I’m sick of all the advertising about the switch to digital television. For the past 2 years, we’ve been inundated with TV spots, subway posters, newspaper ads and more. Switch to digital TV or you’ll lose your left nut, I’m told.
Congress passed the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005. The act was passed to help Americans make the transition from analog television – you know, the bunny ears – to digital television – you know, late-night soft porn and the hockey playoffs on a crappy channel previously known as the Outdoor Life Network. This transition is set to take place on June 12 of this year, pushed back from an original date of February 17.
Here’s where it gets screwy. It’s one thing to educate the public. It’s another thing to subsidize the transition. You see, our congress allocated $1.5+ billion for $40 vouchers to use toward purchase of the devices. And each household can request TWO!
Here are the actual numbers from this program as of this week: 
In addition to the money allocated by the US government, trade associations representing electronics manufacturers and retailers, the cable and broadcast industries, public television stations, and civil rights advocates have created the DTV Transition Coalition to pool millions and millions of additional dollars to educate consumers about the crossover.
My question is simple: why is the government’s largest public awareness campaign about subsidizing new TVs for a country that already has more than 2 TVs per household?
Why not educate people about why they are so fat and subsidize their gym membership and healthy food instead of their boob tube? Why not educate people about how to balance their personal budget and give them a free copy of Quicken? Why not teach the unemployed about writing a resume and paying for a career coach?
The government and the industry partners should just make the switch to digital television. If your TV doesn’t work and you value the TV as your entertainment delivery system of choice, get your ass off the couch and go buy a new one or buy a digital tuner. You can get a great TV on eBay for less than $200 and a tuner for much less.
Regardless, enough of the digital TV talk. There are much more pressing issues facing this country.
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