[opendtv] Re: Forecast: Snow on Feb. 18
- From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:56:21 -0800
Bernie Sanders is the former socialist (some would say Communist) mayor of
Burlington, VT. He would favor government-provided automobiles.
Last I heard, dealers had 6 million units (of these boxes) in inventory.
They have nothing like that number of TV sets in inventory.
John Willkie
-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Manfredi, Albert E
Enviado el: Thursday, January 15, 2009 8:11 AM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Forecast: Snow on Feb. 18
"Meredith Attwell Baker, NTIA acting administrator, said in early January
that no one could have predicted the rising demand for boxes-although there
was plenty of skepticism throughout 2008 from lawmakers and consumer groups.
She said she only told Congress the program might run out of money in early
November, just after the elections.
"Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is pushing a bill to subsidize antennas for
those left at the bottom of the digital cliff, chalked the situation up to
the general incompetence of the Bush Administration."
Am I reading this right? Now we're also going to get govt-subsidized
antennas?
We have heard a lot about the availability of coupons, but nothing (yet)
about availability of the boxes themselves, or of antennas. I guess supply
of these items must still be okay.
Bert
-----------------------------------------
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/72928
Forecast: Snow on Feb. 18
by Sanjay Talwani, 01.14.2009
WASHINGTON After years of planning, billions of dollars in ads and warnings
from scores of lawmakers and consumer groups, the DTV transition could still
leave millions of viewers without television on Feb. 18.
Despite repeated inquiries from Congress-and repeated assurances by National
Telecommunications and Information Administration officials-the program to
subsidize converter boxes ran out of money Jan. 4, putting viewers on
waitlists by the hundreds of thousands.
Even if those viewers decided to pay for boxes without the coupons, they may
be out of luck, as the NTIA itself projected that demand for the boxes could
outpace the supply by 2.5 million.
Chris McLean, executive director of the Consumer Electronics Retailers
Coalition, said in early January that stores seemed to have plenty of boxes
on hand, but he stopped short of promising enough for the crunch.
"[Retailers] are playing a game of multi-level chess with each other to have
enough supply to meet demand and not have a surplus whenever this cycle is
over," he said. "And the length of the cycle is not known."
The situation is dire enough that the incoming Obama Administration has
floated the idea of delaying the transition date outright. That could be
complicated, since new spectrum licensees, as well as the re-assigned DTV
channels of the broadcasters themselves, are restricting even those who can
participate in the 30-day "nightlight" extension (for DTV education and
emergency information only) that will at least explain to viewers why they
have no regular programming.
Thousands of "call agents" are expected to staff call centers, like this one
in Milwaukee, during the most critical days in mid-February.
To handle the expected onslaught of angry, confused viewers, broadcasters,
the FCC and the cable industry are planning massive call centers, with
staffs in the thousands. But even those would be hard-pressed to answer the
2 million calls-as many as 125,000 an hour on Feb. 18-the FCC figures could
come in.
That leaves the prospect of viewers not just without television, but also
waiting on hold on government phone lines and doing battle with automated
call systems.
SCRAMBLING
The impending PR nightmare has industry groups and lawmakers scrambling and
pointing fingers.
Meredith Attwell Baker, NTIA acting administrator, said in early January
that no one could have predicted the rising demand for boxes-although there
was plenty of skepticism throughout 2008 from lawmakers and consumer groups.
She said she only told Congress the program might run out of money in early
November, just after the elections.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is pushing a bill to subsidize antennas for
those left at the bottom of the digital cliff, chalked the situation up to
the general incompetence of the Bush Administration.
Consumers Union and the NAB called for emergency measures to get more money
in to the coupon program (at press time, the only coupon funding was that
recycled from unused, expired coupons).
FOR ENGLISH, PRESS 1
The FCC is planning to spend millions of dollars on its call centers,
anticipating nearly 1.5 million calls on Feb. 18-19 alone.
vvIn a letter to Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., then the chairman of the House
Telecommunications Subcommittee, outgoing FCC Chairman Kevin Martin warned
of as many as 125,000 calls per hour, requiring as many as 7,000 workers.
Martin said the FCC may have funding for 2,300 agents, and that the National
Cable and Telecommuni-cations Administration plans for its members to pony
up 4,000 to 5,000 more. Also, NAB plans for its members to offer still more,
in addition to numerous efforts by state broadcasters' associations and
local stations themselves.
NCTA and NAB spokesmen offered few details on the call centers, saying that
the various groups were still working on having a unified approach. NAB said
it hoped many callers-at least those facing reception issues-would be routed
to local or state call centers.
NAB spokeswoman Shermaze Ingram said the centers would be operated largely
by established call center companies and experienced staff, using lessons
from the experience of calls generated by broadcasters' simulated shutoffs
and educational efforts so far.
"They're not going to be taking people off the streets," she said.
An FCC spokesman offered no details on the call center operation, saying the
prospective contracts were pending.
The commission issued its Request for Proposals for the job Dec. 24, with
the bids due Jan. 9. Among the details in the 44-page RFP: The FCC estimates
that 30 percent of the calls will be from Spanish speakers and 70 percent
will end up actually speaking with a human.
The specs require 80 percent of the calls to be answered within five
minutes. On Feb. 17-19, the FCC call center will be staffed 24 hours a day.
And all facilities and staff will be located in the United States.
Statewide organizations already have a head-start on the customer response,
and many local broadcasters believe they are best able to handle the
cultural and geographical quirks of their own regions. But local
broadcasters are hard-pressed for the cash for some operations.
GOING LOCAL
The Michigan Association of Broadcasters, along with regional chain Don-Lors
Electronics, has had 40 incoming lines in a call center since Oct. 1,
handling about 1,500 to 2,000 calls per day. Most involve people wanting
converter coupons, and the agents have ordered those online for callers,
according to MAB President and CEO Karole White. (Most callers-90
percent-are not Internet users, she said.) The next greatest need is help
installing the boxes.
In the Michigan case, people who don't reach a human can leave a message, to
be returned within 24 hours.
"The people that we call back are just amazed that we actually called them
back," she said.
In a very few cases, technicians have visited homes to install boxes. MAB is
also working with other groups for outreach, particularly to seniors. White
believes local operations can better serve the public and that the FCC and
NTIA should have considered more block grants to state groups for such
operations.
While the NAB, NCTA and FCC all plan an integrated, nationwide approach, NAB
at least recognizes the value of the locals. The video NAB is producing for
the nightlight period-which could drive massive call volume-will probably be
available in different versions, with either the national hotline or the
local numbers shown.
And the calls will come. Despite the massive educational push by various
entities, Nielsen in December calculated about 7 million over-the-air
households (6.8 percent of all households with TVs) still completely
unprepared for the transition.
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