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Next Year's Switch To Digital Television Leaving Some Seniors Angry, Confused
By Bill McLaughlin
Berkeley and other Ocean County municipalities recently enacted resolutions against it and local lawmakers have railed against it.
But as sure as the Earth is not flat, the changeover to digital cable is inevitable. The federal government, in fact, has given Americans a year to upgrade to digital or lose their television viewing rights by 2009.
The first announcement was made more than five years ago. But now the deadline approaches and cable companies like Comcast are trying to educate consumers on what needs to be done.
A group of Comcast employees recently spent a December afternoon at the Holiday City South clubhouse discussing what was going on with their home electronics. In an age where triple plays don't always take place on the baseball diamond - a "triple play" deal is getting phone, Internet and cable service all in one package - many seniors couldn't fathom how their current hookups wouldn't work in perpetuity. So they peppered the cable company representatives with questions, many heavily tinged with sarcasm.
One started out something like this: So digital is mandatory in 2009, so you're gouging the heck out of people (in 2008).
Comcast reps said they were only trying to spread the word - and that was it.
"We came here at the request of the (Holiday City South) homeowners association," said Tony, a director of sales for the media provider, after the Q&A session was completed.
Tony said he wasn't at liberty to discuss company business and said someone from public relations would get in touch with The Manchester Times. No one did. A number of requests to speak with someone in public relations were unresolved.
At the meeting, though, people got their answers.
Holiday City South Homeowners Association President Art Dieffenbach hosted the meeting and said the company had done a good job of answering questions he had about the upgrade.
"I think it's good that our people are wary about being sold a bill of goods," Dieffenbach said. "So they got to ask their questions. I know a lot of people think this is costing too much money and I have the same concerns. But you don't get something for nothing any more."
Seniors, rich or poor, saw they feel squeezed by something they always considered free - except for the price of rabbit ear antennae back in the day.
Now they have to deal with wiring service protection, BOB (bottom of the bill) add-ons, taxes an accountant can't explain and maddening annual increases in cable costs.
Currently, cable companies are virtual monopolies like the power and water companies. You have a few alternatives choices including satellite TV, aka "the dish," but basically cable still rules the day. Try hooking up your old roof top antenna to pick up the handful of VHF stations beaming from New York or Philadelphia. A clear picture from New Jersey Network or News 12 New Jersey without cable is impossible.
So for some, any forum concerning a pocketbook issue starts to sound like an attack on seniors. One stood and claimed a 40 percent rise in his monthly cable bill in the six years since Adelphia Cable switched franchises with Comcast, swapping a large swath of Pennsylvania for the southern half of New Jersey.
Another complained about getting 40 minutes of commercials for every 20 minutes of programming. While slightly exaggerated, the problems lay with the Federal Communications Commission, which rules on such matters. Once upon a time, commercial breaks could not last longer than two minutes. Those days are over.
But those hoping for change should not despair. Cable competition is fierce, a Comcast worker said, so you can expect more incentive to stay with the cable company than move over to Verizon when the telephone company's cable unit is up and running.
One resident complained of being without phone service for two full days when the residence was being upgraded. The company should have given some advance warning there might be complications, they argued, should have given notice when the installer was coming and that they might have to leave the job undone in one day to be completed the following morning.
Under FCC regulations, all television broadcasters must be switched over to digital broadcasts by February 19, 2009. For information on what you need to do to make the switch, if anything, call your cable provider.
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