[BC] DTV Date: April 7, 2009

[Rachel Ehrenberg]

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/14/2005 11:27:00 AM 

Broadcasters will have to pull the plug on analog transmissions on April
7, 2009, according to a Senate Commerce Committee draft of a DTV
"hard-date? bill circulated among staffers late last week.

As expected, the bare-bones bill does not deal with mandatory cable
carriage of broadcasters? multicast DTV signals, or with any new
public-interest obligations or cable conversion of the DTV signal, which
are expected to be addressed in a separate bill. 

The date is a compromise between the Jan. 1, 2009, date that has been
floated for months and a midsummer date favored by those who wanted to
push it past the bowl games and the May sweeps viewing period into the
lower-viewing summer months.

The hard date bill would require that some of the money collected from
auctions of the reclaimed analog spectrum be put into a new Digital
Transition and Public Safety Fund, while still meeting its $4.8 billion
commitment to the general Treasury fund. 

 
The Digital Transition Fund would 1) help pay for digital-to-analog
converter boxes; 2) convert low-power TV stations and TV translators (an
important issue with Commerce Committee Chairman Sen.Ted Stevens); 3)
fund new emergency communications systems (some of the spectrum will be
handed over to first responders); 4) help pay for an enhanced 911
system; and 5) provide money for hurricane assistance in coastal states.

The last provision was a way of addressing the pressure to use the
auction proceeds to help pay for the hundreds of billions promised for
Katrina relief. 

The provision for funding translator conversion is near and dear to
Stevens since rural areas?like Alaska?rely on translators to relay TV
signals to remote viewers. 

The Senate?s "hard date" bill must be reconciled with a House version
expected to be marked up by Oct. 28.

The National Cable Television Association responded to the bill in a
statement: "We support the priority placed on achieving a hard date by
which to complete the transition to digital TV. We're also pleased that
the staff has chosen to refrain from including mandatory multicasting
which would injure consumers and threaten diversity in programming
choices.  We're looking forward to working further with Congress as
these issues unfold."

"Senator Stevens and Senator [Daniel] Inouye [Commerce co-chairman] have
taken a critical and necessary step to expedite our nation's transition
to digital television (DTV) in an effective and pro-consumer manner,"
said Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro. "CEA has
long supported a hard cut-off date for analog broadcasts. A hard date
provides certainty to manufacturers, retailers, consumers and all others
with a stake in the transition. "

NAB was still reviewing the bill at press time.  

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