Digital television delay
could hurt stations
 |
People can apply for these coupons to help pay for a TV converter box. |
A recent vote in Congress gives consumers extra time to prepare for the transition to digital television signals, but the delay will also cost already struggling local television stations thousands of dollars.
In January, then President-Elect Obama urged Congress to delay the transition because he feared too many Americans who get their television from analog signals only were not yet prepared for the switch, and passage of the DTV Delay Act on Feb. 4 has pushed back the deadline from Feb. 17 to June 12.
For local stations, that news isn’t good. Maintaining both analog and digital signals will cost CBS television network affiliate WDBJ in Roanoke an extra $2,500 to $3,000 per month — about $12,000 total — said the station’s director of engineering, Carl Guffey. That cost is in addition to the $4 million the station already invested in the transition to digital signals.
Guffey said the delay couldn’t have come at a worse time. The station has had to make budget cuts already; he is one of the employees who took a buyout and will be leaving the station within the next few weeks.
“If the economy were in better shape, this wouldn’t be as painful,” he said. “Now we’re going to run four or five months of cost that was not allocated in the budget.”
NBC television network affiliate WSLS in Roanoke is also facing added financial stress because of the delay. WSLS will have to pay an extra $3,500 per month to maintain its analog signal, said station manager Warren Fihr. He said that the cost of the delay and the worsening economy has forced WSLS to lay off staff, but he would not comment on how many jobs were cut.
Things to know to make the switch: Digital Converter Boxes: Needed for televisions that receive analog signals. Vouchers for the boxes can be obtained from the government, but a long waitlist has developed. |
Fihr also said there was a “hidden cost” associated with the delay: The station must continue to run public service messages about the impending transition. When promos run, that spot becomes unavailable to an advertiser.
"The promos take time out of our advertising schedule," he said.
WSET, an ABC affiliate in Lynchburg, declined to comment about its financial situation. Nationally, 500 stations have opted to disregard the new delay law, including WDRL, an independent station in Roanoke. Those stations will shut down analog broadcasting and make the switch.
But for Rockbridge County resident Jessica Shifflett, the delay is good news. Shifflett has received her television signal from a rooftop antenna for more than 20 years. The delay will give her about four more months to buy the digital converter boxes her three televisions will need to accommodate the switch.
Now Shifflett and others like her will also have time to apply for $40 converter box coupons, which the federal government started in January 2008 to offset the price of the boxes. Because the program is underfunded, a national waitlist has developed.
In Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District, where Shifflett lives, more than 3,300 people are already on the coupon waitlist. Even with funding from President Obama’s stimulus package, there may not be enough money to provide the coupons.
Shifflett did not bother applying for the coupons.
“From what I’d heard, they weren’t doing the coupons because they’d run out,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll extend [the program].”
The switch to digital will enable everyone with a TV set to receive better picture and sound quality, according to the Federal Communications Commission’s Web site. A digital signal also transmits more efficiently than its analog counterpart. This increased efficiency will free space on the broadcast spectrum, allowing stations to offer multiple broadcasts simultaneously, a process called multicasting. The extra space can also be used for public safety communications by police, rescue or fire departments.
The digital transition will not affect cable or satellite subscribers. Similarly, televisions with a digital tuner will not be affected. Televisions bought after March 1, 2007, or marked as “DTV,” “HDTV,” or “Digital Tuner” are already prepared for the switch.
Viewers who don’t have digital signals at the time of the switch will lose access to important safety, weather and public information, because analog signals will no longer be carried. The converter boxes will be necessary to change the analog signals to digital.
Shifflett said she’d rather pay the price for converter boxes than commit herself to a cable or satellite agreement.
"Everybody has a great deal at first, and then you have to sign a two-year contract," she said.
Those like Shifflett who still need to buy their converter boxes will find that prices vary locally. At the Lexington CVS and RadioShack, the boxes were available this week for $59.99, while Wal-Mart’s price was $49.99. Sears was temporarily out of stock; its converter boxes had been priced at $49.99. The Buena Vista CVS staff said the store has been out of stock for weeks.
In response to the backlog on vouchers, Sixth District Rep. Bob Goodlatte issued a press release proposing a plan to reimburse the $40 voucher value to individuals on the waitlist who had bought a converter box, as long as they submit their receipt as proof.
“I remain committed to assisting any of my constituents who might be experiencing difficulties with the transition,” Goodlatte said.
Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Lisa Tracy
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd