The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Transition in Trouble

• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Many Will Suffer Significant Harm if the DTV Transition Fails
• The Leadership Conference has Identified Numerous Issues that Threaten a Successful DTV Transition
  • Transition Planning Lacks Leadership and a Comprehensive Plan
  • Transition Awareness is Low; Consumers and Retailers are Confused; Outreach Efforts are Inadequate
  • Coupon Program is Confusing, Burdensome, and Restrictive
  • Costs and Burdens to Many Communities and Viewers are Excessive or Overwhelming
  • Many Communities Will Lose, not Gain, Television Stations and Service
  • No Rapid Response is in Place to Deal with Inevitable Transition Problems
• Recommendations
  • Improve Organization of the Transition
  • Fund Increased Consumer Outreach, Education and Research
  • Reduce Costs and Burdens of Transition on Viewers
  • Preserve Communities' Access to Their Television Stations
  • Prepare for Rapid Response to Problems
• Conclusion

Many Communities Will Lose, not Gain, Television Stations and Service

One of the biggest misconceptions of the digital transition is that "all" over-the-air analog broadcasts will end at midnight on February 17, 2009. In fact, more than 2,900 low-power community broadcasting stations and about 4,400 signal-relay stations, known as "translators," which extend broadcasts to rural areas, are not required to turn off their analog signal by that date. Indeed, many of these stations will remain analog after the transition date because they lack the resources to convert to digital broadcasting. According to the FCC, low-power television stations "are operated by diverse groups and organizations including high schools and colleges, churches and religious groups, local governments, large and small businesses and individual citizens."⁵⁸ These stations and translators are often broadcast lifelines relied upon by rural, underserved urban, elderly, and non-English speaking communities. These communities risk losing these analog lifelines if they convert their televisions to digital on February 17, 2009.⁵⁹

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the DTV converter boxes that are available and eligible for government coupons will not "pass-through" the analog signal of these low-power community broadcasters. "Every time a person gets a coupon, buys a converter box and plugs it in, we lose that viewer," says Ronald Bruno, president of the Community Broadcasters Association (CBA). He terms the DTV transition a "death sentence" for community broadcasters.⁶⁰

Says Peter Tannenwald, CBA legal counsel, it is "absurd" to "allow and to promote the sale of boxes that actually cut off access to 80 percent of the nation's TV transmitters."⁶¹ The CBA's lawsuit to stop the distribution of DTV converter boxes that do not allow the pass-through of analog signals was recently rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.⁶² The CBA has now asked Congress to appropriate $450 million to reimburse the cost of purchasing digital equipment for each of the 2,900 low-power broadcasters.⁶³

A similar problem exists for communities, particularly Hispanic communities, near the U.S.-Mexico border, many of which rely on over-the-air broadcasting. These communities receive both U.S. and Mexican broadcast signals, and Mexican broadcasters will remain analog after the U.S. digital transition. Many in the Spanish-speaking community are concerned that Spanish speakers on the U.S. side of the border will not undertake the cost and burden of purchasing digital converter boxes and simply use their analog televisions to exclusively watch Mexican analog broadcasts. These communities would then be left "in the dark" on important emergency and community information broadcast by U.S. stations that are required to transition to digital. At the time this report was drafted, legislation delaying for five years the transition date for border TV stations has passed the Senate Commerce Committee, but the bill's future prospects are unknown.⁶⁴

Significant outreach, education, and resources must be devoted to this difficult problem of communities that rely on over-the-air broadcasters that will remain analog after February 17, 2009. If this critical part of the digital transition is mishandled, the lifeline between these community broadcasters and the communities that rely upon them will be cut. We believe no viewer should be left behind in the transition, and this unintended consequence of the transition, not yet well understood or publicized, has the potential to leave millions behind. Those most at risk are disproportionately poor, elderly, and those for whom English is not the primary language - the very communities that rely the most on over-the-air television, are the hardest to reach to educate about the transition, and may have the fewest resources to cope with it.

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58. What Are Low-Power (LPTV), Class A, and TV Translator Stations, and How Does the DTV Transition Affect Them?, FCC DTV Website.

59. Low Power TV Group Challenges Plan for Digital Switch Associated Press, March 31, 2008.

60. Id.

61. CBA Fires up LPTVers in Vegas, TVTechnology.com, April 25, 2008.

62. Small TV Stations Lose Appeal, Associated Press, May 9, 2008.

63. Low Powers Seek $450M in Digital Aid, Broadcasting & Cable, May 9, 2008.

64. Many Viewers Confused About Digital Broadcasting, Associated Press, April 20, 2008.