The telephone operators at the hotline designed to help consumers get ready for the transition to digital television need more training, the FCC says.

About two weeks ago, the whole country was supposed to be all-digital, but at the last minute, Congress moved the mandatory analog cut-off date from February 17th to June 12th.

Some stations made the switch on the 17th anyway, citing the additional expense of maintaining two transmitters for the four months as too costly.  For some of them, the added cost would have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars per month.

Other stations are planning to switch before June 12th: another “wave” of transitions is slated for April 16th.

Nielsen, the company that measures television program ratings, now estimates that about five percent of television households are not ready.

Also, a coupon program that had temporarily run out of money is about to begin reissuing coupons to customers who have added their names to a waiting list now that previously-issued coupons that have gone unused have begun to expire.

In any case, it was determined along the way that the operators haven’t been properly trained to answer detailed questions about setting up a digital converter box or pointing a digital antenna.

What I find so amusing about this is that the FCC has had years to get people ready to give consumers the information they need.  The furor over digital began much earlier than last November, when stations began to be required to run daily countdowns listing the precise number of days from which the switch would happen.

But the FCC doesn’t seem to see it that way:

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps was quick to point out that that was not an implied criticism of the operators, but a reflection on the lack of time the FCC had to get them trained before the Feb. 17 date. He said he had visited the FCC’s call center in Gettysburg, PA, and that the operators were eager for more training.

Lack of time?

Seriously?

The switch to digital was mandated back in 2005, specifically in The Digital Transition and Public Safety Act. Since this is ealy 2009, that means the FCC has had more than three years to come up with a training plan so that operators know exactly what consumers need to be told. They should be beyond embarrassed that at this late date, they think operators don’t know enough.

If these are the people who are supposed to be in charge of television, it’s no wonder the industry’s having rough times in the economy.