Posted on 10/17/2005 1:48:56 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
(10/17/05 - WASHINGTON) - Congress is zeroing in on early 2009 as the time for the country to make the switch to digital television broadcasts, a move that will give viewers sharper pictures and better sound.
A Senate bill would set a firm deadline of April 2009, according to a draft proposal obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The draft of a House bill would end analog transmissions on Dec. 31, 2008.
In addition to working out a compromise on the date, lawmakers must decide whether to keep a Senate provision calling for the federal government to pay for converter boxes that would allow people who don't have or can't afford a digital TV, or cable or satellite, to continue to receive over-the-air local stations.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is expected to take up the bill Wednesday. Current law calls for television broadcasters to switch to all-digital transmissions by late 2006, or when 85 percent of households have the ability to receive digital signals. But there's confusion about how to count the 85 percent, so Congress is stepping in to set a so-called "hard date" -- requiring broadcasters to end the transmission of their traditional analog signal.
The broadcasters' move to all-digital will free up valuable radio spectrum.
Some of the frequencies were promised to public safety groups in 1997, and they've been waiting for years for the broadcasters to vacate the analog spectrum. Those channels will help improve congestion and other communications problems on the emergency radios used by fire, police and others.
Besides setting a hard date, the Senate bill would designate an undermined amount of money, possibly $1 billion, to help public safety officials buy new equipment or invest in networks that would help improve communications across their own communities and across entire regions.
The spectrum that isn't allocated for public safety will be auctioned by the government. Congressional officials estimate its value at about $10 billion.
In a letter to lawmakers on Friday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and other industry leaders urged Congress to speed the transition to DTV so the auctioned spectrum could be used for wireless broadband and other services, especially in rural and poor areas. They called for the earliest possible deadline but said it should be no later than Jan. 1, 2009.
A member of the coalition that sent the letter said he wasn't disappointed that the proposed deadline in the Senate bill is April 7, 2009.
"We are not going to argue over a few months," said Ralph Helmann, senior vice president of government relations at the Information Technology Industry Council. "Having a hard date was very significant."
Senate Commerce Committee: http://commerce.senate.gov House Energy and Commerce: http://energycommerce.house.gov
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Of all the TVs I have, which is several, I have no idea at present if any of them still work anyway. Last time I turned one of them on was over a decade ago.
If uncle sucker is going to pay for it, why would I pay for it myself?
Actually, I'm somewhat relieved because I thought this was coming in 2006! But one of the expenses not included is the expense of upgrading to HDCable. My provider charges more for that and making the change causes me to lose my senior discount which is no longer offered.
Can someone post online instructions on how to convert an old one into a fish tank?
Does anybody still get watch TV over the air? There will be no problem using current TVs with sattelite or cable.
Lots of plexi-glass, silicone caulk and glue?
I guarantee you that it is the cable TV lobbyists that are pushing this because they know that they will be the ones who must provide the converters to people who don't have digital ready TV and truthfully, compared to the amount of money a cable subscription costs, it is a small amount.
No big loss.
"uncle sucker" is not paying for anything for US -- just helping out the networks and cable providers. Then they are going to make out like bandits selling the rights to the other bands to people like Microsoft.
WHAT?!?!?!?!
I'm betting that by the time the conversion comes around, either the government will have forced cable to provide the signals at the then-prevailing rate for normal TV; or will have allowed them to continue providing non-HDTV over the cable so long as they have the appropriate outputs to drive HDTV monitors.
Too far away to care about yet. I'm betting my TVs will be on the fritz about 2 months before the government starts offering free replacements. :->
Almost all TV's and TV shows are technicolor now.
Not just Bonanza and The Wonder World of Disney.
:)
What's this? Every American has a constitutional right to have a digital TV converter at taxpayer expense? Typical senate ploy. After all, what good would it do them to appear on TV every day bashing Bush, if their constituents couldn't even watch them whine?
""uncle sucker""
Wasn't that the title of a song in the South Park movie?
/john
"In addition to working out a compromise on the date, lawmakers must decide whether to keep a Senate provision calling for the federal government to pay for converter boxes that would allow people who don't have or can't afford a digital TV, or cable or satellite, to continue to receive over-the-air local stations."
When did TV become an entitlement?
Close ;~D
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