Senate Commerce Media, DTV Votes

SENATE COMMERCE MEDIA, DTV VOTES

• Senate Commerce Committee Rejects FCC Media Ownership Changes
• Obama Urges Swift Passage of FCC-Blocking Bill
• Low-Power TV Stations Get Boost from Senate Commerce Committee
• No Border War at Senate Commerce Committee

SENATE COMMERCE MEDIA, DTV VOTES

SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE REJECTS FCC MEDIA OWNERSHIP CHANGES
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation]
On Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved S.J. 28, a Joint Resolution disapproving a Federal Communications Commission rule allowing for increased media consolidation. The resolution, introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), would overturn the FCC ruling (Report and Order FCC 07-216), which allowed for cross ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the top 20 markets in the United States. Sen Dorgan said the resolution was meant to combat "galloping concentration" in the media. Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said, "It is clear to me that the Commission rushed its process. The agency rolled back its rules preventing media concentration, despite getting a cautionary light from the Congress that more public comment and more attention to localism and minority ownership was needed before barreling ahead.” The House is also considering a nullification of the ownership rule, but even if supporters are successful, President Bush seems likely to veto it. The Senate resolution has 25 co-sponsors including both Democratic candidates for president, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. After the vote, FCC Chairman Kevin martin said, "It's important that we try to reform our media ownership rules to reflect the changes in the marketplace that have occurred, and particularly the challenges that the newspaper industry faces."
(links to sources below)

OBAMA URGES SWIFT PASSAGE OF FCC-BLOCKING BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said Thursday that the recent newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership-rule change approved by the Federal Communications Commission was the kind of special-interest-engineered change he opposes, and he sought a quick vote on the bill in the full Senate. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who is heading the effort, said Tuesday that the bill was on a fast track. “We must ensure that we have an open media market that represents diverse voices throughout the country," Sen Obama said. "The rules promoting the public interest and diversity in media ownership are too important for the FCC to accept an agenda supported by the Washington special interests that I have fought against for more than a year.”
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6554700.html?rssid=193

LOW-POWER TV STATIONS GET BOOST FROM SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday gave a shot in the arm to low-power TV stations. Without debate, the committee agreed to make a technical correction to the Deficit Reduction Act that will allow the government to give out $65 million to help low-power TV stations and translators make the switch to digital. The way the bill had been written, low-powers would not get the money until October 2010, a year-and-a-half after full-powers make the DTV switch. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration requested that the money be freed up early so that more stations could go digital sooner. The NTIA hopes to alleviate some of the concerns raised by the fact that its DTV-to-analog converter boxes are not permitted to have analog tuners in them and are not required to pass through analog signals.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6554656.html?rssid=193

NO BORDER WAR AT SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
With only minor modifications, a bill to allow full-power TV stations along the border with Mexico to continue to broadcast in analog after the switch to digital passed the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday. That fix would allow public-safety organizations to apply for waivers of the law even before it becomes a law. The DTV Border Fix Act, which was co-sponsored by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), would allow qualified TV stations within 50 miles of the border to broadcast in analog until 2014.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6554695.html?rssid=193