The burden for educating the public has fallen on broadcasters, and I'm especially proud of the work public television has done to inform its viewers about the change, despite very limited resources.
I think it's unfortunate that the government's DTV coupon program ran out of money this month, so I applaud the new administration and Congress for including additional funding for the coupon program in the new economic stimulus bill.
I understand why the president and many lawmakers want to delay the switch, but I think it's important for them to be aware of the problems such a delay would cause and to work closely with broadcasters to develop solutions.
According to our estimates, delaying the switch until June will cost public television $22 million. This is because many of our member stations will be forced to extend leases on broadcasting towers to continue airing programs over analog signals for an additional four months, and they will have to cover the power costs for keeping their analog transmitters on the air.
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