Rep Barton: LPTV Bill Is 'Just Right'

The Low-powered TV (LPTV) and Translator Preservation Act of 2014, introduced by Rep Joe Barton (R-TX), was one of the subjects of the July 24 House Communications Subcommittee hearing.

The bill is intended to insure that the Federal Communications Commission takes into account the value of low-power TV stations, TV station translators and boosters when it repacks stations after the broadband incentive auctions.

The bill does not change those stations' secondary status. Some LPTV supporters do not support the bill because the FCC can force the stations to go dark if not to do so would adversely affect repacking. But it would require the FCC to take that value into account when deciding the fate of those stations, which other avowed LPTV supporters say could jeopardize the auction repacking for not much upside given that it does not change their regulatory status.