House Bill Sets Jan. 1, 2009, Digital TV Date

[Gregg Lengling]

Draft legislation from the House of Representatives Commerce Committee sets a hard date of Jan. 1, 2009, for the transition to digital from analog television signals.

The committee will hold a hearing on the legislation on Thursday.

"We've held four hearings since last year on the digital television transition and dedicated the past two months to seeking a bipartisan consensus," Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said in a statement. "It's now time to take the next step and legislate."

Barton has said in recent months that he favors a firm date of Dec. 31, 2006, for the switch-over from analog television signals to digital. Under current law, the transition would occur on that date only if 85% of households are ready to receive digital signals either by having a digital-ready television or a converter, which could take many years.

 

But Barton said earlier this month that he would consider a "slight change" in the Dec. 31, 2006, date to get other members of his committee on board.

"Eliminating the 85% penetration test and setting a 'hard deadline' to end analog broadcasts will bring consumers and the economy the benefits of digital television faster, and enable all parties to plan," the draft bill states.

Transition backers say the analog spectrum in the prized 700-megahertz band currently used by broadcasters could be sold to the private sector and also be used by emergency responders. Estimates for proceeds that the government would receive by selling the spectrum run as high as $30 billion.

"A hard date will foster innovation and strengthen America's security, while completing the DTV transition in a timely and understandable manner," said Gary Shapiro, president of Consumer Electronics Association, in a statement.

The National Association of Broadcasters, which has opposed a hard date in the past, had no comment on the draft legislation.

Last month, a group of high-tech giants - including Dell Inc. (DELL), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Intel Corp. ( INTC), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) - launched a group called The High Tech DTV Coalition to push for a hard transition date.

"We applaud the bill as a step in the right direction," said Janice Obuchowski, executive director of the High Tech DTV Coalition.

Yet despite the economic and budgetary benefits to freeing up the broadcast spectrum, changing the way people watch television isn't without political risk. Broadcasters note that roughly 73 million TV sets in over 20 million households rely on over-the-air analog signals. And as one House member observed during one of the DTV hearings, should a good number of households see their sets go dark, "the sledgehammer's going to come back on us, as it should."

The DTV legislation would require retailers to affix warnings to television sets stating that broadcasters will cease transmitting analog, over-the-air broadcasts after Dec. 31, 2008. It would also move up the date when digital tuners must be included in TV sets with 13- to 24-inch screens to July 1, 2006.

Under the proposed legislation, cable operators would be required to carry the primary digital signal from must-carry broadcasters. If cable companies choose to convert one digital must-carry signal into analog, they must do so for all of their must-carry broadcasters in the market.

The cable industry has in the past opposed such dual carriage requirements. A spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association had no comment on the draft bill, saying the group is still reviewing the bill.

The draft legislation doesn't mention subsidies for lower-income households to buy converter boxes.