TV Signals Tuned in Until June
Good news regarding the transition to digital television. The House this week joined the Senate in approving a delay for the switch from analog to digital transmission, and President Obama has said he will sign the bill.
The action will move from Feb. 17 to June 12 the date when households without cable or satellite can access television without a special converter box.
As former President Bush left office, financing for the government’s coupon program, meant to subsidize the cost of converter boxes, had temporarily run out, placing millions of households on a waiting list.
Background here.
What Happens When Your TV Goes Blank?
Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees, points out that even though millions of people do not have the capacity to receive digital television, Congress blocked bills that would have delayed the switch from analog.
On Feb. 17, 2009, millions of America’s workers and their families, including rural, low-income and elderly citizens, will be left with blank TV screens. Don’t call the repairman. Contact your members of Congress.
Feb. 17 is the date that television stations stop using analog signals to broadcast and switch to digital. If you have an analog TV set and use an antenna or rabbit ears, you must buy a converter box, a digital TV or subscribe to cable or satellite service to receive programming—at a time when the public has fewer resources than ever to buy the necessary equipment.
Tribune Bankruptcy Targets Workers
Workers will take a big brunt of the fallout from the bankruptcy of the Tribune Co., with the company seeking to cut costs on the backs of workers. At court hearings Wednesday, the media conglomerate asked permission to cut employee severance payments and health care benefits.
The Chicago-based Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, claiming it is $13 billion in debt, and experts say this is just the first of what could be many more filings by newspaper companies, many of which are saddled with huge debts and declining revenues. The chain includes such well-known newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel and the Hartford Courant, 23 TV stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Cubs are not part of the bankruptcy.
