Blank Screens Undermine $1.5 Billion U.S. Digital-TV Subsidy

[Purveyor]

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Maags MacLoch wanted to prepare for the coming transition to digital television. Using a $40 federal subsidy, the Web site designer bought a converter box and hooked it up at her home in the Ozark Mountains.

``It just wouldn't work,'' says MacLoch, 55, who lives in rural northwest Arkansas. The paperback-size RCA box wasn't able to find a digital signal strong enough to produce a picture on her analog TV. ``I'm hoping they'll do something to fix that,'' she said in a telephone interview.

Blank screens like MacLoch's may foreshadow disappointment in millions of U.S. homes as some experts predict the government's $1.5 billion subsidy program won't bring clear digital pictures to all.

Starting Sept. 8, Wilmington, North Carolina, will be a test market for the nationwide switch. In February, major U.S. broadcasters will drop their traditional analog signals and begin transmitting only in digital. The change is designed to open broadcast airwaves for mobile Web devices and better radios for emergency workers.

Some consumers and researchers are at odds with the broadcast industry and government officials about the effectiveness of the program that will subsidize as many as 33.5 million converter boxes before the transition.

Centris, a marketing research company, concluded in a May report that more than half the households relying solely on over-the-air TV may fail to get one or more major network signals after the changeover. Because digital signals are vulnerable to interference, consumers also may need to invest in upgraded antennas, the study said.

Problems Likely

``Doing everything right, you're still very likely to have problems,'' David Klein, executive vice president at Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based Centris, said in an interview.

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[qb]

1. We've dumped broadcast TV altogether.

We diverted our cable payments to a good DSL service. We get all of our news & entertainment from the internet & DVDs.

[Occulus]

2. I'm concerned about how people relying on over-air DTV will get storm warnings

Broadcast DTV signals either work, or they don't. In severe weather (severe, ha! I saw this happen during a *drizzle* last fall), DTV signals can fail. How are people in remote areas going to get tornado warnings from their bright, shiny new digital signal if that signal isn't strong enough to produce a picture?

This DTV switch has the potential to be a tragedy waiting to happen. I have cable, so I don't have to worry about that aspect of the problem- but what about my mom? SHE has DirecTV, and I've seen her lose that signal altogether in bad weather.

I predict the manufacturers of weather radios will make some cash next year...

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Weather radios for sure

[Locrian]

4. funny thought

Yeah - digital tv can be hit or miss in bad weather.

It seems like its "republican" in that it's all or nothing.