Switch to Digital TV Disenfranchises the Poor

Here it is — finally my rant about "the big switch" compacted into 500 words for the Gazette. I could still re-write it a million times!


In all the chatter about Digital TV, we’re only getting half the conversation. Everyone is focused on the consumer’s readiness, when the focus should be equally, if not more, on the broadcasters readiness. This narrow focus was also seen in the February 8 edition of the Gazette’s Homelife section, and in a viewpoint from the Saginaw Press.

This is not a quick set-top box fix for the estimated 15 million people who rely on receiving free broadcast news and weather. (Broadcasting that all citizens are entitled to in exchange for granting stations a license to use the public airwaves.) These millions are, for the most part, poor. They can’t afford a monthly cable bill, and certainly cannot bear the burden of the cost to install the rooftop antenna they will need to continue receiving many of the signals they now enjoy.

The most recent reports now tell us that at least 2% of viewers currently covered by existing analog signals will not receive the digital signal from the same stations. The real problem is that the FCC did not require broadcasters to duplicate their analog signals. This is crucial information citizens should have had when the conversation about this switchover began. And, it’s the missing side of the story — information broadcasters — and other media outlets — are keeping from consumers.

Michael Copps, our acting FCC Chair, was recently quoted as saying “Some consumers, through no fault of their own, are going to lose one or more channels as a result of the transition. That we did not understand this better long ago through better analysis, tests and trial runs is, to me, mind-boggling.” The FCC did testing, but the analysis was flawed because it assumed that everyone who receives analog TV has a rooftop antenna. But, the truth is that 75% of those consumers use indoor antennas (so 2% could really be 73%). The estimated cost to have a rooftop antenna installed is $350.

I discovered after hooking up my converter box, that I will loose many stations I currently rely on — two of them major networks (NBC & CBS) — stations that come in clearly for me now. It has been impossible to get an answer as to why, and I find it incredibly frustrating that this information is just now reaching the public.

According to the Associated Press, broadcasters could easily fix this “lost signal” problem through a number of options including fill-in stations. With these low cost minor adjustments by broadcasters, a converter box would be sufficient.

This “switch” will affect people with low and fixed incomes most of all. Think about people living in apartment buildings that don’t provide cable service. Even if they had the income to purchase an antenna, how would it be installed on the roof of a building shared with others? And what happens when they move?

I encourage you to write to your representatives and the FCC now. Demand that broadcasters make these easy fixes before the switch to digital TV in June.