DTV Bill: Cable Can't Downconvert

The Budget legislation agreed to by the Senate and House late last year removed language from the House version of digital television transition provisions that would have allowed cable operators to "downconvert" digital TV signals into analog. The change might force millions of subscribers to lease set-top boxes in order to maintain their ability to watch local broadcast stations via cable. National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow told Congress cable wanted the right to downconvert digital-TV must-carry stations at the headend in order to avoid the cost and inconvenience of deploying millions of set-top boxes. But the National Association of Broadcasters' position, which seems to have won the day, is that degradation of digital-TV signals should be done by the consumer, not the cable company. By the end of 2006, Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable plan to offer all customers a digital simulcast of their analog channels, allowing analog consumers to transition to digital-TV sets and set-tops at their own pace. Under the digital-TV legislation, in 2009, Comcast and Time Warner could not offer digital-TV must-carry stations in analog. The two major direct-broadcast satellite carriers -- DirecTV Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp.'s Dish Network -- also had digital-TV signal-carriage flexibility removed from the bill.
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