TV used to be so simple, didn't it? Hook up your rabbit ears, flip the heavy dial, and you were ready to watch your three channels. OK, so I may not remember those days firsthand. I had a robust 12 channels at my disposal when I was growing up, and occasionally discovered mysterious channels flitting across the higher end of the dial _ usually infomercials or religious stations.
Still, it was a fairly straightforward proposition. Now, with the nation poised uncertainly on the cusp of the transition to digital television, things don't seem so simple. In 2005, Congress set a deadline for all TV stations to convert their operations from analog to digital by Feb. 17. After a laborious ramp-up to that date, including a converter-box coupon program that ran out of money in January and growing concerns that many people _ particularly the elderly _ would be left behind in the switch, Congress hustled through a bill delaying the switch to June 12. President Obama made it official just last week, but there's a catch. The extension doesn't guarantee that stations will retain their analog signals; it just allows them to do so if they choose.
There are caveats here, too. Many stations _ including all of Hawaii's television stations _ have already made the switch to all-digital broadcasts. On Feb. 12, PC Magazine reported that the Federal Communications Commission had ordered more than 100 TV stations to retain their analog service until June, citing "significant risk of substantial public harm" if the switch went ahead as planned. According to a list issued by the FCC, among these were three Binghamton-based stations: WICZ, a Fox station; WBNG, a CBS station; and WIVT, an NBC station.
Of those, WBNG successfully appealed the FCC's decision and will cease analog broadcast on Tuesday. The other two are slated to make the switch on June 12. Three more, WFXV, WUTR and WPNY, will enigmatically switch on March 15 (perhaps just to confuse everyone). The balance are scheduled to switch over on June 12.
Of course, this only applies to those customers using a digital converter box to capture DTV signals for analog TVs. Customers who have cable or satellite television are in the clear.
Jeff Unaitis of Time Warner Cable's Syracuse Division emphasized that the transition should be seamless for existing cable customers, but that even among them, there might be concerns that pop up.
"There are people that may have their spare TV out in the garage or on the back porch. They'll need to do something with that TV, and that something might be a service call to us" to hook the TV up to cable, Unaitis said. "You can run an extra outlet yourself, but make sure you do it right, or it's going to result in a service call from us anyway," he added.
The impact in other markets may be more pronounced. In a memo to staff, Unaitis gave the example of a Syracuse-area "American Idol" fan who might be in for disappointment.
"WSYT and WNYS are shutting off their old analog signals next week _ all other broadcasters are staying up with both an analog and digital signals until June 12," Unaitis wrote. "But, say I'm an "American Idol" fan (I am) _ turning on my old analog TV with rabbit ears next Wednesday, I'm going to be pretty disappointed that the channel is gone, because WSYT, my Fox affiliate, has shut down that signal. I'm going to need to do something, and that something might be calling the cable company to explore my options."
For area residents who by and large depend on cable or satellite to gain access to anything but a screen of gray snow, all this kerfuffle over DTV can seem like much ado about nothing.
But the larger issue of how "free" TV should be is interesting in an academic sense, if not as a practical reality for most of us. In a Feb. 7 NPR story by Joel Rose, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke up about the burden this switch will place on consumers.
"Ordinary people did not request this transition," Sanders said. "To deny people something they've had for decades, to say, Sorry, you're gonna lose that.' That would be incomprehensible."
Incomprehensible or not, it is possible that some customers will still be left in the dark. FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell told the Washington Post that "Millions and millions of people _ best-case scenario _ will still be left behind."
Makes watching TV on your computer sound like a pretty good idea, doesn't it?
Daily Star Community Editor Emily Popek is chronicling her cable-free lifestyle in "TV 2.0," a weekly column.
