Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel voted in favor to delay the Digital Television (DTV) transition. That legislation passed the Senate on January 29, 2009 and the full House today by a vote of 264-158. The date for the transition will move from February 17, 2009 to June 12, 2009. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.

“In recent weeks it has become clear that what I have been saying for years is true—we have not provided nearly enough resources or education for the digital television transition to be successful. For the past two Congresses, I have introduced the Digital Television Consumer Education Act. This legislation, if enacted, would have avoided the problems we are seeing right now. It would have educated the public about the transition, and it would provide additional funding for the converter box coupon program, which as we all know, is out of money,” said Rep. Engel.

“This is one of those rare times when you don’t want to be correct. However, the alternative to authorizing this delay would be to have thousands of people turn on their televisions on February 17 and find nothing but static,” said Rep. Engel.

The DTV transition would result in television broadcasters ceasing analog broadcasting and only transmitting in digital. Anyone relying on over-the-air broadcasts will need a converter box to receive and convert digital television signals in order for their analog television sets to continue to work. “In my district alone,” said Rep. Engel, “there are 4,271 consumers who have requested coupons for converter boxes but did not get them because the money to pay for them ran out. This number grows daily as 18,000 New Yorkers statewide, and 435 in the district were added between January 30 and February 2. This backlog disproportionately impacts low-income people as well as the elderly and those who reside in rural areas.”

The Nielsen Company estimates that there are 6.5 million households (6 percent) that would lose all television reception if the February deadline remained in place. In January, the United States Department of Commerce announced the program was out of funding and were putting consumers on a waiting list for coupons. Rep. Engel said that the additional money for the coupons was included in the Economic Recovery Act which is expected to be passed by Congress and signed into law shortly.

This new legislation would take the following steps to mitigate the impact on consumers created by the transition:

* Delaying the transition by 115 days and extending the license terms of the commercial and public safety entities that will use the DTV spectrum after the transition by a corresponding number of days;
* Permitting consumers who never redeemed coupons to reapply for replacement coupons, provided that no household can redeem more than two coupons;
* Expressly preserving the ability of broadcasters to transition before the new transition date, if such a move does not interfere with another broadcast signal. The Act makes clear that the existing FCC rules and regulations concerning interference and consumer education will continue to apply;
* Expressly preserving the ability of public safety entities to use the DTV spectrum before the new transition date, subject to existing FCC rules.

Rep. Engel added, “The coupon program was designed to help those in the most need to afford the converter boxes and not be inconvenienced by this necessary transition. It would have been unacceptable to proceed with the transition and leave over a million people literally in the dark.”

For further information on the DTV process, and to determine if you need a converter box, visit the transition website at www.dtv2009.gov.