DTV Conversion A Fraud Bought By Congress
June 23, 2008
Have you noticed all the hype of late about getting your coupon to offset the cost of the purchase of a converter box so you will still be able to watch television on your old analog TV? The thing is Congress approved this move a long time ago, yet they sat quietly by while television manufacturers unloaded millions of analog television sets at reduced prices to the masses of Americans who were for the most part unaware of the changes that lay ahead.
But that is only one aspect of the scam dumped on an ignorant, lazy and inept Congress. The television broadcasting companies weren’t really sure what to do because they wanted to convert to digital broadcasting but knew that just under 50% of Americans who watch TV do so by means other than cable or satellite – in other words by use of the old roof antenna or rabbit ears.
If the broadcast industry were to decide to set a date to make the conversion, that would leave millions of Americans unable to view TV unless they stepped out and bought a new digital set. In short, the broadcast industry didn’t want to financially contribute to helping in the transition or make the move and suffer the consequences of losing a percentage of their market. So what did they do?
They went to Congress and asked them to fund the changeover because the U.S. Government depends on the broadcast industry as part of their Emergency Broadcast System. Congress bought it hook, line and sinker and it appears they never got off their broad backsides and did any research into the claims being told them by the industry.
While listening to the hearing over a year ago, I recall the broadcast industry telling the Congressional committee the cost of providing the millions of households with converter boxes would run around $2.5 billion. They asked Congress to cover that cost so that these millions of Americans wouldn’t be left without access to the Emergency Broadcast Network.
Now, with virtually no means of verification, anyone can apply for up to two converter box coupons valued at $40. These coupons are mailed to the applicant who can then redeem them at certain stores toward the purchase of a converter box, priced in the $50 – $70 range.
Nothing is free as we all know and when the coupons are redeemed by the merchants it is our tax dollars that are paying for the broadcast industry to continue operating uninterrupted, while putting nothing at risk in hopes of improving their businesses by what they claim to be better quality broadcasting. Is it?
Now for some truth. I bought a converter box for my camp here in Maine. To be as transparent as possible, I could subscribe to cable television as it does run up the road in front of my camp. I could also throw up a satellite dish and cut down a lot of trees in order to get it to work, but this is all quite unnecessary and frivolous as I am only here two months out of the year.
Presently, I have a small color set that I am able to watch 4 stations on with rabbit ears. I get one PBS station, NBC, CBS and ABC. The reception isn’t the greatest but I can certainly view the stations and for the most part can read the text that appears on the screen.
I connected the converter box following the directions that came with it. I should point out that I am not illiterate when it comes to dealing with electronics, television, etc. The converter box failed as it appears the signal that I am able to pull in with my “old fashioned” analog set and rabbit ears, isn’t strong enough for the converter box to use and so all I get is a “no signal” message. I was able after many attempts to pull in the signal from one station but all I ended up with is broken up squares of jumbled video and no sound.
The broadcast industry convinced an ignorant Congressional committee that taxpayers should pay for this conversion. Obviously no homework was done and now it appears that at least a certain percent of Americans – and these are taxpayers too – will not be able to watch television where once they could. This is progress? This is improving television reception and quality?
So for me to be able to watch TV when I return to camp next summer, I will have to buy a roof antenna and hope then the signal will be strong enough to use the converter box or opt for cable or satellite, which isn’t going to happen.
Now that we live in a complete socialist country, with little hope that any of this will change by looking at the two candidates for president (I believe Sen. McCain sat on that committee), I should be able to have my government pay for me to be able to watch TV next summer.
This is just another example of a Congress that is wrought with laziness and ignorance. They did not do their jobs and allowed the private enterprise of the broadcast industry to dupe the taxpayers of billions of our dollars in order to take a step backwards.
Will any of this every end?
Tom Remington
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If you or I decided to run a
business and operated it under these
same conditions, there is no doubt
we would be serving jail time and
fines.
Wouldn’t it be fun to broadcast
locally, what you would like to, and
eliminate the mega-suck-my-brains-
away broadcasters?
For the amounts of moneys being
taken from the general public for
progamming we do not necessarily
want, they can well afford to pay me
for watching what is NOT on. The
majority of, aptly named,”broad cast-
ing” is junk. Air-filled junk. A
reason to fill air-time. And a place
for an agender. The lop-sidedness,
alone, is getting to be shameful. In
all honesty, there is nothing I want
to see or hear. Science Fiction has
more reality than BROAD CASTNEWS.
So send in your $137.95 each month to ME only, and I’ll first do
my feasability study, that’s status-
quo, of course, and then after the
initial $3.6m feasability study……
This is no dump on John Q., but on our representatives who should well be ready for it.
[...] coupon to offset the cost of the purchase of a converter box so you will still be able to watch telehttp://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/2008/06/23/dtv-conversion-a-fraud-bought-by-congress/Another digital divide Deseret Morning NewsThe move to digital broadcasting might seem ominous for [...]
Actually, Tom, the government should be able to pay you to watch TV, especially after this digitial conversion goes into effect…They will make more money off this than you would be able to count! That’s why it went into effect! The government sells the stations, broadcast rights, taxes on operation and renewal liscenses, plus a dozen other “taxes” on every new station….and they will have hundreds, perhaps thousands of new stations…that’s what it’s all about!
It looks like we may be in trouble with reception, though, especially if we’re already on a antenna…this remains to be seen, but if digital/analog TV is like digital/analog cellular telephone, reception is going to take some time to catch up…hell, I can live without TV anyway! But it will probably be coming through the internet, any day now, with all the advances in technology!
I shut down the tell-a-lie-vision a while back, I only watched once in while any how, mostly for the symbology and numerology that most completely do not see, basically if you have no symbology or numerology skills including asopian and hegelian english your essentially illiterate any how, websters world is just not all of the picture, the levels of information are fascinating becasue the devil and his goons thinks it is funny to show it knowing full well the profane stuck in websters world do not see it, thus they are un-awares of their own plight. And last, I liked NFL football and the Tour De France, but when an associate in Europe told me the order of the 2007 Tour’s top three riders correctly during the 12th stage and that I was wasting my time watching it, I thought he was full of shit, The guy from Denmark was leading by 2:30 and it was over, but what happened, the race officials tossed him out and guess what? Those three riders took the top three spots that day and kept them into Paris. And if that isnt terrible for a sports fan to awaken to the dupliticy of fixed events then my associate tells me the Pats go 18 and 1, cool I said they get their fourth Super Bowl, no he said, they lose to the Nephilim Giants, that was week two, It happened, it was fixed up, I shut off the booby forever. Stinking Knight of Malta Masonic liar black box anyhow. It’s all fake, now I got to get back to my books, Globes and other important things Americans should be watching concerning what those elitist monkeys are doing agian, not watching that distraction box of lies which trained people to sit and stair off into it with a stupid blank expression on their faces while those elitists re-shuffle the deck again in their favor.
Greg, I’m gonna name you an honorary Florida cracker, cause you’re definately cracked! I gotta love an unusual bent on things, and you’ve definately got one!
Do you think you might put me in touch with your associate that knows all these future events….think I would be taking that African hunting trip, I could never afford, in record time….
No, that being the case, I would never hear it like you do…( I do believe that there are supernatural powers, “out there”) and maybe the games are only “rigged” in the way you look at them! Of course, sometimes it’s good to be a little shortsighted when it comes to the “whole” truth..cause only
God can comprehend the “whole” picture!! In other words, maybe he sees the future, and not a rigged contest! Either way, I don’t think I’d like to have much of a conversation with him, he sounds like a bad character! So, don’t put your money on the devil, even tho he sees the future as well, he ain’t going to give the truth to you in any way you can use for good!
And I was really looking forward to that African hunting trip! Beat’s the TV all to hell…..
Thats funny, but really I doubt a deity has any thing to do with players lying down or throwing a contest, I guess according to you Namath was a visionary who knew his prediction would hold true, Colts in later years via a particular book confessed they made more money to lose in 69 than to win, perhaps Namath paid them himself, who knows.
I should have mentioned as well that all these symbology books Ive collected over the years some dating back to the 1700s were by Pastors preaching via the 1611 King James and attempting to expose that evil deity you accuse me of association with, and my friend who is an avid 1611 Christian and encredible scholar of biblical truth and history. He wouldn’t be enterested in profit via recognition of the games symbols telegraphing the final out come of a certain season, his words. You better get back to your tell-a-lie-vision now, isn’t as the world turns coming on next. ha ha ha.
[...] My-Data-Team.com Review – Scam or Legit? – Click Here Little.Black.Book – emmagem.com DTV Conversion A Fraud Bought By Congress – Black Bear Blog – Black Bear Blog – The Politics of Hun… [...]
I wonder what Charles Spurgen would have said to this?
We, citizens of Ocotillo, California, are about to lose our TV signal due to the DTV changeover. The DTV web site calls us the signal fringe folks-who will lose over the air signals and not be able to receive the replacement digital signal (the digital signal will not carry horizontally to fringe areas as does the over the air signal). Our entire community will be placed in eminent danger if this conversion is allowed to happen.
One third of community was washed away in a flood in the late 60s. (we received no outside aid and the flooded area remains the same ). Our ONLY access to weather and National weather warnings are from CBS and NBC in Yuma Arizona-both of which, offer us a good over the air picture but no digital picture. We are left with Fox,located in El Centro, which we receive via digital signal but they offer NO local news.
The government has left us out before. No one required Communication giants to extend their offerings to rural folks, hence we have NO high speed internet. We have NO Time Warner cable etc. Now this government is telling us on the DTV website that the “majority” will receive better picture and sound with this conversion. Does this justify endangering our lives?
Our only digital reception staion Ch9-Fox of El Centro, Ca., has split the high definition signal 3 ways so that they are no longer high definition but a mess- characterized by large pixels and a glassed-over appearance on a par with a VHS tape running at slow speed. To insult us even further they are broadcasting in a foreign language aimed at a foreign country on 9-3. The FCC in tolerating this behavior is acting irresponsibly as the protector of our air waves!
The DTV propaganda is more govenment lies pushed at the people without a debate or hearing on the issues.
We have already suffered enough! My “digital” tv -says so on the front i n large letters-cost me $1500-which was not digital so I had to buy the conversion box plus the computer conversion kit plus hours spent writing DTV (who does not respond to our e-mails over this issue) plus $125 for antenna and $60 for mast.
As the owners, we feel we have a constitutional right to these air waves, as they belong to we citizens-all of us not just a majority. No citizen left behind should and must be the policy!
Any government that places its citizens in jeopardy is evil and should be …..
400 channels of crap to choose from and nothing on. Just read a good book. You might miss a good ball game or some motor sports. But trust us your not missing much else
Try the emergency/weather radio….you might well pick that up, as it is still on “analog” and they are on NOAA, They have the best weather, anyway….and would have any warnings in the area.
I had the feeling this was going to happen…the same as cellular signals, when they went digital….
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that taxpayers were duped for around $2.5 billion so the tv stations can continue to turn their profits without much investment beyond equipment conversion that produces the digital signal.
It’s like you were in my head, I live in an area that is called camp for most that visit. I get some channels but the weather really determines when I can watch them. I’ve been told its the trees moving around so if you do try and put up a tower I’d get it above them. But if your like me you would need about 100ft or more. good luck with your camp TV.
[...] about one year ago, I told you that the DTV conversion and transition was a joke and a lie. I have listened to talk radio hosts [...]
[...] about one year ago, I told you that the DTV conversion and transition was a joke and a lie. I have listened to talk radio hosts [...]
Digital conversion boxes don’t work for me, even with a new expensive digital antenna, a rotor and a signal amplifier. Where can we join a class action against the government to get our money back?
I’ve done the same thing Howard and depending on weather I might be able to get one channel.
I know of no class action suits being filed but if I do, I’ll leave a comment here. Perhaps you could start one.