Observers Expect TV Issues To Dominate FCC Agenda

A panel of telecommunications providers handicapped some of the most pressing issues facing the FCC, and the transition to digital television transition and news rules for media ownership were among the most prominent. Congress has set February 2009 as the "hard date" by which broadcasters must end analog broadcasting and send only digital signals. That date could be delayed if the FCC does not take the "transition seriously," said Rick Chessen, a partner at the law firm of Shepphard Mullin Richter & Hampton. Chessen, former chairman of the FCC's digital TV task force, noted that the agency needs to keep monitoring and ensuring that the various industry players involved in the transition keep making changes so they are ready for the cut-off date. Broadcasters will have to do a tremendous amount of work to meet the 2009 DTV deadline, Chessen said. They may need to obtain additional financing and to coordinate with other broadcasters. They also will have to move their transmitting towers, and the time available for that is limited because it can only be done during favorable weather conditions, he said. Consumers will have to be prepared for the transition as well, he added. "There's nothing you can do to get people more irate than make people lose their television signals," Chessen said. "There's got to be a massive effort to bring consumers along." David Oxenford, a partner at the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, said media ownership will be the big issue for the FCC in the foreseeable future.
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