Digital TV legislation expected in mid-October
September 29th, 2005Congressional action on digital TV legislation is now expected in mid-October. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, still favors a 2009 date for completing the transition to digital TV broadcasts.
Republicans are pushing for smaller subsidies for consumers who will need set-top converter boxes that allow analog TVs to continue receiving over-the-air broadcasts.
Cable carriage of multicast channels remains a sticking point:
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., who chairs the Energy and Commerce panel’s Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee, said that a requirement that cable operators carry broadcasters’ multiple digital channel streams—so-called multicasting—”is not going to be part of the base [DTV] bill, and the prospects for adding it as an amendment in the House are probably pretty dim.”
However, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., a senior Commerce Committee member, and acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., are said to support a limited multicast must-carry provision.
• Links: National Journal’s Insider Update; Broadcasting & Cable (subscription)