DTV Transition Bill Passes Final Hurdle in Congress

Background: On February 1, 2006, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 216-214, approved the Budget Reconciliation conference report which includes the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act. With this final Congressional action setting a date certain for the digital TV transition , Charles Benton, chairman of the Benton Foundation, said:
"Punxsutawney Phil will likely see his shadow tomorrow, Groundhog Day, but will he also see a clearer end to the DTV transition now that Congress has acted?
"Now that Congress has set a hard date for an end of analog TV broadcasts, providing a light at the end of a 20+ year transition tunnel, the Federal Communications Commission must make the hard choices that will make this transition worth it.
"The transition from analog to digital television does not just represent a technological change, but an important opportunity to reassess whether the public's airwaves are being used to meet the public's needs.
"What are the public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters? What kind of content should consumers expect in the age of digital television? Will DTV broadcasters provide the necessary civic programming before elections necessary for an informed democracy, or will democracy itself be left behind? Will the DTV future include a variety of voices and views, or will the nation's diversity be left behind? Will DTV provide truly educational content, or will our children be left behind? Will DTV programming be accessible, or will people with sight- or hearing-impairments be left behind?
"With the DTV transition now certain, the FCC needs to provide the same certainty for how the DTV transition will serve the public's interest. Neither broadcasters nor the public will benefit from the FCC responding to the bright light Congress has provided by hiding and hoping the DTV transition completes itself. The FCC needs to complete its proceedings on defining the digital broadcasters' public interest obligations that it began many years ago."
For more on the outstanding issues concerning the DTV transition see http://www.benton.org/node/1258