Most viewers are in the dark about the future of digital TV
As the nation prepares to make the leap to digital television, Congress is trying to decide how many billions of dollars it's going to spend to make sure no TV viewer gets left behind.
Unbeknownst to most Americans, TV stations across America currently broadcast shows in both digital and analog formats. Roughly three years from now, Congress intends to shut off the analog signals and complete the transition to digital TV, which offers the potential for much sharper pictures, more programming options, and interactive services.
But not everyone is ready to make the jump. Americans own an estimated 70 million TV sets that rely on free over-the-air analog signals. Without converter boxes that are expected to cost $60 apiece, those sets will go dark when the analog signals are shut off.
Those converter boxes will add up. So here's the billion-dollar question: Is this government-mandated transition to digital TV the equivalent of an eminent domain taking? By shutting off the analog signals, is the government required to pay for the converter boxes that will allow analog TVs to keep working?
The House has proposed paying a portion of the cost, setting aside $830 million to subsidize the purchase of converter boxes, plus another $160 million to administer the subsidy program. The Senate is willing to go further, budgeting nearly $3 billion for subsidies and administrative expenses. The branches are trying to reconcile their numbers.
Representative Steve Buyer, a Republican from Indiana, says the subsidies are wasteful, particularly at a time when Congress is grappling with a deficit and more pressing spending priorities.
''I cannot get my arms around a program that will cost $1 billion so that Americans can watch television," Buyer said at an Oct. 26 hearing where his amendment to eliminate the subsidies was defeated 29-10. Buyer declined interview requests last week.
Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Congress should pay the full cost of converter boxes for every analog TV in America, a bill that could run as high as $4 billion. His amendment to do that was defeated 27-24.
''The government turns your TV off and then tells you to go buy a new set-top box so you can still use it," Markey said. ''That's a level of arrogance that is breathtaking. People are going to be furious."
Markey said the sale of the radio-frequency spectrum currently being used for analog TV signals is expected to net the government $10 billion, more than enough to finance a comprehensive converter box subsidy program.
According to Markey, the only reason the GOP-controlled Congress won't foot the entire bill is that it wants to use most of the $10 billion (plus savings from cuts in food stamps, Medicaid, and student loan programs) to finance sweeping tax cuts. House leaders, facing resistance from moderate Republicans, put a $51 billion House budget-cutting proposal on hold last week.
Buyer said the phased-in transition to digital TV is not a government taking of private property. He said the situation is similar to when the Environmental Protection Agency enacted rules to phase out leaded gasoline during the 1970s and 1980s. ''I don't remember the government handing out vouchers for new cars," Buyer said.
While Congress debates, consumers are pretty much in the dark about the transition to digital TV. At a Best Buy in Braintree last week, a few TV shoppers said they were not familiar with the digital TV conversion process and wouldn't be affected by it.
But shoppers are still buying analog TV sets, which tend to be $400 to $500 cheaper than comparable-size and quality digital TVs. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, nearly 31 million TV sets will be sold this year, with analog sets slightly outselling digital TVs.
Next year, digital sets are expected to take the lead. By March 1, 2007, all sets sold in the United States must be capable of receiving a digital signal.
Under current law, TV stations were supposed to give up their analog spectrum by the end of next year. The House has proposed pushing that date back to Dec. 31, 2008, while the Senate has selected April 7, 2009.
The turnoff of the analog signals will only affect those TV viewers who grab an over-the-air analog signal with an antenna or rabbit ears. For those customers who have cable or satellite service, the expectation is that their provider will offer them equipment so any type of TV can be used.
In a study released earlier this year, the General Accounting Office estimated 21 million households, or about 19 percent of the total, depend exclusively on analog over-the-air TV signals. The study said nearly half of those households earned less than $30,000.
The GAO study estimated that about 70 million TV sets rely on over-the-air analog TV signals. More than 30 million of those are backup sets owned by cable or satellite subscribers and are probably used sparingly.
The House has proposed offering up to two $40 coupons per household for converter boxes on a first-come, first-served basis with no income restrictions on applicants. The Senate's bill leaves details of the subsidy program to the Commerce Department.
Jeannine Kenney, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, said the $830 million House proposal would fund only 21 million coupons and require each recipient to pay a portion of the cost.
She said there is no guarantee that those households who depend exclusively on over-the-air analog signals would be the ones to receive coupons.
''It's a really poor program that at the end of the day is going to create a consumer nightmare," Kenney said.
Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com. 