Senate Digital TV Bill Sets April 2009 'Hard Date'

Analog television broadcasting would go dark on April 7, 2009, under draft digital television legislation by the Senate Commerce Committee. The setting of April 7, 2009 as the so-called hard date for the digital TV transition means that, after such time, every American would have to have a digital TV set, a set-top converter box, or a subscription to a cable or satellite service to obtain television reception. A draft bill floated earlier this year by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) contained a hard date of Dec. 31, 2008; Rep Barton's panel is expected to mark up digital TV transition legislation during the week of Oct. 24. The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to take up the digital TV transition this coming Wednesday. The draft bill, circulated on Capitol Hill late last week, takes no position on whether cable TV operators "must carry" the multiple signals that an individual station can broadcast in the digital spectrum. The bill instructs the FCC to 1) auction 60 megahertz of the radio frequencies to be reclaimed when broadcasters cease analog transmissions and 2) make another 24 megahertz of such spectrum available for public safety uses.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-ZQLO1129320108013.html
* Senate Panel to Consider '09 Switch to Digital TV
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112949984383770080.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
(requires subscription)
* Senate DTV Bill Would Set April 2009 Hard Transition Date
(Not available online)
* DTV Date: April 7, 2009
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6272901?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* US Senate draft digital TV bill sets move for 2009
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2005-10-14T164210Z_01_EIC459536_RTRUKOC_0_US-CONGRESS-DIGITALTV.xml&a...
* Senators to Mull April '09 Digital Date
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001306315
* Senate Hard Date: April 7, 2009
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6272985.html?display=Breaking+News
* See the text of this bill and follow its progress through the Senate at:
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/369