DTV Delay Bill Fails in House; Switch Still Feb. 17

Today the House of Representatives shot down the legislation to delay the nationwide switch to digital television signals.

On Monday, the Senate passed a bill to delay the nationwide switch from analog television signals over to digital, moving the original February 17 date three months back to June 12. Backed by President Obama himself, the delay would give consumers more time to get ready for the transition, especially the elderly, the poor and those living out in rural areas that would otherwise not have access to cable and satellite transmissions - amounting to roughly 20 million consumers. The bill was also to relieve some of the problems with the Commerce Department's TV converter box coupon program by speeding up the delivery of coupons and issuing replacement coupons.

However, today the bill failed to gain two-thirds support in the House of Representatives. "It's really unfortunate," said Joel Kelsey, an analyst at Consumers Union. "Consumers are staring at a big, fat, unfunded mandate in the midst of an economic crisis."

Reuters is reporting that Democrats may return with a revised bill next week, one that would permit amendments and require a simple majority to pass. However, if the House does approve any changes, the bill would then have to return to the Senate for final approval. In addition to pushing back the transition date and fixing the coupon problem, the current bill was to extend the licenses for $16 million worth of spectrum - space that will be freed up by the analog to digital switch - by about four months; both AT&T and Verizon Communications have claimed a stake in the virtual territory.

As of January 21, 2009 almost 50 million households have requested the government-funded coupons, with the average daily orders in the last 30 days ranging around 237,000. Currently the government has mailed out 46.5 million coupons, however only 21 million of those coupons have been redeemed. According to the NTIA, there are 187 coupon-eligible converter boxes available; 86 of those converter boxes are certified, 51 of which can pass through analog signals, now available in retail stores. There are also 101 certified converter boxes, of which 58 can pass through analog signals, not yet available in retail stores. Each box costs around $40-70.

Additionally, 93 percent or 1,631 out of 1,759 full-power TV stations are broadcasting in digital today. Although 19.6 million households receive over-the-air signals exclusively in their homes, roughly 70 million television sets are at risk of losing their signals come February 17.