Hutchison's DTV concerns raised at NAB Conf

Brian Hendricks, legislative counsel to Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) spoke at the National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference on Tuesday reporting "a couple of things" that concern her about the current state of the DTV transition, including that broadcasters weren't compensated for some of their costs in moving the transition date. Apparently Sen Hutchison, the Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce Committee, had hoped that the economic stimulus package that set aside $650 million for the coupon program and DTV education would have included some compensation for broadcasters who had to pay to keep their transmitters running that extra time. Sen Hutchison is also concerned the Senate Commerce Committee has not had a DTV oversight hearing yet. The House held its DTV oversight hearing last week.