Senate Analog Nightlight Bill Introduced
Bill would allow broadcasters to continue broadcasting in analog for 30 days after Feb. 17, 2009.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/1/2008 3:31:00 PM
A bill was introduced in the Senate that would allow broadcasters to continue broadcasting in analog for 30 days after the Feb. 17, 2009, date for TV stations to transition to full-power digital TV.
Broadcasters would still transition their primary channel feeds to digital Feb. 17, but they could continue to broadcast DTV-education information and emergency information for that 30-day period.
The analog cutoff is currently set, by statute, for Feb. 17.
The Senate bill was introduced by John D. Rockefeller (D-W. Va.). Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) introduced a similar bill in the House last week.
A number of broadcasters suggested a similar move, prompted in part by lessons learned from the Wilmington, N.C., early analog shutoff, where stations there continued to air analog signals with a DTV-education graphic. The Federal Communications Commission received several-thousand calls from viewers with requests for help of various kinds.
Rockefeller's bill would not require stations to remain broadcasting in analog, but it would require the FCC by Jan. 15, 2009, to develop a program to "encourage and permit, to the extent technically feasible," the extra 30 days of analog.
Some stations may not be able to continue in both formats because they will have to replace their top-mounted analog transmitters with digital ones. In fact, some stations will pull the plug on analog early so they don’t have to make that transmitter switch in mid-winter.
The bill faces an uphill climb, with Congress ready to exit after resolving the financial-bailout issue.
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Ah yes - your government in action people! Y2K all over again? Perhaps - but remember the outcome - a media driven hype-uber-fest and nothing more. There will certainly be a bit of chaos - for those OTA consumers - but what the heck - it is a broadcaster problem - let them deal with it - cable stands ready to save the day. Another major reason RTC must go - let the broadcasters lie in the bed they have made.
Quigley Spargus - 10/7/2008 9:22:00 AM EDT -
Absolutely not. This has been a process years and years in the making
with endless delays from all sides. If it's going to happen, make it happen.
There's plenty of time to allow the analog networks to inform the public.
Zak Ray - 10/5/2008 2:56:00 PM EDT -
AVOID VIEWER REVOLT: Extend analog shut-off to Aug. 31, 2011, the Canadian deadline. Rockefeller, et. al., do you realize that the public is not ready for this transition? Anyone who reads these pages knows it, too.
We're talking about an over-the-air audience of up to 20 million... and Nielsen recently estimated that 10 percent are not ready. That's 2 million angry viewers who could be disenfranchised from TV come Feb. 18. This is both a consumer issue and a public safety issue. Does a senator named Rockefeller really want to be associated with the line: "Let 'em buy cable"?
Because that's the attitude being projected to OTA viewers from politicians and regulators. These are the elderly, the poor, minorities, the technically challenged, those waiting for their (delayed) converter box coupons, or just those who don't need cable. And they vote, too. Avoid a fiasco: extend the analog deadline to comport with the Canadian date.
Adam Smith - 10/3/2008 2:51:00 PM EDT
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