Omnibus DTV Update
Rockefeller Fast-Tracks DTV Bill
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is pushing for quick passage of legislation that would delay the switch to all-digital television broadcasting to June 12, 2009 and extend the life digital-to-analog converter box program to July 31, 2009. The bill does not raise any related issues including boosting funding for the DTV-to-analog converter boxes, expediting mailing of the coupons or analog TV spectrum won by Verizon and others in spectrum auctions, all of which are addressed in a House draft of a DTV date-moving bill. Chairman Rockefeller is going to try to take the bill straight to the floor, and hopes he can get it approved on unanimous consent. "Senator Rockefeller is working with the leadership to get action on the bill as soon as today," said an aide. "My understanding is they are running the hotline on the bill right now in the Senate." Hotlined means every Senator is being contacted to see if they have any objections. In a perfect world, said the source, that could happen as quickly as Friday, with the bill then sent over to the House.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/162261-Rockefeller_Fast_Tracks_...
Senate Set to Vote on DTV-Switch Delay (TVWeek)
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/01/senate_could_vote_today_on_dtv.php
Obama Team Urges Passage of DTV Date Bill
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
President-elect Barack Obama's transition team sent letters to Congress on Friday urging approval of legislation that would move the digital television transition date from Feb 17, and to set a delay of "limited and specific duration." The House and Senate Commerce Committees appear to favor a delay until June 12, 2009.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/162255-Obama_Team_Urges_Passage...
Podesta Supports Rockefeller Bill (Multichannel News)
http://www.multichannel.com/article/162268-Podesta_Supports_Rockefeller_...
House Bill Backs June 12 DTV Date
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: ]
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has drafted legislation that will extend the end of analog television broadcasting to June 12, 2009. A similar bill was introduced Thursday on the Senate side by Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). The Waxman bill would change the DTV Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 to insert the new date. It would also move the expiration date of any DTV-to-analog coupons that have expired to Sept. 15, 2009. It would also include one replacement coupon per household for any coupons that had expired anytime during the life of the coupon program. The coupons would have to be delivered by pre-sorted First Class mail rather than bulk mail, as has been the case. The bill would not require broadcasters to remain in analog until June, which means that stations who were ready and did not want to continue to spend the money to keep two signals on would not have to. The bill also tries to address the concerns of winning bidders, like Verizon, for reclaimed analog spectrum that will be used for advanced wireless services. The FCC would have until Feb 15 to come up with a program to "encourage and permit" subject to "public interest limitations" the use of the upper 700 mHZ band by those bidders, including for experimentation and testing purposes. The House Commerce Committee plans a hearing on the Waxman bill on Wednesday.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/162250-House_Bill_Backs_June_12...
House Commerce Committee Plans Mark-Up On DTV Bill (Broadcasting&Cable)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/162269-House_Still_Plans_Mark_U...
Waxman Supports June 12 DTV Delay (Multichannel News)
http://www.multichannel.com/article/162257-Waxman_Supports_June_12_DTV_D...
Senate Republicans block delay in TV transition
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a bill that would have delayed next month's nationwide shutdown of analog TV signals until June 12, but Democrats vowed to bring the measure back for a vote next week. The bill was defeated even after President-elect Barack Obama on Friday urged lawmakers to postpone the Feb. 17 transition amid mounting concerns that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up broadcast channels won't be ready. Obama called for a delay largely because the federal program that subsidizes converter boxes for those viewers hit a $1.34 billion funding limit this month. But some Senate Republicans fear a delay would confuse people and burden public safety agencies waiting for wireless spectrum that will be freed up by the switchover. The opponents also said a delay would be costly for television broadcasters that have spent several years preparing for the analog shutoff. A separate measure on digital TV is scheduled to come up Wednesday in the House. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) also supports delaying the digital transition to June 12 and has proposed reforms to make the coupon program easier for people to deal with.
http://www.lakewyliepilot.com/434/story/250825.html
McCain Links DTV Delay To Public Safety
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Sen John McCain (R-AZ) will not agree to a short delay of the digital television transition if public safety organizations are denied access to old analog TV spectrum on Feb. 17 as guaranteed under current law. A proposed law from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) does not appear to address McCain's chief concern, meaning public safety groups will have to wait until June 12 to take control of the 24 MHz promised for a national, interoperable wireless broadband network recommended by the 9/11 commission. "While our first responders have been told year after year that this spectrum will be available, its availability has continued to be delayed largely due, in my view, to a well-funded lobby of special-interests," McCain said in a letter. "We simply cannot risk the consequences of further delaying this critically needed spectrum for public safety," McCain said. "I urge you to work with me to uphold Congress' important commitment public safety and ensure that spectrum is made available to first responders on the date Congress promised-Feb. 17, 2009."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/162252-McCain_Links_DTV_Delay_To_Pub...
FCC Commissioners Say DTV Prep Inadequate Across the Board
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission members Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein have given Congress a host of reasons to delay the DTV transition date, saying preparation has been inadequate across the board. In a letter to the House Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce Committee leadership Friday, they said the FCC was "scrambling" to catch up after poor planning, but that the late start has led to a rushed effort with "little room for strategic thinking or for anticipating and fixing problems that have arisen." Those problems they listed as inadequate coordination between government agencies and the public and private sector (echoing concerns they have long expressed), inadequate DTV education, inadequate preparation to handle phone calls from viewers or outreach to help them in person, and inadequate attention to reception and closed-captioning issues. The pair said those were not the only reasons, citing the converter-box problem, but added that they wanted to raise other issues that "may have not received the same level of attention." They said if there is a delay, the FCC would need to be flexible and sensitive to community and station needs. They also wanted to make sure that legislators did not blame FCC staffers for the inadequate preparation, saying that "they have done a truly amazing job under exceedingly difficult circumstances. But they cannot do the impossible--and too often that is what has been asked of them."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/162271-Commission_Dems_Say_DTV_...
Read the letter
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-287974A1.pdf
TV Tower Group Lobbies Against DTV Delay
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), the lobbying arm of the companies that build and maintain broadcast television towers, is urging Congress to stick with the long-planned digital TV transition on Feb. 17, saying that the livelihoods of small businesses nationwide, and their employees, depend on plans that have been made around the date. "For years, leases on tower space and special broadcast operations have been scheduled around the February 2009 analog sunset," said NATE head Patrick Howley. "By delaying the transition further, many more millions of dollars will be wasted in unnecessary additional costs while simultaneously damaging our industry and increasing the potential for job losses in an already fragile economy."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/162333-TV_Tower_Group_Lobbies_Agains...
Verizon Flip-Flops On DTV Delay
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is now supporting a delay of the Feb. 17 digital TV transition in a quick turnaround brought on by assurances from Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that postponement won't last more than 115 days. Seidenberg announced his decision Friday in a letter to the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Commerce committees after discussing with Rockefeller his bill to extend the transition to Friday, June 12. Four days before, Seidenberg said a delay would be disruptive and confusing to consumers.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/162373-Verizon_Flip_Flops_On_DTV_Del...
Verizon does about-face, voices support for DTV transition delay (Wireless News)
http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20090119/WIRELESS/901199982/1103/veri...
Qualcomm set to bring 40 MediaFLO markets online as possible DTV delay looms (TelephonyOnline)
http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/news/qualcomm-mediaflo-markets-0116/
Bet on Steelers, June 12, Genachowski
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] The smart money is saying that June 12 will be the new analog cut-off date for the digital television transition, despite some grousing from broadcasters and from wireless carriers that are eager to take over the spectrum that is being freed up by the switch. Key House and Senate members are moving bills that would shift the date from Feb 17 to June 12. Not much is standing is the way of the House measure, and Republican opponents in the Senate suffered a setback yesterday when John McCain (R-AZ) said he would go along with a delay. As Jessell argued last week, a delay in the transition is bad news for broadcasters, who have made elaborate plans for changing equipment and channels keyed to Feb. 17. But as the NAB board recognized when it met in Washington this week, trying to block a delay is a no-win proposition. Even if it managed to scuttle the postponement in league with the Republicans lawmakers, it would have would lost vital points with the Obama administration, which took the lead in calling for the delay out of the concern that the country was heading for some kind of high-tech Katrina.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/01/16/daily.12/
IBM Gets $12 Million Call Center Contract
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday announced that it has selected IBM to provide "unprecedented" call center support to assist viewers with the digital television transition set to occur on Feb. 17. The award is worth up to $12 million and, the Commission says, will allow it to handle up to two million agent-assisted calls during the week of the DTV transition, including up to 400,000 agent-assisted calls the day after the transition.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/01/16/daily.14/
FCC Press Release
http://www.fcc.gov/CallCenterNewsRelease.pdf