[opendtv] News: Senator Says No Quick DTV Deadline
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 07:43:53 -0500
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000838599
Senator Says No Quick DTV Deadline
March 15, 2005
By Todd Shields
A Senate leader on technology issues said Tuesday the chamber may
accept a hard deadline for the digital TV transition, but it is
unlikely to go along with an emerging House proposal to end analog
transmissions as early as the end of next year.
"People will think that's not enough time," said Sen. John Ensign
(R-Nev.), head of the Commerce Committee's subcommittee on
technology. "Whether it's 2007, 2008 -- something like that will be
more the compromise," Ensign told reporters after addressing a
Washington audience gathered by the Consumer Electronics Association.
Broadcasters generally oppose setting a deadline, arguing that
cutting off analog transmissions could leave millions without
essential TV service. The consumer electronics industry wants a
deadline. So does Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chair of the House
Commerce Committee, who told the same audience earlier Tuesday he
expects to soon introduce a bill setting a hard date.
Barton said he prefers a deadline of Dec. 31, 2006 -- a date set
years ago by Congress but which added an escape clause: the
transition need not take place until 85 percent of viewers can
receive a digital TV signal. Barton suggested the 85 percent goal is
close in many markets, if regulators count subscribers to cable
systems that can convert broadcasters' digital signals to analog
signals that will work with old TVs.
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