Delaying The Digital Age

2009-02-03
By Brian Gilmore

The nation’s first digital president, Barack Obama, is resisting the onset of the Digital Era. At least, it seems that way.

On February 17, 2009, we all know what happens: the digital era begins. This means all of those analog television sets many of us still own will not work anymore without a converter box hook-up. Even some cable ready televisions will not work anymore.

There is a huge sign on Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C. on top of the National Association of Broadcasters’ building announcing the date too. This was all mandated when Congress “enacted the Digital Transition and Public Safety Act on October 20, 2005.”  The act declared the analog era kaput on February 17, 2009.  The original end date was December 31, 2008 but with the college football bowl season looming not to mention the Super Bowl, the date was changed.

But last month, as he prepared to take office, President Barack Obama stated that he thought the digital age should be delayed again. Through his transition team chairman at the time, John Podesta, President Obama requested that the analog cut off date be “reconsidered and extended.” When he got into office as President, he got more forceful with his wishes and Congress began to hear him.

The U.S. Senate did pass a bill on January 26 to delay the beginning of the digital era but the House could not muster enough votes to give President Obama his delay.  This week, the House will vote again and President Obama, our digital President, states he will sign the bill into law delaying the end of the analog era until this summer.

But why? The most technologically savvy President of all time wants to delay the beginning of the digital era?

There are reasons. For one, there are still quite a few television viewers who have not converted their televisions from analog to digital. According to a report by Nielsen, the company responsible for our television ratings system, of the over 114 million televisions in the U.S., “7.8. million” are totally unready for the switch that would occur on February 17. An additional 10 million are only partially ready for the change.  This means close to 20 million people will be totally cut off in their homes from television. This is compounded by the fact that the coupon program set up by the government to provide converter boxes to those out there with medieval entertainment systems has run out of cash.

To his credit, President Obama kind of suggested that this is an economic class issue. Those who still need to convert do not have any money and actually need the coupons. They cannot purchase a new digital ready television so the delay will work for them. In his letter from John Podesta to Congress before President Obama took office, Podesta specifically cites “poor, rural and elderly Americans” as the individuals they are most concerned about with the impending change. It is quite possible that many of the poor, rural and elderly mentioned here by Podesta are African-American.

Of course, all of the hard work of the FCC, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the National Telecommunications and Information Association to get the word out and get the boxes hooked up will have to continue for a few more months to get the technologically challenged stragglers into the modern era. And keeping that beloved analog signal going will cost millions to broadcasters.

But don’t complain to the President. He might be the first digital Commander-in-Chief but 20 million televisions is at least 20 million people he can communicate with for the foreseeable future.

Brian Gilmore is a writer and attorney living in Washington, DC