House Still Plans Mark-Up On DTV BIll
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to hold Jan. 21 mark-up despite Obama team's preference for simpler Senate bill
John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/16/2009 2:00:50 PM
At press time, the House Energy & Commerce Committee was still planning to mark up a bill next week to move the DTV transition date from Feb. 17 to June 12.
While the Barack Obama transition team had sent a letter to House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saying it urged passage of a simpler Senate version of the bill, a spokeswoman for Waxman said that the plan was still to hold a 1:30 markup on Jan. 21, where committee members can amend and discuss the bill before voting on it.
She did not say what would happen if a Senate bill were approved Friday and sent over to the House. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it," she said. "It is too early to tell."
The Senate bill was being fast-tracked for approval, perhaps as soon as Friday if author Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Senate Commerce Committee chairman, had his way. But there are ongoing discussions about the House bill, including how to accommodate first responders, who are getting some of the reclaimed analog TV spectrum for emergency communications.
Language addressing that concern was absent from a discussion draft of the Waxman bill circulating around town Friday, but a committee staffer said there were active discussions about that issue and the language could be added before the mark-up.
The House bill would try to unclog the backlog of DTV-to-analog converter box coupons, including requiring the government to mail them out First Class rather than bulk rate, and would require the FCC to try to help companies, including Verizon, get access to the reclaimed analog TV spectrum.
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Thank you, Ken English. Your remarks are most helpful.
Ray Barton - 1/18/2009 9:55:35 PM EST -
I support a 4-month extension of the DTV deadline. The discount coupon program was a farce for people like me who ordered them early. In May 2008, I ordered and promptly received my discount coupon with an address list of eight local merchants (half of them Radio Shack outlets) where the coupons could be redeemed. When the 90-day coupon deadline ran out, not one of those retailers in my city had received a first shipment of the converter boxes.
Kate Gambler - 1/18/2009 1:54:27 PM EST -
There appeared to be a bad production run (probably just one bad component from a vendor) on the RCA boxes, many months ago.
I've also heard from people who had a lock-up on various boxes after a power failure, but those just required unplugging them for a minute.
I think that many "problems" are due to having a marginal signal, so the channels occasionally disappear when the atmospheric conditions worsen slightly.
I've begun recommending that people buy an attenuator (about $1.20 each) and see if it drops their "Good" signal out. If so, they need a bit better signal (more "headroom").
Also, many people still don't scan for channels, and then return the boxes as "defective".
Ken English - 1/18/2009 11:21:45 AM EST -
I have heard rumors of massive converter box failures. I was told by a fairly reliable source of persons that were already on their 5th box. Apparently they just burn out like a light bulb. Has anybody heard or seen any of this?
Ray Barton - 1/17/2009 5:44:56 PM EST
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