Gary, looks like the politicos are mucking it up:
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Broadcasters and cable television system operators squared off in front of Congress Tuesday, angling for advantage in a proposed bill that would require them to switch to digital signals by the end of 2006.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, fretted that consumers could ultimately suffer the most if their existing TVs, VCRs and other video devices become obsolete in the next four years.
The political costs for a botched transition could be high, suggested New York Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel.
"If on New Year's Day 2007, consumers turn on their TVs and see only snow, that could also be the end of many of our congressional careers," Engel said.
The marathon five-hour hearing in front of the House of Representatives telecommunications subcommittee underscored the high stakes of the transition to digital, which promises to bring sharper pictures and increased offerings to consumers' living rooms.
Originally designed to be complete by 2007, the digital switch has yet to take off due to the high cost of digital TVs, limited programming, and industry squabbling over protection from illegal copying of programs and compatibility with cable TV systems.
In order to speed the process, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered manufacturers to begin including digital tuners in TV sets by 2004, while House Energy and Commerce Committee members have released a proposed bill that would require industry to stop analog broadcasts by the end of 2006.
Industry players touted their progress Wednesday, announcing that the Super Bowl and other popular TV shows would be broadcast digitally and promising that prices for digital TVs and other equipment would eventually fall to palatable levels.
Witnesses also praised the committee's proposal but did not hesitate to offer suggestions.
Broadcasters asked the committee to require cable TV systems, which control 70 percent of the market, to carry both their analog and digital broadcasts during the switch, and said that if broadcasters choose to subdivide their signals into multiple, lower-fidelity channels, cable systems should carry those as well.
"All we're asking is once we begin producing these programs that we not get stopped with a bottleneck," said Bob Wright, chairman and CEO of NBC (NYSE:GE - News).
Cable operators said they should be allowed to determine what they carry on their systems. While current law requires them to carry local network affiliates, they said they should not be forced to make room for multiple NBC channels at the expense of high-speed Internet access, phone service, or cable-only channels like Showtime or Nickelodeon.
The proposed bill does not require cable operators to carry both analog and digital signals, and leaves open the question of multicast requirements.
Some lawmakers and consumer advocates worried that the switch could disable the estimated 300 million TV sets currently in use, as well as VCRs, home theaters, and other analog devices.
Alan McCullough, chief executive of Circuit City Stores Inc.(NYSE:CC - News) noted that even when consumers buy new TV sets, "the old ones don't go away. They just get passed from room to room to room, and eventually to your kids." |
