Sunday showdown: Both parties look to sway fence-sitters for this weekend's healthcare vote 
Click to Print
Include Comments
412 days and counting
Yesterday marked the start of the countdown to Feb. 17, 2009, which is the day that U.S. television stations will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to digital. TV viewers who receive free broadcasts via an antennae will have to purchase a converter box–or else get a new digital TV or start paying for cable or satellite. Coupon vouchers are available to help defer the cost of the converter box.
At my house, we still use rabbit ears to receive all of three stations–ABC, CBS, and NBC. (Sadly, we can’t even get PBS.) So we are now weighing our options. Do we request two vouchers and fork over the rest to buy two converter boxes? Or, since both of our TVs are older, should we consider making the investment now to buy at least one new digital version? Or do we just bite the bullet and sign up for cable or satellite?
If you, too, are facing the same predicament, what will you be doing in your household?
back to top23 Comments to “412 days and counting”
My husband can answer your questions, but you may not understand his answers.
Report comment to moderator
I’ve got an answer you won’t like…
Quit watching altogether.
Report comment to moderator
KBells, I have heard about this, but I still don’t know how it affects me. I have cable, but no HDTV sets. Ask your husband if I need a converter box. I don’t receive over the air signals at all. I have been looking at LCD; but they are still too expensive.
Report comment to moderator
MIM: It’s crossed my mind, believe me. We really don’t watch that much as it is, which is why we’re leaning toward just getting the converter boxes.
Report comment to moderator
Wow. Looks like they mean it this time. Weren’t they originally going to switch in 2006? Nice to know our tax dollars will be supporting people’s TV watching habits. Who makes these converter boxes? Maybe I should invest in some of these companies.
Report comment to moderator
I’m kBells hubby….
The best way to get all of the answers is to go a pretty good website the FCC has set up. It is:
http://www.dtv.gov
Report comment to moderator
Chas,
If you don’t receive over the air signals, you don’t need to do anything. Your cable or satellite company receives the signal and converts it to analog for you.
RRBar
Report comment to moderator
We replaced a broken TV in 2004 and decided to go ahead and get an HD-capable TV so we’d be ready whichever year the change happened (I really thought it would get delayed again). As I remember, what we got doesn’t actually have piece to receive the HD signal, just the technology to display the digital picture in its full glory (which is generally the expensive part). Right now we don’t watch TV at all, as we dropped cable to save money, and rabbit ears aren’t enough to get anything decent. But if and when we are able to afford cable again, we’ll be all set.
Report comment to moderator
When I moved this last August, I was able to get basic cable for $10. a month. That’s worth it for us b/c my girls and I love the cooking channel and decorating channels … and they get their disney channel. I don’t watch much TV at all, and there are only a small handful of channels I allow programed into the remote, but for $10 a month, it’s worth it.
I wonder if cable companies will be increasing their fees then, too?
Report comment to moderator
Chas,
You won’t have to do anything, but there is a cheaper alternative than LCD. You can get a HD traditional set for less than $200. It’s chunky like regular television sets, not flat like an LCD or plasma, but it beats LCD’s $600 price tag.
Report comment to moderator
AME,
I have a digital TV. I don’t have cable; only over the air reception. I get more channels now. Analog only gives me one PBS channel. Digital gives me three. They come in perfect and two of the three often have cooking shows on them. Plus, no $10 per month cable fee. I pay for DSL instead. I can watch all the internet cooking shows I want for the price of the DSL fee.
Report comment to moderator
We now get CBS, NBC and PBS, plus two local religious channels we never watch. With a DTV and an antenna, we will add FOX and ABC, as the local CBS and NBC affiliates also have the license for the other networks. With all those choices, I am not about to pay for cable or satellite. The choice will be converter box or new TV (or no TV at all). We will probably get the converter, as it is cheaper. I am seriously considering just getting a new computer and watching our favorite shows on-line, as most of the networks now do that anyway.
Report comment to moderator
I won’t pay for TV. Won’t sign up for cable, and I’ve never actually bought a TV. (The two I’ve owned have been others’ castoffs.) Since I mostly have the TV for movies, I suppose I won’t do anything at all.
I watch the election results (I stay up until a winner is announced, even if it’s many hours), and I watch major news events like 9/11, but basically my TV stays off. I get into periods sometimes where I find out what channel and what time some old favorite, like the Andy Griffith Show, is on, and I watch it for a few weeks. But I haven’t even done that in recent years. TV is so annoying when I do watch it, the commercials as well as any recent shows, and I’d rather spend my down time reading or taking a walk, or playing with my dog.
Report comment to moderator
I have been hearing rumblings that it might well get delayed again. I suspect that most people will be best off by just adding a decoder box.
Cheryl D – Did you get really tired in 2000 staying up all those weeks?
Report comment to moderator
I’ve already gone on-line and ordered the coupons for the digital antennaes. I have two TV’s that are not hooked up to cable (one at work, one at home).
Note: you cannot use your P.O. Box as your “home address” on the website. You have to give a physical address or they will reject your request. I assume it’s to keep down fraudulent requests because there is a limited number of coupons available. If you need one, you better do it now.
Report comment to moderator
In your situation Kristin, postpone the decision about what to do until after the conversion. If your old tv’s don’t last into the new era, then the laws of physical matter will have eliminated the option of buying a converter box, and simplified your choice somewhat, down to the basics, tv or no? Personally, I wouldn’t pay cable for the channels you mentioned, when you can play dvd’s and watch video on broadband.
Report comment to moderator
Shucks,
Not a huge one, as we don’t watch much.
I don’t want to hear about a converter box to replace my rabbit ears. I need an excuse to buy an LCD TV.
It’s good to know I’m in a 13% minority. I’ve wondered about that.
Report comment to moderator
Cameron, I think I’ll wait until LCD comes down to $200. I waited a few years for DVD rocorders to become reasonable. But they did, and I got one and transferred some old VHS home movies to DVD for a Christmas present for my son.
Report comment to moderator
I say get cable (or satellite). Despite the anti-TV elitism expresses by Make It Man, there’s a LOT of great stuff on cable.
Not just movies either. I log a lot of time on the History Channel, Home and Garden TV and a few other niche channels that would never survive if they had to turn a profit as broadcast stations.
I don’t have any premium channels, and I’m not a total couch potato, but the days since TV was Newton Minow’s “vast wasteland” are long gone.
By the way Kristin, if you don’t want to spend very much money, you can usually get a good basic package for under $20 a month. My cable system offers one that includes the broadcast networks, news channels and a handful of others for about $12.
Report comment to moderator
Just a note to further confuse the subject: HD means High Definition [referring to picture quality], not digital [referring to type of transmission].
Report comment to moderator
TRR
Converter boxes don’t replace rabbit ears. They convert digital to analog. The whole point of this discussion is that in 2009, the Over The Air signal will be all digital and no analog. So your rabbit ears will receive a digital signal that needs to be converted for an analog TV.
Report comment to moderator
A much more interesting number of days is 383
Report comment to moderator
And I was hoping it was the day Goofy left office.
Report comment to moderator
back to topJoin The Conversation
You need to be a registered user of WORLDonTheWeb.com to "join the conversation."
If you are not a member yet, what are you waiting for? Register / Login Now!