New DTV Transition Date: June 12

[Nels Harvey]

Hi All,

I just received this from a distant SBE chapter:

01/15/09 Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WVA) has introduced the bill to delay
the DTV transition. The new date would be June 12, three months beyond the
current Feb. 17 date of transitioning full power TV stations from analog to
digital. Rockefeller has been working on the bill for several days , with a
June deadline in the 3-4 month time frame that had been expected.

After all the hoopla, and months and months of preparing us for the loooong awaited changeover, I think this is ridiculous!  The shutdown date has been bandied about for years.  What good will this silly delay cause?  Let's get on with it.

Perhaps it calls for a letter campaign to our Senators, and Congressmen.

Nels....

[OlsonNet]

It's laughable at this point. Those who haven't prepared themselves by now will just see this as another 5 months to do nothing before whining about it in June again. Flip the switch and see how fast these people make the needed changes.

[murdoc]

If these people that are not ready after being told this for what over 2 years, what makes them think another 3-4 months will do anything.

[techguy1975]

I agree that this delay is just a bad idea.  There will *ALWAYS* be people who are not ready no matter what day the plug is pulled on  analog TV.   I agree, lets just get it over with

[Dan the Man]

Delaying the changeover will serve no purpose. People will still procrastinate, whine about the cost, not understand it and in the end it will cost the stations, the federal government and the people of the USA more money.

Change.... that was someone's campaign slogan, wasn't it? Those same people who cried that they want change now are crying because they have been asked to change. I guess its a one way street.

Deal with it! Rant over (sorry).

[AA9VI]

Want to know the real reason for the delay?  The Obama admin. got kickbacks from Clearwire Comm. (associated with Sprint) on a wireless broadband system.  Apparently, they are in financial trouble and have to launch the system before Verizon/AT&T does on the 700 MHz band.

Here's the story:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090114-4g-war-conflict-of-interests-loom-behind-possible-dtv-delay.html