Marc
LOCAL IN-HOME DTV CONVERTER BOX INSTALLATION ASSISTANCE
Do you need in-home assistance with installing your DTV converter box? The following Federal Communications Commission contractors and partner organizations may be able to assist you free of charge:
Apollo Industries, LLC: 800-504-5677, ApolloTV@inbox.com. This company will provide this free service to local consumers in Missouri.
G2 Communications: 314-599-3999. This company will provide this free service to local consumers in the Missouri and Illinois areas.
The St. Louis Fire Department and KETC/Channel 9 are still working together to provide in-home installation within the City of St. Louis. For help from the St. Louis Fire Department, consumers can call (314) 512-9617.
The St. Louis Area Agency on Aging is also providing help for consumers with converter box questions. For seniors and disabled individuals over the age of 18 who would like help from the St. Louis AAA, consumers can call (314) 612-5918.
Green Planet Construction: 888-508-1115. This company will provide this free service to local consumers in Missouri and Illinois.
KMAD Business Service, Inc: 866-932-2758. This company will provide this free service to local consumers in Missouri and Illinois.
AVO General Services, LLC: 888-652-9128. This company will provide this free service to local consumers in Missouri and Illinois.
Best Buy Co., Inc.: 877-229-3889. This company will provide this free service to local consumers in Missouri and Illinois.
BELOW ARE WALK-IN CENTERS, WHERE PEOPLE CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS IN PERSON:
LOCAL WALK-IN DTV CONVERTER BOX INSTALLATION ASSISTANCE
Do you need assistance with installing your DTV converter box? The following Federal Communications Commission contractors and partner organizations may be able to assist you free of charge:
Apollo Industries, LLC:
June 8th-15th = 12:00-8:00 pm daily
June 19th- July 12th = Friday 4:00pm-8:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm; Sunday 10:00am-4:00 pm
Locations:
Best Buy: 7017 S Lindburg Street, St Louis, MO 63125
Best Buy: 26 Plaza Drive, Fairview Heights, IL 62240
Radio Shack: 1110 Collinsville Crossing, Collinsville, IL 62234
Radio Shack: 602 N 25th Street, East St Louis, IL 62205
Urban League:
May 20th-June 30th = Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm
3701 Grandell Square, St. Louis, MO 63108; (314) 615-3600
8960 Jennings Station Road, St. Louis, MO 63136; (314) 388-9840
May 20th-June 30th = Wednesday and Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm
1401 S. Broadway, East St. Louis, MO 62201; (618) 274-1150
Urban League @ St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
May 20th-June30th = Monday - Friday, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
5600 Oakland Avenue, Cafeteria, St. Louis, MO 63110; (314) 644-9355
Urban League @ Southside Wellness Center
May 20th-June 30th = Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
3017 Park Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104; (314) 664-5024
** Local Assistance Centers Can Be Found by Typing in Your Local Zip Code at www.DTV.gov **
Washington, DC - With only four days left until the digital television transition, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) is sending the message that it is not too late for unprepared families to get ready for the DTV transition.
Here are a few easy steps to making a successful transition:
It's not too late. If you have your converter box coupon, use it today and make sure your box, television, and antenna work.
If you don't have your converter box coupon yet, apply today by calling 1-888-DTV-2009 or visiting www.DTV2009.gov. It typically takes about nine business days to receive your coupons, so you won't receive it in time for Friday's transition. You may want to purchase and install at least one converter box, if possible, to maintain access to critical emergency alerts and news. Certified, local retailers have a plentiful stock of converter boxes.
Make sure your antenna is both VHF and UHF. Antennas start at around 15 dollars, but your antenna needs will depend on where you live, the signal strength of the stations in your area, the topography of the area, and any outdoor obstructions. Typically, low-cost antennas will work fine in mid-sized to large metropolitan areas, so try your old antenna first.
Follow the instructions that come with the converter box to install the box and connect your antenna.
Scan for channels when you first install the box. Moving it closer to a window may help. You may need to adjust the antenna position, depending on which station you want to watch. Also, make sure there's nothing in front of it, and if you purchase an upgraded antenna, ask about the store return policy and keep the receipt. You may need to try a few different models before you find the one that works best for you. Rescan for channels after making these adjustments.
For most people, installation is a snap, but for some, it may take longer and require a few extra steps. To find local resources, go to www.DTV.gov and type in your zip code to find local assistance or call the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hotline - 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) - for help.
If families have a coupon they can donate, now is the time to help neighbors who may not get their coupons in time. LCCREF has partnered with nearly 100 community organizations to collect and distribute hundreds of coupons to needy families. In a time of economic uncertainty, many are turning to community organizations for help. To help these families with the switch, people with unused, unneeded, and unexpired coupons can mail them to:
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund
National DTV Coupon Exchange Program
P.O. Box 66081
Washington, DC 20035
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The below listed St Louis Metro DTV demonstration clinics will
observe the following schedule:
June 8th-15th = 12:00-8:00 pm daily
June 12,13,14 = Friday 4:00pm-8:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm; Sunday 10:00am-4:00 pm
June 26,27,27 = Friday 4:00pm-8:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm; Sunday 10:00am-4:00 pm
July 3,4,5 = Friday 4:00pm-8:00pm; (not confirmed); Sunday 10:00am-4:00 pm
July 10,11,12 = Friday 4:00pm-8:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm; Sunday 10:00am-4:00 pm
Locations:
Best Buy
7017 S Lindbergh
St Louis, MO 63125
Best Buy
26 Plaza Drive
Fairview Heights, IL 62240
Radio Shack
1110 Collinsville Crossing
Collinsville, IL 62234
Radio Shack
602 N 25th Street
East St Louis, IL 62205
Marc
]]>Marc
]]>PARTNER FOR FINAL DTV TRANSITION PUSH
The Urban League of Metro St. Louis, St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, and Southside Wellness Center to Provide Direct Assistance to Consumers
WASHINGTON, DC - With 30 days to go before the transition to digital television, The Urban League of Metro St. Louis, St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, and the Southside Wellness Center will be working with the Federal Communications Commission to reach St. Louis-area residents who have not yet prepared.
Beginning May 20, 2009, and continuing through June 30, 2009, all three organizations will serve as walk-in help centers where consumers will be able to apply for $40 converter box coupons, learn how to hook up and operate a converter box, obtain consumer fact sheets, and get answers to other questions about digital television. FCC staff will provide the local partners with training and assistance on the latest information about the digital transition, converter box coupon program, converter box installations, antenna connections and adjustments for the best digital TV reception possible.
The Urban League of Metro St. Louis
The Urban League of Metro St. Louis will open the doors of its headquarters and two other area offices to serve as a walk-in help center for consumers who need help preparing for digital television.
Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
3701 Grandell Square, St. Louis, MO 63108
(314) 615-3600
Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
8960 Jennings Station Road
St. Louis, MO 63136
(314) 388-9840
Wednesdays and Fridays, 8:30 - 5:00 p.m.
1401 S. Broadway
East St. Louis, MO 62201
(618) 274-1150
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park will open their Cafeteria to assist consumers in the evening and two Saturdays.
Monday - Friday, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 30, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 6, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
5600 Oakland Avenue, Cafeteria
St. Louis, MO 63110
(314) 644-9355
Southside Wellness Center
Southside Wellness Center will welcome consumers with DTV transition issues on weekdays.
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Southside Wellness Center
3017 Park Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63104
(314) 664-5024
On June 12, all full-power television stations will cease analog broadcasts and provide service only in digital. Consumers who do not subscribe to pay television services and have an analog television will need a digital-to-analog converter box in order to continue receiving free, over-the-air television. They may also need to adjust or replace their antennas. More information about the DTV transition and about events in your community can be found at www.dtv.gov, or by calling the FCC toll-free at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322).
BC-TEC--Digital TV Transition
Got an expired TV converter box coupon? Try again
Eds: APNewsNow.
NEW YORK (AP) -- People who got digital TV converter box coupons but let them expire can now apply for new ones.
The recent stimulus package put more money into the coupon program, letting the National Telecommunications and Information Administration give households with expired coupons a second chance.
Each household can apply for two $40 coupons that cover most of the cost of converter boxes. While 26 million coupons have been redeemed, 17 million expired at the end of their three-month life span.
The government also has cleared the wait list that built up after funding for the coupons dried up in January. That problem led Congress to delay the shutdown of analog TV broadcasts by four months, to June 12.
After then, older TVs that aren't hooked up to cable or satellite feeds will need converter boxes.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
For more information, you can download a coupon application at www.dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-388-2009.
Marc
]]>I would like someone to explain to me why KMOV originally said they would be back to full power by March 1 and then when the date was switched for the DTV conversion from Feb. 17 to June 12. KMOV switched when it would be back to full power to July 1 it makes no sense to me why your date for full power should change if it was scheduled for March 1 and planned for then it should still be accomplished by then. If it is delayed by this much then KMOV should be firing it's engineers as they obviously are incompetent to complete anything in a timely manner. I think the real reason is KMOV has some kind of deal with Charter or Dish or maybe both to delay full power trying to get more people to pay for television and if they are without your station for a week or so they'll give in and buy from cable or dish or someone like that.
HELP FOR MANCHESTER, MO RESIDENTS:
Digital Television Transition Support
Recently the United States Congress passed legislation, the DTV
Delay Act (S. 352) to delay the Digital Television Transition from
February 17, 2009 to June 12, 2009. Additionally, the DTV Delay
Act extends the Converter Box Coupon Program until July 31, 2009.
If you have questions or require assistance installing your converter
box, the Citizen Corps Council of Manchester, Missouri and the
Manchester Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will
be offering its services. Our volunteers are available to lend you a
hand at installing the converter box and transitioning your television
to receive the digital signal.
For additional information, please contact Lt. Tim Walsh at 636/207-
2816.
For additional information about volunteer opportunities and Citizen
Corps, please direct your inquiries to cccmm@manchestermo.gov or
visit the Citizen Corps link at http://www.manchestermo.gov.
ASHES TO ASHES...
I've got a great recycling idea for you - BEST BUY. Most local recyclers charge to take your old TV off your hands, because basically they don't make any money on it. Best Buy also charges $10 (and will only take 27" TV's or smaller), but in return they'll give you a $10 BB gift card. I think that's a great idea, and it's good for the environment.
See you,
Marc
Have a good weekend.
Marc
If you're still watching T-V on an analog signal, your set won't go black this month. The House has just passed a Senate bill that will give you four extra months to switch to a digital transmitter.
Supporters argued more than six million people, including many elderly, poor
and disabled Americans, would've lost service without the delay.
Republicans, who opposed it, say the government had already given people years
to prepare for the switch.
President Obama is expected to sign the legislation.
The new date for the death of analog is June 12th.
Marc
]]>February 1, 2009 8:59 PM
TV's New Date With Destiny
As DTV Delay Looms, Stations Pay Price
By Ira Teinowitz
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives will vote on whether the transition to digital broadcast television will be delayed, setting off a new scramble by broadcasters to adjust to a changing DTV switch deadline.
After a political back-and-forth that kept station managers off-balance for two weeks, June 12 is the new date for the digital switch. Legislators have said a delay from the original Feb. 17 deadline could cost individual stations up to $1 million in additional utility and lease costs.
Whether or not the delay is enacted this week, the National Association of Broadcasters is ready to deploy new public-service messages telling the public about the delay. TV stations that have been preparing contingency plans since President Barack Obama indicated last month that he wanted a delay are deciding whether to go ahead and switch to digital or wait until June.
The FCC said that of the nation's 1,800 or so TV stations, 133 have terminated their analog signals already, another 67 will terminate their signals before Feb. 17 and 93 have told the agency they will terminate their signal on Feb. 17. That means no matter what Congress does, about 16% of the nation's TV stations will have switched by Feb. 17.
The delay, which lets President Obama sidestep any disasters that would have accompanied the earlier switch, spells problems for TV stations already struggling with bare-bones budgets.
House Republicans who oppose the delay suggest it is unnecessary and would unfairly impose costs on TV stations.
On the House floor, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., a former radio station owner, cited letters from Oregon TV stations who are facing "upwards of $1 million in added energy costs at a time when they are having to lay off staff who do news coverage and other things because now they are going to get saddled with this burden, $500,000 to $1 million."
The National Association of Broadcasters declined to comment on the pending delay.
Advocates of a delay argued that some parts of the country and some demographics are unready for the switch. Congress and the Obama administration were concerned that adequate programs weren't in place to deal with any last-minute problems.
5.7% Not Ready
Their best evidence: A Nielsen study saying that as of Jan. 18, 5.7% of U.S. households were totally unready to receive digital TV. The study cited differences in readiness from market to market.
About 10% of households in Dallas and Houston are totally unready. Even in better-prepared markets, the percentage of minority households is in some cases double the national 5.7% average. In Phoenix, Nielsen reported 18.25% of Hispanic households aren't ready. In Los Angeles, more than 11% of Hispanic and African American households aren't ready.
Consumer and civil rights groups who urged a delay warn that those households could lose far more than entertainment.
"You would be completely disconnecting people who rely on over-the-air, which is the primary emergency broadcast mechanism in the United States," said Mark Lloyd, VP of strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
Advertiser groups also have expressed concern that a premature cutover would leave 17 million households either fully or partly without TV.
"This sudden loss of the ability to receive television transmission would cut off millions of Americans from important media access, including the commercial messages of our members," said the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Association of National Advertisers and the American Advertising Federation.
Finally, there are questions about how the FCC would view an early switch. The agency holds its first meeting with acting chairman Michael Copps this week; it will be devoted to DTV.
If there was any question about the Obama administration's view, it was answered last week by a statement issued after the Senate approved the delay legislation.
"Poor planning and inadequate funding of the DTV conversion means that millions of Americans risk being left in the dark on Feb. 17," the Obama administration said. "We urge the House to move quickly to pass this bill, and we will work with Congress to improve the information and assistance available to Americans as the nation moves to digital television."
]]> WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bucking the Obama administration, House Republicans on Wednesday defeated a bill to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12 -- leaving an estimated 6.5 million U.S. households unprepared for the currently scheduled Feb. 17 switchover.
But the battle over a delay may not be over, with some predicting the House will take up the measure again next week.
Wednesday's 258-168 House vote failed to clear the two-thirds threshold needed for passage in a victory for GOP members, who warn that postponing the transition by four months would confuse consumers.
As the DTV reporter, this makes me very happy. However, I understand why some people are upset. KMOV-TV will of course honor whatever decision is made by Congress. Organizationally, delaying the switch poses a number of problems. We are already in the process of rebuilding our digital transmitters to broadcast on Ch. 24. On February 17th, we're scheduled to have a tower crew move in and replace the Ch. 4 antenna on top of our 1200 foot tower with a Ch. 24 antenna. Until that happens, we cannot return to our full power of 1-million watts. So if Congress ends up delaying the switch, we will remain at less than full power until June. Hundreds of stations across the country face the same situation. This bill included a clause allowing stations to switch earlier if they choose, but don't bank on that happening. No station I can think of would risk being the only one to alienate a segment of viewers. We'll keep you up to date as this is considered again in Congress.
Marc
Marc
Here's the release:
What: Best Buy is teaming up with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to host in-store workshops about the digital television (DTV) transition in 25 cities across the country. Local broadcasters and Best Buy BlueShirt employees will facilitate the workshops to educate and help consumers prepare for the February 17, 2009 transition. These clinics will be held at the South County store in the St. Louis market on Monday, November 17, starting at noon. At the DTV workshops, consumers will be able to participate in discussions with Best Buy home theater experts and local broadcasters and get hands-on demonstrations on options for upgrading to DTV.
How: Knowledgeable Best Buy employees are available to assist consumers in finding the right DTV option to fit their lifestyle and needs. During the clinics, Best Buy technology pros and local broadcasters will review the following:
- What to expect when the February 17, 2009 DTV transition happens
- Consumers' three options to prepare for the transition
- An explanation of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's coupon program and how to apply
- Tips for converter box installation
Information on the importance of antennas
When: The in-store DTV workshops will be held on Monday, November 17, noon to 1 p.m.
Why: The DTV workshops will help consumers prepare for the digital transition on February 17, 2009, when all full-power television stations in the United States stop broadcasting in analog and switch to exclusively digital broadcasting.
Where: The Best Buy DTV workshops will be conducted in the following Best Buy locations: 7017 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO 63125
.
WHAT: Best Buy will be hosting a Free Consumer Electronics Recycling Event.
The first 100 cars will receive a $5 Best Buy gift card each day of the event.
The list of acceptable items include:
TVs
VCRs
Computer Monitors
Phones (includes cell phones)
CPUs
Inkjet/Printer cartridges
Rechargeable batteries (Nicad, NiMH, Li-Ion, small sealed lead)
Computer Peripherals (i.e. keyboards, mouse, etc)
Scanners, printers, and fax machines
Stereo Equipment
Items NOT accepted
Microwaves
Smoke Detectors
Large home appliances (i.e. washers, refrigerators, etc)
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 3 and Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: South County Best Buy (Parking Lot)
7017 S Lindbergh Blvd
Saint Louis, MO 63125
314-487-4999