Barton Claims Votes to Cut Analog TV

[Gregg Lengling]

The chair of the House Commerce Committee on Tuesday said he has enough votes to pass a bill setting a firm date to end analog TV service and leave broadcasters with only digital signals.

But Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) acknowledged he was not certain he could get the Senate to go along. "I want there to be a hard date," Barton told a meeting of state broadcasters gathered by the National Broadcasters Association in Washington, D.C. "I think I've got the votes in the House, and we'll see in the Senate."

Earlier, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, told the same crowd that questions remain to be answered before he will agree to a hard date. "We can't be heavy-handed," Stevens said. "It won't work."

Barton told reporters he expects to introduce his bill in the coming weeks. He favors a cutoff date of Dec. 31, 2006.

Current law mandates a cutoff of traditional analog service on that date, or when 85 percent of TV consumers can receive digital broadcasts. But pressure is growing to finish the transition to digital service, in part so the analog spectrum can be turned to other uses.