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September 27, 2007
Elderly face challenges as nation goes digital
ELLYN FERGUSON, Gannett News Service
In a little more than 17 months, people with nondigital television sets could find themselves with blank screens when TV stations stop broadcasting over-the-air analog signals.
The change could leave millions of senior citizens without TV service that provides a prime source of news, entertainment and in some cases, companionship.
Older people account for 40 percent of the 20 million U.S. households with TVs that only receive free over-the-air analog signals using rooftop or interior antennas. Households with digital-ready TVs and digital converter boxes should be fine with the Feb. 17, 2009, change.
Those who have nondigital sets tied into cable or satellite systems will continue to receive service. However, any nondigital sets they have that are not connected will go dark.
Nelda Barnett, an AARP director, worries that government officials and business executives will fail to consider older people's "mobility issues, infirmity, isolation from other family members and distance from retail centers in rural communities" in the transition to digital broadcasting.
"They will need assistance in searching for an available converter box, understanding confusing and or inconsistent messages and addressing potential difficulties attaching the converter box to their sets," Barnett testified recently.
Congress mandated the move from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting to provide additional spectrum for public safety communications and to generate money by auctioning the spectrum to commercial users. Consumers will get clearer pictures and a wider range of programming.
Lawmakers directed federal agencies and the private sector to develop education programs to reach older people, the poor, racial and ethnic minorities who disproportionately have only over-the-air analog broadcast television service.
But the Government Accountability Office says the federal government is just starting its information campaign and the voluntary efforts by the private sector are uneven.
Jonathan S. Adelstein, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, recently told Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., his agency's digital TV education efforts are "lackluster at best."
Kohl, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, worries that the government and private industry will deliver a muddled message that could leave the elderly more confused than ever.
Some older people say they've heard very little about the upcoming digital switch.
Chuck and Mary Lou White of Green Bay , Wis., have cable service so they are unlikely to have their TVs go dark. But they understand the anxiety others may have.
"I think the idea is going to scare a lot of people. We consider (TV) to be a part of our lives," says Mary Lou White. She and her husband have five TVs. One goes on at 7 a.m. and she normally sleeps to the sound of a 24-hour news channel at night.
Chuck White, 73, says, "There needs to be some more information and PR (about the change) so older people don't become frightened about the costs and about how they are going to afford it. "
The FCC and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration are putting together a public education campaign to tell consumers about the switch to digital.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration held a public forum on digital transition efforts.
The agency also is responsible for creating free coupons that can cut $40 off the price of converter boxes that enable analog TVs to pick up digital broadcasts. Converter boxes cost more than $200, but basic lower-priced boxes will be available next year.
Sen. Claire McCaskill says she's even more concerned about how the elderly will fare after quizzing salespeople about the digital switch when she recently shopped for a new TV. The clerks offered no information about converter boxes.
"The sales people frankly didn't know what I was talking about," McCaskill, D-Mo., says.
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., expects scam artists to target the elderly during the transition period. Anxious senior citizens could be tricked into spending far more than needed to keep their TVs working, he says.
"There is no shortage of crooks willing to capitalize on the confusion and fears that surround the DTV transition," Smith says.
On the Web:
www.DTV.gov, Federal Communications Commission.
www.dtvtransition.org, DTV Transition Coalition.
www.aarp.org/money/wise_consumer/telephones/digital_tv.html, AARP.
www.gao.gov, read GAO-07-1248T Digital Television Transition report by Government Accountability Office.
