Digital Television Transition Now A Civil Rights Issue

Civil rights groups are calling the 2009 digital TV transition a big problem for minorities and the disadvantaged, who they say are poised to be cut off from important resources and the American political system of all things, if they aren't properly informed of the steps they must take to prepare for DTV2009.

Wade Henderson, CEO and president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), says that civil rights group want to make sure that DTV2009 is an "equal opportunity" transition where all groups and locales have the same opportunity to prepare.

Groups such as LCCR have stepped in to assist in the transition as research groups have found that of the 21 million US households that rely on over-the-air signals for TV reception, 33% are Spanish-American, 25% are black, and about 12% are Asian. Nearly half of the 21 million affected households have annual incomes under $30, 000, nearly 40% have at least one resident over the age of 50, and about 33% have a resident who is disabled.

Unfortunately the LCCR and other such groups have a ways to go as only 4.7 million coupons have been requestion as part of the TV Converter Box Coupon Program, which refunds up to $40 to the purchase of a digital converter for analog TV sets.

Via civilrights

Read More in: Digital TV Transition 2009

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