House Sets DTV-Converter-Box Hearing
House Government Reform and Oversight Committee looking into DTV-coupon-program management.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/15/2008 2:10:00 PM
The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee will hold a hearing this week looking into the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's handling of the digital-TV-to-analog converter-box-coupon program, as well as concerns about getting DTV-transition information to minority communities.

The hearing -- which will be in the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement -- will be held July 18 at a Brooklyn community center in the district of House Energy & Commerce Committee member and subcommittee chair Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who called for the hearing.
Energy & Commerce Committee chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Telecommunications Subcommittee chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) last week accused the NTIA of mismanaging the program by not adequately planning for reissuing expired coupons (they expire within 90 days). The NTIA countered that it took that into account.
Oversight Committee staff director Mike McCarthy said Brooklyn was also chosen because it has a high population of over-the-air viewers.
He added that the hearing was driven in part by concerns over management of the coupon program, as well as Townes' concerns about outreach and because Brooklyn will be "more heavily impacted by the switch to digital than some other places in the country."
Witnesses will include NTIA acting director Meredith Attwell Baker, a yet-to-be named Federal Communications Commission representative, WABC-TV news anchor Bill Ritter (testifying on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters) and a representative from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which is concerned about outreach to the Spanish community and other minority communities.
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The building manager of our 31 unit apartment building refuses to repair/replace the in common building TV antenna and TV antenna signal amplifier that were all installed when the building was constructed in 1979.
This included TV antenna connection outlets in every apartment.
We need someone at the FCC or somewhere to enforce the Congressional Act or we, including the elderly, will be without TV Feb 20
Thomas G Harper - 12/4/2008 5:56:00 AM EST -
I was approved for two coupons. They were supposedly
mailed. I was given a confirmation number. They were
NEVER received. [Were they ever really mailed?] They
have now EXPIRED. Now I cannot get coupons. I think
it is a scam. Typical.
annon. - 7/19/2008 6:55:00 AM EDT -
DTV QUESTIONS: (1) Why are so many coupon-eligible boxes, many "new," on sale on eBay? (2) Why are there reports of black-market coupons selling on the street for less than face value? (3) Why did the program exclude seniors in nursing and assisted living homes, and what is being done to assist persons in MDUs in preparing for the transition? (4) Why wasn''t upgradeability required, and how long before tech changes render current boxes obsolete? (5) What is the mean average wholesale price of the boxes, and why have retailers kept the selling price at $10-$20 above coupon value, when margins would seem to allow a lower selling price? (6) Why can''t the coupons be used to get $40 off the price of a digital TV? (7) Why weren't antennas factored into the coupon program? (8) What is FCC doing to combat DTV interference from portable devices and jamming? (9) Why do the boxes vary in terms of features like volume control and tuner performance? (10) Why wasn't recyling of discarded sets part of the program? (11) Should analog turn-off be delayed until 2011 (Canadian deadline) to give all parties more time to get it right? (12) Is it wise for the government to ever get into the retail couponing business? Or would a tax credit or an increase in the tax rebate program have been a better way to handle this?
Victor Livingston - 7/15/2008 10:13:00 PM EDT
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