Hope everyone had a restful holidays.  We’ll need the rest, it looks like.

Problem one, which just broke today, and which I thought would never happen: The government is setting up a waiting list for converter boxes.

Back in 2007, the government announced it would be giving each household in the United States two coupons to help pay for digital adapters, made necessary by the February 17, 2009 transition from analog to digital television. But with the program now running out of cash, the government has announced they’ll be putting those who need the coupons on a waiting list. According to the Associated Press, the waiting list was created by the NTIA on Sunday after the program hit a $1.34 billion funding limit set by Congress. Nielsen estimates that as of December, 6.8 percent of the 114 million U.S. households with televisions remained completely unready for the digital transition.

Problem two: In Chicago, based on informal estimates, it would appear that a third of potentially-affected households are ready for the conversion. Nielsen has released the number 230,000 households are unready. Assuming the number is correct, we’re talking about households — the number of people affected stands to be larger, perhaps much larger. We’ve been working with an (unsteady, but as reliable as we can gather) estimate of 630,000 people affected in Chicago. Considering that there’s about four to five people per household, the number we’ve been using could well be an undercount.

Happy new year.

There’s now a Facebook group for DTVRedAlert.org:

Some 50 million people in the United States — perhaps a fifth of all Americans — stand to be affected. It hasn’t happened yet, and yet it has already been referred to as a “crisis”, a “fiasco”, a “train wreck”, and “the mother of all consumer backlashes”. What are we talking about in such dire terms?

it’s the digital television transition, slated for high-power television broadcasts in the United States on February 17, 2009. It’s where all analog TV broadcasts end, and are replaced by an all-digital replacement. The overwhelming number of people to be affected — mostly poor, elderly, and non-English speaking — rank among the hardest communities to reach to, and for a longtime almost completely off the radar of a deep-pocketed broadcast lobby and revolving-door media policymakers. Solving the problem will take far more than a poorly-thought-of DTV-converter voucher program, where half of the vouchers have gone unclaimed and half of those which were claimed went unused before expiring.

The scale government authorities and the TV industry won’t be ready to cope with, but in the wake of the backlash, media activists and community advocates can present solutions to help, and offer them in the window of opportunity that the DTV conversion could well present. That’s the point of this campaign: to point to what’s needed, and to advocate solutions that can not just solve the immediate DTV crisis, but make for a better U.S. media and media policy.

At a minimum, more people besides commercial broadcasters need to be involved in the shaping of U.S. media policy. Indeed, one main reason the DTV conversion could well become such a fiasco is because different perspectives related to the matter were never considered by U.S. policymakers. Very often, policy on a wide variety of media issues — including media concentration, network neutrality, local video, and local radio, among many others — don’t include the public in crafting. The U.S. DTV conversion is simply the most visible instance of a historically dismal U.S. media policy.

What should we advocate? Some suggestions include:

(1) Tax the commercial broadcasters by 0.5% for use of the public airwaves.
(2) Tax the advertisers and marketers who air on TV by 0.5%.
(3) Take the billions of dollars raised through proposals (1) and/or (2)
(4) Take the billions of dollars raised annually through proposals (1) and/or (2) into a public trust to help galvanize funding for networks of public-service broadcasting and public-service media.
(5) Improve the standards for license accountability, including revoking the licenses of one or more commercial broadcast stations or networks and reassigning it to public interest groups.
(6) Reassign the multitude of new digital TV channels that the commercial broadcasters are presently hoarding to public interest groups or initiatives.

And of course:

(7) Provide free convertor boxes for all Americans who need them, complete with installation.

Breaking development: Obama tells NAB and NCTA to put or shut up…

At a meeting in Washington last Friday, Obama transition team officials demanded that broadcasters and cable operators establish or help fund call centers to handle the anticipated flood of complaints and questions in the wake of the analog cut-off on Feb. 17, 2009.

The transition officials, led by one-time National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Tom Wheeler, had invited representatives of the broadcast, cable and consumer electronics industries to the meeting to discuss what needs to be done to ensure a smooth and successful DTV transition.

According to industry sources, Wheeler, who heads the Obama review group looking at the FCC and other agencies, suggested that it makes sense for the various segments of the TV industry to pick up the tab for the call centers.

Broadcasters are the beneficiaries of billions of dollars worth of free spectrum and cable operators are gaining more subscribers because of the DTV transition, he said. He also noted that the consumer electronics industry is reaping billions of dollars from the sale of DTV products.

It may still be a matter of too little, too late — but still, it’s refreshing to see some proactive measures rather than the half-assed pro-corporate-regulation crowd we’ve seen too much in recent years.

Update: There’s this too:

“I think the most important thing is to continue to report on the transition to keep it in front of the new administration,” said Mark Lloyd, VP of strategic initiatives for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The group is worried that some people could lose their TV service in the transition. “This is a serious issue. For many Americans, over-the-air TV is a lifeline. It is the most relied-upon source of news and emergency information,” Mr. Lloyd said. “While the broadcasters, the FCC, the Commerce Department’s coupon program have been very helpful, there are still too many Americans who are at risk.”

This is a (much belated) post about one of the FCC “town halls” held in Chicago — part of the 81-city DTV whistlestop tour which we have criticized on this blog, yet which members of Chicago Media Action attended.

The quality of each stop on the tour amounts to the luck of the draw as to which commissioner is drawn: Do you get one of the two quality Democrats, or do you get one of the varying quality (and for the moment, majority) of Republicans? Did Chicago draw someone like Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, who made a great stop in San Francisco as was blogged here on this website and who helped make the stop actually worthwhile? Or would it draw someone like Republican Deborah Taylor Tate, who came to Atlanta and basically told people to shut up and watch TV.

And Chicago’s number draws — Deborah Taylor Tate. Rapture.

So, we’re stuck with Deborah Taylor Tate — the least experienced FCC commissioner, and unfortunately the most dumb. The town hall at the Copernicus Senior Center was, admittedly, packed. Hundreds of people, mostly (older) folks who live at the center, not to mention about four corporate camera crews. Oh, and there were signs and displays by Dish Network and Comcast, because, hey, what’s a government program for if not for making money at public expense?

There were gobs of questions asked, but unfortunately most of the questions centered around the technical details of the DTV conversion program, or about DTV convertor boxes themselves. Still, some very pointed questions did get asked, which did poke some critical holes in the DTV program. Among them:

* My DTV coupon expired yesterday. What do I do? (Answer: Find a friend who has a coupon they’re not using and ask if they can give it to you. No, seriously.)

* A blind person at the event asked: What about blind people who use TVs as radios of a sort and are in no position to install their digital convertor box themselves? (Answer: Shrugged shoulders. Get a friend to help you install the box, I guess.)

I asked a question:

There’s a concern that I have about whether or not the people who need access to convertor boxes or television access is going to get it. In Chicago alone, about six hundred and thirty thousand people are going to be affected. And my fear is that, even though you’re doing this event, which is great, and you’ll be doing another event later, which is great, and this event might get on the news — is that going to be enough? I’m just afraid that it’s not, and I’m wondering if you can comment on that please.

The response from the moderator:

Kate McAdams is here from the Mayor’s Office, so Kate and I know the commitment of the Mayor is to make this available to all 632,000 of those individuals.

Kate McAdams:

Yes, this is a very important issue. That’s why all senior centers are going to help you. Also, Commissioner Norma Reyes of the Department of Consumer Services, who could not be here — this is something she and her staff have been working diligently on. And in terms of the response, we just learned one really important fact about them [presumably, the DTV convertor coupons] — that there is an expiration date. So once you receive them, you should use them. Also, we learned that if you don’t use them, you can give them to a friend or family member or if you don’t need to, you can give them away. I brought mine here for that reason. I’m glad Attorney General Madigan brought that woman to the front. I’m happy to give her mine. But there’s one other important point — I know you’ve been learning a lot, but here’s one more point — that when you get your coupon, it’s for forty dollars. And most of the convertor boxes are around sixty dollars, so when you go to the store and you go to purchase your convertor box, you’ll end up paying about twenty dollars. Now, you’ll…want to make sure that you’re only paying sales tax on that remainder, that twenty dollars. You don’t want to pay tax for sixty. In the state of Illinois, that is the rule, so you’ll only be paying sales tax on that about twenty dollar remainder. So keep your eye out. You only want to be paying about four or five dollars in sales tax. So that’s all I have from me, and I just wanted to thank you all for being here.

Excuse me? Are you seriously giving us this patronizing non-response? Is this a senior center or kindergarten? And well done dodging the issue, Kate. I was afraid you might actually answer the question.

This website is a spinoff of Chicago Media Action, and the FCC’s DTV Whistlestop tour comes to Chicago this week:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 13, 2008
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Susan Fisenne (202) 418-2502, Email: Susan.Fisenne (at) fcc.gov

COMMISSIONER TATE TO VISIT CHICAGO, ILLINOIS FOR DTV OUTREACH Visit is Part of Nationwide Tour Focusing on Markets with High Levels of Over-the-Air Television Viewers

Washington, DC–FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate announced she will visit Chicago, Illinois, on November 21st to hold two Town Halls on the digital television (DTV) transition. This visit is part of an extensive nationwide initiative the Commission has launched to increase awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television.

WHO: FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate
WHAT: Town Hall on the DTV Transition
WHEN: Friday, November 21, 2008, 9:30 AM-10:30 AM
WHERE: Northwest (Copernicus) Senior Center
3160 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
RSVP: Merrie Star, Regional Director
312-744-6681(voice)
312-744-0321(TTY)
Email address: mstar (at) cityofchicago.org

WHO: FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate
WHAT: Town Hall on the DTV Transition
WHEN: Friday, November 21, 2008, 2:00PM –3:00PM
WHERE: Kennedy-King College
The Black Box Theater
740 West 63rd Street
The U Bldg (Between Halsted Street and Green Street)
Chicago, Illinois, 60621
Free parking is available in any of the four school parking lots
RSVP: Marv Dyson
773-602-5544
Email address: Marvdyson (at) aol.com

The FCC identified target television markets for specific DTV outreach, including all those markets in which more than 100,000 households or at least 15% of the households rely solelyon over-the-air signals for television reception. The five FCC Commissioners and senior Commission staff will visit these and other markets to raise awareness and educate consumers in the days leading up to the DTV transition on February 17, 2009.

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Include a description of the accommodation you will need with as much detail as possible. Also include a waywe can contact you if we need more information. Please provide as much advance notice as possible; last minute requests will be accepted, but maybe impossible to fill. Send an e-mailto fcc504 (at) fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).

News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the Commission’s web site www.fcc.gov

From Gizmodo:

One email that arrived a while back had an interesting discussion of the broadcast digital TV conversion and its connections to cable television and PEG [public, educational and government] cable channels. The email is worth sharing, I think, so here it, reposted below:

The DTV transition date for Feb 2009 only concerns broadcast television and therefore has no direct or immediate impact on PEG and Cable Leased access. Local broadcasters, as I understand it, will still be carried on cable under must carry rules (but likely as SD and not HD channels). Of course cable companies have been misleading consumers into thinking they need to subscribe to cable to still use their analog TV’s - but that’s another story.

The date for cable transition to all digital is set for Feb 2011 (pending further FCC review). Some cable companies have already gone all digital in advance of this date - and that’s where we’ve seen ‘channel slamming’ of PEG channels to the 900 range of the digital band. Depending on the local/state franchise - this behavior may or not be legal (many franchises were written years ago and couldn’t have anticipated this). Same for bandwidth allocations for PEG channels - some franchises wrote in an 8Mhz allocation for each PEG channel under analog carriage (bandwidth which could accommodate up to 4-6 additional channels in the digital band). Some franchises do have provisions for increased channel capacity when the system goes digital - but this is usually no more than double the current amount. It’s unlikely any PEG system will get the full bandwidth now allocated to their analog channels when the systems go digital. And - we expect that cable companies will continue to feed PEG channels at sub-standard bandwidth rates when they can get away with it (they’ll certainly attempt this in digital as they have for analog). I would also be surprised to see an PEG channel be given HD carriage - though those with 8Mhz allocations written into their franchises could certainly accommodate it if allowed to keep that bandwidth.

As for the last question - many PEG systems do partner in programming to some extent - or accept non-local content. Given more channel capacity it’s conceivable more of that type of programming would be possible - but it’s really the call of the local centers to make.

My pet peeve is more with basic service rates. Under local franchises, the municipalities have some oversight over basic TV rates to ensure that low-income and seniors have affordable access to basic analog cable service (which includes the PEG channels). Under state franchises, municipalities lose this oversight and as a result basic service tiers have sky-rocketed. We’ve also seen some of these rate increases in the change-overs to digital cable - with the required basic rate for analog out of the picture, the digital basic package comes in at a much higher cost. But even in areas that still have local franchises and affordable basic rates - getting this info from the cable company is nearly impossible as these rates are often unadvertised, unspoken and left off web sites entirely. I spent nearly an hour on the phone once trying to get at this information in one service area.

take care,

Michael

Exhibit A from the Chicago Tribble:

It soon will be a Bozo no-no to have a TV that gets its picture through an old-fashioned non-digital signal.

So while it was reported here earlier that every TV station in town plans to participate in five-minute tests on Wednesday at 6:53 a.m. and 5:23 p.m. to enable viewers to see if they’re still relying on the analog signal that will be discontinued on Feb. 17, WGN-Ch. 9 is bringing back Bozo the Clown to help out those whose sets aren’t ready for the digital switch.

WGN viewers whose sets are ready for the digital signal will receive on-screen confirmation, thanks to a digital tuner, converter box, cable or satellite hook-up or some other means. The others will get Bozo.

“It’s me, your ol’ pal Boze, a big part of WGN’s glorious past, with an important message for you about the future of WGN,” the clown (played by George Pappas) will say. “If you can see me right now, that means you’re NOT ready for America’s conversion to DTV, digital television.”

Exhibit B from our friends at DIYMedia.net:

WTF? The best way FCC Chairman Kevin Martin can think of to "educate the public" about the oncoming DTV transition is to sponsor a NASCAR driver? Outside of the fact that this expenditure, according to the available evidence, is arbitrary and capricious, and the average NASCAR race is only watched by eight of the 300-odd million citizens in this country, the first race FCC-sponsored driver David Gilliand competed in after signing his FCC sponsorship ended in an early crash. It’s pretty emblematic of the FCC’s handling of the DTV transition process in and of itself.

Tuesday, October 28, 6:00 – 8:15 p.m.

The Final 100 Days of the DTV Transition – Ready? Set? Go!!!

The Mass Media and Engineering and Technical Practice Committees will hold a CLE Seminar entitled The Final 100 Days of the DTV Transition – Ready? Set? Go!!! on Tuesday, October 28, 2008, from 6:00 – 8:15 p.m. at WilmerHale, 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

Are you worried about helping your client navigate the final days of the digital television (DTV) transition? What are the lessons you and your clients should take away from the recently completed DTV conversion in Wilmington, North Carolina? Join two distinguished panels to address these and many other DTV transition issues. The panelists will discuss the latest on coordinating with local cable systems and DBS providers to ensure your client’s DTV signals are being received; the last round of filings for stations unable to complete construction of their Appendix B facilities by February 17, 2009; and information educating viewers through the use of the 100-day countdown, viewer notifications, and soft-test shutoffs.

The CLE will also feature a “Lesson from Wilmington” segment that will include a discussion about the consumer education options that appeared to be most effective in getting the message about the transition out and in what areas improvement is needed. In addition, the event will include a review of the published reports of various technical reception problems encountered by viewers after the Wilmington conversion and various practical solutions that can be used by stations in advance of February 17 to head off some of these problems. The panel will review various resources available to stations to assist in educating their viewers to implement these solutions and, time permitting, will include a demonstration of the proper way to install a converter box and indoor antenna.

AGENDA

6:00 – 6:05 Welcome and Introduction of Panelists and Moderator

David O’Connor, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP

6:05 – 7:05 Topic 1 – Technical Challenges for Stations

Moderator: John Burgett, Wiley Rein LLP
Panelists: David Donovan, Association for Maximum Service Television, Inc.
Jack Goodman, WilmerHale
Eloise Gore, Federal Communications Commission
Dianne Smith, Fox Television Stations, Inc.

7:05 – 7:15 Break

7:15 – 8:15 Topic 2 –Wilmington: What We Learned and How To Teach America About Boxes, Antennas and Beyond

Moderator: Parul Desai, Media Access Project

Panelists: Jonathan Collegio, National Association of Broadcasters
Mark Lloyd, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Cathy Seidel, Federal Communications Commission
Dennis Wallace, Meintel Sgrignoli & Wallace

The audio is in roughly half-hour chunks in MP3 format, from the panel on DTV conversion at the Flow TV conference held in October 7-9, 2008 at the University of Texas at Austin. Enjoy:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4