DTV Date Divides Pols, Alarms NAB

Action by the Republican-dominated House Commerce Committee has broadcasters fearing the digital TV transition could leave them with a reduced audience watching degraded pictures. The gloomy scenario follows the committee's largely party-line, 33-to-17 vote on Oct. 26 to set Dec. 31, 2008 as the date to end traditional analog TV, leaving all broadcasts airing in the digital format. Broadcasters fear there's not enough money in the legislation to subsidize the purchases of digital-to-analog converter boxes that will be needed in homes that don't 1) have a digital TV set or 2) subscribe to cable or satellite TV. Subsidies were not the only feature that left broadcasters unhappy. The successful bill included language that would let cable and satellite providers downgrade high-definition pictures. Cable and satellite operators say they may need to do so if faced with constraints on bandwidth capacity; broadcasters fear their sparkling high-definition fare will appear less so to viewers.
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