Shapiro to Obama: DTV Transition Should Remain on Feb. 17

Last week President-elect Barack Obama asked Congress to consider pushing back the DTV transition date.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has responded. Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, offers alternatives to pushing back the deadline in a letter sent to Obama transition team member co-chair John Podesta. Read the entire letter here.

It’s a war of words — albeit a very polite one.

In Shapiro’s letter, which he says is on behalf of the 2,200 manufacturers and retailers represented by the CEA, he makes it clear that his organization “will support the new administration and Congress to ensure a consumer-friendly DTV transition and implement any necessary changes.”

Obama’s point, articulated by Podesta last week in a letter to Congress, is that too many American’s aren’t ready for the transition. He cited the shortage of the Commerce Department’s $40 DTV converter box coupons and contends that education of the transition has fallen short, especially with the “most vulnerable Americans.”

The CEA, meanwhile, is “sympathetic to concerns about disenfranchising consumers, especially the most vulnerable Americans,” Shapiro writes. Still, he adds, pushing it back “has ramifications that should be considered.”

Shapiro cites research showing that 95 percent of Americans already prepared, many of which reacted “because their government told them to do so.” He points out that lots of consumers chose to subscribe to cable or satellite or purchased a digital TV because of the impending transition.

Pushing it back at this point would mean, Shapiro indicates, that some consumers wasted their money — or at least spent money before it became necessary.

“A change in the date could engender skepticism, confusion and distrust the next time government asks them to undertake specific actions in anticipation of a major event,” Shapiro writes.

Additionally, Shapiro offers the Obama team and Congress five alternatives to pushing back the date:

1. A fix of the accounting issues such as the anti-deficiency rules that are preventing NTIA from sending out coupons despite available funding. Only 19 million of the 33.5 million available coupons have been redeemed.
2. Examine total funding for the coupon program and explore any need for additional funding, for example, to send coupons out via first class mail to eliminate three week delivery delays.
3. Elimination of the 90-day expiration date on coupons, which would put more coupons into use.
4. Explore additional funding for government call centers and funding to local grassroots groups to answer questions about the DTV transition.
5. Should the government determine that the supply of converter boxes will not meet demand, examine permitting use of converter box coupons to purchase access to digital television either through pay service (cable, satellite or fiber) or credit toward purchase of a limited feature or low cost digital television.

Shapiro has been politically active in recent weeks. In a Dec. 31 commentary in the Washington Times, he weighed in on unions, government bailouts and free trade.