Congress moving toward analog TV cutoff
August 11th, 2005Congress is said to be ready to set a final deadline for ending analog TV broadcasts, and many expect the date to be Jan. 1, 2009.
When the cutoff takes effect, viewers will need new TVs equipped with digital tuners to receive over-the-air broadcasts. The alternative will be to get a set-top converter box that will enable old-style sets to receive digital TV broadcasts, or to rely on cable or satellite TV service.
“It has been a real sea change in the last 18 months in Washington,” said Paul Gallant, analyst at the Stanford Washington Research Group. “Even though the key committee chairmen have not yet introduced bills, most people think it’s going to pass, soon.”
“I believe retrieving the analog spectrum and completing the digital television transition is the most critical communications issue facing the 109th Congress,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at a July hearing.
Bills may be introduced next month in both the House and Senate. A key question: What’s driving lawmakers to assign this level of urgency to an issue beyond the awareness of most voters? Is it the $5-billion-plus windfall the government may expect from auctioning off the frequencies used by analog TV? Is it pressure from wireless companies and others who hope to profit from the spectrum reallocation? Or is it the need to reassign some of those frequencies to public-safety uses?
• Source: Newhouse News Service