Obama Asks Congress to Delay Digital TV Switch

[nightflier]

OVERNIGHT???
They have been planning this for over a decade, and have put it off twice!

Government plans for decades for all kinds of stuff, but only when it actually acts (and that is seldom) do people get their panties in a bunch.

Sticks, you're starting to side more and more with Pix. Should someone call for an intervention?

And regarding the $40, my guess is that it's not just the money. It's also the fact that they have to request the voucher, then go to the store, pick one out, and then plug it in. Most of these folks stared for years at the flashing 12:00 on their VCR's, and the only reason they bought that DVD player at Walmart is because the supermarket rental wasn't carrying tapes anymore. These people aren't exactly the ones to propel the A/V industry forward - rather they are the ones that drag it down.

BradH,

I'm not saying that government is that smart and I'm certainly not suggesting conspiracies. What I am saying is that this is a particularly unusual time with a lot of events coming together into what could certainly become the perfect storm with the right kind of spark. Swarming, drooling zombies, I doubt it, but why tempt fate? I certainly don't think that the SDZ (for lack of a better term for swarming drooling zombies) is the reason for the delay, but I don't think the bow-tie bean-counters that advise Washington are stupid enough to ignore the added effect. Let's not forget that an unusually large percentage of the SDZ will be pissed-off gun-toting Bush/McCain supporters just itching for payback. But I'll give you that the main reason is simply that Washington doesn't have the money, or that they did and used it for something else (typical).

Regarding the lawsuits, I'm sure that once the first lawyers start appearing at the white house door, Obama will go ahead and let the switch happen. Everything we've heard about him is that he respects people/corporations with deep pockets and he's no stranger to the legal process. My guess is that it will take a few weeks, maybe months and by then the factors I mentioned above will then be lessened. If anything, my guess is that he'll postpone it until after the spring sports, and I don't think the advertisers will mind so much, either. Maybe it will be a gradual switch-over. How many companies are really ready to start using the analog bandwidth they've purchased right away? Not too many, I'm guessing. Pix's fear mongering on this is overrated.

Speaking of pix,

And where is the logic in making 300 million wait for 7 million?

Seven million SDZ. That's no small number. Let's hope they stay in South Texas, or wherever Pix is from.