On February 17, 2009, full-powered local TV stations will switch their signals from analog to digital, meaning viewers will need to get a Digital TV, a digital converter box or a pay TV service to keep watching television.
However, the Consumers Union, which also publishes the magazine Consumer Reports, yesterday issued letters to President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama and key congressional lawmakers calling for the transition date to be pushed back.
The organization noted that the government has run out of funds for converter boxes which many low-income residents are expected to need to continue watching TV when the transition occurs.
By law, every American is eligible to receive two $40 coupons for converter boxes, but federal officials this week said they are out of funds and will have to start putting people on a waiting list. Without the coupons, consumers would have to purchase the converters with 100 percent of their own money; converters cost between $40 and $75.
The Consumer Union also cited other problems with the transition, but the converter issue is paramount, the group said.
“Millions of consumers could now be forced to spend their own money to navigate this federally mandated transition,” the group said in its letter. “This economic climate is not the right time to ask consumers to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for the miscalculation by the federal government.”
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