Obama team urges Congress to delay the transition to digital TV

From the WJS: Obama team urges Congress to delay the Feb. 17 transition to digital TV broadcasts.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team asked Congress Thursday to consider delaying the U.S.’s planned Feb. 17 switch to digital-only television, citing concerns about consumer readiness for the transition.

“We have discovered major difficulties in the preparation for the February 17 conversion,” wrote John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama transition team in a letter to congressional leaders Thursday. “In addition, the government’s programs to assist consumers through the upheaval of the conversion are inadequately funded.”

This follows the news that the DTV Coupon Program is almost out of money.

While a possible lack of coupon availability is an issue, I do not think it should further delay this transition, which has already been pushed back by several years from the original schedule. It is time we bite the bullet.

No matter how long we push back this event, there will be a huge number of people surprised by the change. This happens with everything, from refund checks to deadlines. There will always be a number of people not paying attention who get caught and raise a fuss. We will see the same scenario on Feb. 18 as we would on Dec. 18 as we would in 2 years. It is a necessary evil to regain the valuable radio spectrum occupied by antiquated broadcasting system.