Our family, while on a budget, does have means to upgrade our equipment, as well as a fair bit of technology experience. We have chosen not to purchase cable or satellite service, and we currently receive five analog channels via antenna. Here are the issues that were an annoyance for us, but for someone in poverty could prove insurmountable.
1. The coupons do not cover the total cost of converter boxes.
Even with two coupons, our family paid $50 for two converter boxes. Not a challenge for us, but certainly for someone on a low or fixed income. We, as a country, have culturally deemed that television is where all important annoucements and emergencies will be dealt with quickly. Because of this, it's critical that free network broadcasts remain accessible to citizens. If radio were used to the same extent, we wouldn't be in this predicament.
2. There were not enough coupons for everyone.
Let's just think for a moment who might have been more likely to apply for a coupon before they ran out. Do you think it was the at-home mom with ample money and leisure time to apply for the coupons well in advance of the deadline; or an overtaxed family of six living in a trailer without Internet access?
3. The antenna issue was ignored for months, and is still being downplayed.
We dutifully hooked up our converter boxes and waited for the cornucopia of digital programming to stream into our living room. What we got was... ABC. Sometimes. Turns out, our huge roof-mounted antenna is insufficient for capturing digital programming and has to be replaced. Not only do we get far fewer channels than analog, we're also forced to see the lipstick on our favorite male actors' faces. Disappointing.
Our family has the ability to throw money at a problem to make it go away, but that doesn't make the additional cost of an antenna any more pleasant to bear. We were lied to. "Get a DTV converter box and a world of television will be yours!" Riddle me this: Who is most likely to have antique antennas that need replacing in order to get a DTV signal? Do you think it might be grandma, who is still watching tv on a console as big as a Cadillac?
I googled to find acceptable DTV antennas and the DTV Answers site directed me to antennaweb.org, which told me that "Indoor antennas are not included in this mapping system, because many variables impact the quality of indoor signal strength." So I'm already looking at going out onto the roof. Standing outside in two feet of snow, staring up at the behemoth 10-foot antenna mounted on our roof, no one in my family is willing to undertake the task.
I forged ahead for an outdoor antenna, and this is the page I reached. They want all of my information, plus permission to spam me. Only the web-trained will notice that all you really need is a zip code. Which I entered, and was promptly admonished, "If you did not enter your full street address along with your city, state or ZIP Code, please return to the Address Entry page and enter your full address." That sentence, at the top of the results page, makes it seem like the search didn't work. But when you scroll down, there are results. I'm disgusted that DTV answers is sending people to such a blatant data-grab of a website.
And then the results... I apparently need an antenna type "yellow uhf," "green uhf," and "red uhf." I clickde through the antenna types to see a list including: small multi-directional, medium directional, large directional with pre-amp... no explanations. Just jargon. Let me say, I'm no luddite. I can wire a phone board and whip up a little PHP here and there. But I am not an expert in DTV-ready antennas, nor do I want to be. How many people do you think got as far as I did in their research? Did your mom? Your grandfather? The single mom who gets Internet access for 15 minutes at the local library?
4. No middle ground for fuzzy channels.
It's no secret that we live in a rough climate. We're battered by frequent snowstorms, subzero temperatures, and constant high-speed lake winds. Every time our antenna moves, the visibility of our tv channels changes. With analong, it's barely noticeable. Maybe some fuzziness or static, but they're still watchable. With digital, the picture skews into a bargello quilt (lovely, but indeciperable), then it stutters, then it freezes. Then they're gone, sometimes for hours, sometimes forever. At this point, I can tell you the speed of the wind outside by the amount of DTV programming I've lost that day.
5. The federal switchover date has been extended, but states apparently can choose their own adventure.
Vermont television stations have been running smarmy ads that say: 'Even though the federal government is allowing us to hold off the switchover until June, we here in Vermont know that you've been diligent and you're ready for the switch (I'd like to see stats on that), so we're going ahead in February.' What I read from that is, 'We invested money in a February switch, so to hell with you all, we're doing it.'
And I don't believe pushing back the date alone is the solution. You'll just have another few million people in financial or resource-based poverty without converter boxes in June. There needs to be more coupons, they need to cover the cost of the boxes fully, and local communities need to be mobilized to provide volunteers to go to neighbors' houses and help them convert.
This is not about entertainment. If our family wanted television to be recreational, we would have bought cable. It's informational and helpful for emergencies. The websites of our local tv stations aren't quite up to posting video of their broadcasts, so it's important to have a few networks on tap for those big Vermont storms. Or for the day an armed gunman was on the loose in our county and schools were locked down. Our local channels don't update the web fast enough to be useful.
So what are we going to do? Dave just started a new job with a fair bit of travel and I'm having a baby; so no one's replacing an antenna right now. Frankly, I'm disgusted with the entire process. Our family is going to shrug off the networks, keep digital ABC around for emergencies, and find something else to do with the 2-3 hours a week we watched television together. (We also happen to be tech-savvy enough to know where to find a few favorite shows online.)
Networks will lose viewers due to their own hubris in charging forward with the switch, some people will be tricked into buying expensive cable or satellite packages, and some people will be sitting at home when their town is evacuated because they have no access to quick tv-based updates.
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