Making the switch

Ke

Saturday, April 5, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

When the nation’s traditional analog TV signals expire and the whole country goes digital in February 2009, an estimated 20 million households could be left in the viewing dark.

And a large portion of those viewers are people older than 65, for whom TV is their main — for some, their only — connection to what’s going on in the world outside. Research from Centris, a company that collects data on U.S. households’ use of electronic devices and services, shows that people older than 65 make up one-sixth of the American households that still rely on the analog TV signals that are captured through an antenna.

On Feb. 17, 2009, those signals will be turned off so the airwaves can be used for wireless phone services, The Washington Post reports.

And people will not be able to watch television unless they have cable TV or have purchased a digital TV or a conversion box that allows them to receive digital signals on their old analog-style TVs.

The federal government has created a $1.5 billion program that will provide $40 coupons to help low-income families or individuals pay for a converter box. But the boxes cost $60 to $120, the Post reports.

And the voucher program limits the number of vouchers to two per household. As a result, nursing home residents who watch TV in their rooms — and often cannot afford to have cable installed or buy converter boxes on their own — may not be eligible for the vouchers.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the federal agency in charge of the vouchers, is trying to change the eligibility rules. But the changes could take up to three months.

Meanwhile, critics say the Federal Communications Commission’s $2.5 million budget for educating older people about the digital switch falls about $18 million short of what is needed, the Post reports.

The consequences of losing access to TV are more serious than missing a daily dose of “Wheel of Fortune.” Television offers millions of Americans their sole source of news, civil defense notices and other information. The federal government should make certain that all who are financially eligible for a converter box voucher receive one and that older people are adequately notified about the voucher program and the pending digital switch.