DTV Delay Bad, Opposing Delay Worse

[Commentary] The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, whose only task in the digital television transition was to put $40 coupons in the hands of everybody who wanted a converter box or two, failed to anticipate the demand for the coupons and ran out of money. And the Federal Communications Commission failed to organize a national call center able to handle millions of complaints and questions around transition day. So, now, in the face of these latest government screwups and scared to death that it will take the blame if things get ugly on Feb. 17, the incoming Obama administration wants to postpone the analog cut-off for a few months so that it can get the coupons flowing again and establish an adequate call center. That sounds like a simple solution. But it's not. The final irony is that the broadcasters — the folks who actually did their job and are ready for Feb. 17 — will pay a heavy price if Congress votes for a postponement. Feb. 17 is not a matter of flipping a switch. A delay will cost stations both time and money. So distressed are some broadcasters that they are talking about sticking with their plans and dropping their analog signals on Feb. 17 as planned, individually or on a marketwide basis, which they have the right to do under the current law. Talk about consumer confusion. One market may be analog, while the next one over may be digital. Or, markets will end up a mix of analog and digital stations.