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Posted by Sue on 10/05/23 11:29
Found this on rec.arts.tv:
The end of analog broadcasts:
washingtonpost.com
Senate Bill Sets Spring 2009 Demise for Analog Television
By Arshad Mohammed
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 15, 2005; D02
Senate Commerce Committee staffers have drafted a bill setting April 7,
2009 -- the day after March Madness ends -- as the date to end
nationwide analog TV broadcasts and complete the switch to digital
transmission.
Millions of people who watch traditional, over-the-air analog broadcasts
on sets with antennas will have to buy new digital TVs or set-top
converter boxes to keep getting signals.
Congressional aides said they settled on the deadline -- which falls one
day after the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball championships -- so as
not to cut off any TV viewers at the height of the popular college
basketball tournament.
Aides also said they hoped to give consumers plenty of time to buy new
sets and are making plans to offer a federal subsidy of undetermined
size to help people afford converter boxes.
Ending analog broadcasts, which have brought everything from "I Love
Lucy" to NFL Football into living rooms for decades, will free up
spectrum already set aside to improve police, firefighter and other
emergency communications.
It will also bring a windfall in federal revenue by allowing the
government to auction off spectrum to private companies who hope to
exploit it for wireless Internet access and other high-tech uses.
In a letter yesterday, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and 30 other
executives urged Congress to set a deadline quickly and argued it will
be a boon to the economy.
"While there are many challenges associated with this transition, we ask
you to remain focused on the concrete benefits of getting additional
spectrum into the marketplace as soon as possible: enhanced public
safety communications . . . and the deployment of ubiquitous broadband
services to consumers," the executives wrote.
The failure of public safety communications during Hurricane Katrina has
strengthened calls for Congress to free up spectrum so first responders
can use it.
"The most important thing about this draft is that it's going to make
spectrum available to public safety, police and firefighters around the
country," said Senate Commerce Committee Chief of Staff Lisa Sutherland,
noting that the bill would also set aside money to help first responders
buy new radio equipment to use the spectrum.
The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to discuss the bill on
Wednesday. It also must work out some agreement with House Commerce
Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.), who favored Dec. 31, 2008, as
the cut-off date.
That date was not adopted in the Senate draft partly because it could
disrupt New Year's Day college football bowl games and because of a
desire to make the transition while Congress is in session and could
take action if necessary, aides said.
The biggest challenge for Congress may be educating consumers, many of
whom do not know any cutoff is looming and who continue to buy analog TV
sets.
Satellite subscribers will not be affected by the transition because
they already receive digital signals. Cable companies are expected to
win government permission to convert digital signals to analog for their
customers, leaving them unaffected.
The draft does not specify how much money the government will set aside
to subsidize the set-top boxes or just how this will be done. One idea
under discussion is for consumers to make a co-payment and for retailers
to bill the government for the remaining cost.
The House and Senate Commerce Committees are under pressure to set the
date because the budget resolution requires them to raise revenue, or
cut spending, to reduce the budget deficit. The sale of analog spectrum
could provide at least $10 billion, according to an informal estimate by
the Congressional Budget Office.
Even if the committees reach agreement on a bill, aides noted that it
could get derailed because of broader budget politics.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
--
Je suis Signe de "TERRE"
Dominé par SATURNE
Un peu froid et austère
Préférant les nocturnes
*****
If I'm reading this paragraph right:
>>
Satellite subscribers will not be affected by the transition because
they already receive digital signals. Cable companies are expected to
win government permission to convert digital signals to analog for their
customers, leaving them unaffected.<<
cable companies are going to fix it so they will still be able to
deliver analog signals to their subscribers so they can still get analog
TV after the switch. No new TV or converter box needed, I guess!
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