit ears. They said nobody said nothing about digital & HDTV.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

Dave - Already being done - the FCC has mandated a schedule for TVs already. - Besides - nobody is telling you that you must buy a new TV - you can buy a tuner box that will connect to your current TV RIGHT NOW, much the same as when UHF was just starting out .

Mike500 - are you out of your mind ?!? Do you have any idea how much that would cost ?!?

No, the stations have already (supposed to have anyway) put forth their expense to buy new facilities - buying your ATSC tuner is the CONSUMER'S obligation to this.


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## Dave (Jan 29, 2003)

Scooper- I realize what is going to happen. I also keep up to date on most things about TV through this and other forums. I have a Dish 510 and a 301 up and running. So I have all digital already. What I am saying is the same as others. Everyone in the country is not as well informed as we in the forums are. The do not know that all Digital is coming and they should be ready. All they know is if they can buy a analog TV for $ 300 instead of a HDTV ready TV for $ 1000. They will buy the cheaper TV, if it only is going to be used in the kitchen or kids room. This is why they don't know what is coming. The dealers, circuit city, best buy, walmart or who ever just want there money regardless of what may happen in the future. If you walk into an electronics department of a store do you really think Walmart or who ever is going to train there people to tell a customer that product will not work in three years? No they will not and guess what, they probably will sell the product after the date it won't work. Congress needs to take the lead on this matter and starting now, not six months or three years from now to solve this problem with the manufacturers. But they won't even though they pasted the law and know it is going to happen. They should tell the manufacturers today to either install the digital tuners starting now or include a tuner box with all TV's sold starting today. Congresse has to fix this now. If they don't then they congress are responsible for this mess and they need to fix it in three years by passing out free tuners to all. CONGRESS IS MAKING THE LAW. THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE TO THE CONSUMER.


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## DRJDAN (Apr 28, 2002)

If you talk about needing 30 million digital turner boxes for old TV's, those things should not cost more than $10-15 in that quanity. It is just some silicon chips and a few connectors.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

and some licensing fees for the software,...

No, I think $50 will be about right for a standalone box, maybe $15-$30 additional for a TV.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

And Dave - around here, in the Sunday morning paper ads - 

HDTV Ready = the display is capable, but there is no builtin tuner, get external box / cable box / DBS box for your HDTV tuner
HDTV Builtin = includes the ATSC tuner. Some of these will start to be capable of tuning digital cable too - look for "Cablecard"


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Dave said:


> Scooper- I realize what is going to happen. I also keep up to date on most things about TV through this and other forums. I have a Dish 510 and a 301 up and running. So I have all digital already. What I am saying is the same as others. Everyone in the country is not as well informed as we in the forums are. The do not know that all Digital is coming and they should be ready. All they know is if they can buy a analog TV for $ 300 instead of a HDTV ready TV for $ 1000. They will buy the cheaper TV, if it only is going to be used in the kitchen or kids room. This is why they don't know what is coming. The dealers, circuit city, best buy, walmart or who ever just want there money regardless of what may happen in the future. If you walk into an electronics department of a store do you really think Walmart or who ever is going to train there people to tell a customer that product will not work in three years? No they will not and guess what, they probably will sell the product after the date it won't work. Congress needs to take the lead on this matter and starting now, not six months or three years from now to solve this problem with the manufacturers. But they won't even though they pasted the law and know it is going to happen. They should tell the manufacturers today to either install the digital tuners starting now or include a tuner box with all TV's sold starting today. Congresse has to fix this now. If they don't then they congress are responsible for this mess and they need to fix it in three years by passing out free tuners to all. CONGRESS IS MAKING THE LAW. THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE TO THE CONSUMER.


Thank you for making it crystal clear. I thought the FCC was going to start a public information blitz on the digital transition 5 months ago. But I guess not. This is going to be a mess, when Joe sixpack turns his TV on January 1st 2009 and gets snow. Remember this board & others represents nothing compaired to the TV audience nationally.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

> 39 percent of U.S. households have at least one television relying solely on over-the-air broadcasting.


As I posted elsewhere this is a misleading statistic (as most are). Depending on how they actually asked the question, I would fall into this category because I have a spare TV that's not hooked to a DBS receiver or cable box. It's a spare that I don't use. TV's that are used only for the kids game console ALSO fall into that category.

You see the two underlined phrases above? You see how it can be manipulated?


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

SimpleSimon said:


> As I posted elsewhere this is a misleading statistic (as most are). Depending on how they actually asked the question, I would fall into this category because I have a spare TV that's not hooked to a DBS receiver or cable box. It's a spare that I don't use. TV's that are used only for the kids game console ALSO fall into that category.
> 
> You see the two underlined phrases above? You see how it can be manipulated?


I have a 13" Sony color set sitting on the deck my parents built 45 years ago. Probably 1 in 5 has a set sitting in a shed or a garage, waiting to dead.


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

"They charge the dbs providers a sizeable fee for dbs retransmission rights to local channels, don't they?"
*NO!*


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