FCC Chairman Says Digital Television Transition Is Taking Longer than Expected

[Gregg Lengling]

By Harry Berkowitz, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Jun. 11--CHICAGO--The nation's transition to digital television has speeded up but will take more time than the federal government expected, Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell told thousands of cable industry executives yesterday.

"Consumers take longer to adapt to new revolutions than the government-mandated time frame suggested," Powell said at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association convention. "We are pushing hard to make sure the transition moves at a quicker clip."

Two years ago, Congress gave broadcasters until the end of 2006 to convert to digital signals, which provide clearer pictures and more capacity, but the shift also depends on the price of today's still-expensive digital-capable sets sinking further and on more digital programming becoming available. Many critics say there is no clamor for digital TV. Congress said the conversion could wait longer if 85 percent of TV homes are not digital ready by then.

"Just in the last few months you've seen an extraordinary increase in consumer purchases of high-definition television ," which is a form of digital TV with even clearer pictures and a widescreen format, Powell said. "There will be a moment -- and I don't think it's that far away -- where it's just going to rocket up for consumers."

The Consumer Electronics Association expects 2.5 million HDTV sets to be sold this year, ratcheting up to 10.5 million sold in 2006.

In a separate panel discussion, John Hendricks, chief executive of Discovery Communications, which owns the Discovery Channel, predicted that 20 million homes will shift to HDTV as soon as five years from now and that 70 percent of TV homes will have it within 10 years.

Other panel members at the convention -- which has featured HDTV, with dozens of demo TVs, as the wave of the near future -- were less certain of the time frame.