Gaping Partisan Divide Remains Over DTV Coupon Funding
That the partisan divide is as wide as ever over whether there’s enough money to supply DTV coupons to all who want them was evident at this week’s House Telecom Subcommittee hearing on the DTV transition (CD March 29 p1). But for now, Democrats who say NTIA’s coupon program is vastly underfunded seem content to maintain close oversight over the process as they monitor coupon requests, converter box availability and consumer outreach.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Democrats urged Republicans in the last Congress to give the coupon program enough money to assure that nearly 70 million analog TVs would be covered, Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Markey said at the hearing. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that would cost about $3.6 billion -- “more than twice the amount in the final law,” Markey said. However, Markey and other Democrats stopped well short of openly declaring they'll seek more money for the program. Still, with spectrum auctions predicted to raise $10 billion or more in proceeds, “there is sufficient money to do this right,” Markey said.
But ranking Member Upton (R-Mich.) said he’s “confident” NTIA’s coupon program “is more than adequate to provide subsidizing for the boxes.” He cited NAB testimony estimating that 69 million analog TVs aren’t connected to cable or satellite and that consumers polled on the issue said they will seek DTV converter boxes for about 1/3 of those sets. “That makes 23 million subsidized converter boxes -- well below, well below, the 33-1/2 million subsidized converter boxes in the $1.5 billion coupon program it’s intended to cover,” Upton said. “In fact, I think the initial $990 million will be more than enough to cover the demand for the subsidized converter boxes.”
Ironically, the NAB testimony Upton cited was in a section of NAB’s written statement that broadcasters were concerned there won’t be “enough money to adequately fund coupons for every analog over-the-air television.” NAB research found that when asked, 25% of “primary over-the-air consumers” would opt for a coupon, its testimony said. But the number jumps to 33% “once consumers learn something about the DTV transition,” NAB said: “After a significant public awareness campaign, the percentage could go higher. As broadcasters and others begin to ramp up the public education effort, it is vitally important that the government be prepared to meet the consumer demand so no television goes dark.”
NAB Exec. Vp Dennis Wharton, reacting Thurs., told us NAB thinks strongly “there will be huge demand for converter boxes after NAB member stations blanket America with our massive PSA campaign… Once the masses understand that their TVs may go blank, they are going to act to keep TV signals coming into their homes… NAB believes no home and no TV set should be disenfranchised from access to local TV signals as a result of the DTV transition. NAB has great respect for Ranking Member Upton, but we still have concerns over whether the $1.5 billion set aside for the NTIA converter box program is sufficient to protect nearly 70 million broadcast-only TV sets that could get disconnected.”