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Technology Stocks : HDTV: Television of the future here now

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From: Ron	12/19/2005 10:24:09 PM
	of 152

House sets date for conversion to Digital TV By AMY SCHATZ Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL December 20, 2005 On Feb. 17, 2009, some U.S. consumers could be in for a surprise: Their televisions may go dark. Budget legislation approved by the House early yesterday set that date for the U.S.'s conversion to digital-only TV broadcasts. That means TV sets won't work for those who don't subscribe to cable or satellite service, don't own a new digital-ready television or haven't purchased a set-top converter box. Lawmakers say the switch to all-digital transmission will improve emergency response and homeland security by freeing up radio spectrum for police, firefighters and other first responders, who currently share a limited number of channels. Digital signals are more compressed than traditional analog channels so they will take up only a fraction of the spectrum space now given to broadcasters. Some of the spectrum cleared during the transition will be set aside for emergency responders and the rest will be auctioned to wireless companies. Lawmakers estimate the auctions will bring in about $10 billion, $7.4 billion of which will go to cutting the deficit. Details of the digital-TV deadline were hammered out during negotiations with the Senate, which is expected to pass the TV provision later this week as part of deficit-reduction legislation. About 15% of U.S. households don't subscribe to cable or satellite service and watch only over-the-air broadcast stations, according to estimates. Anywhere from 16 million to 20 million households would either need to upgrade to new digital-ready television sets or purchase a set-top converter box to receive the digital signals. The consumer-electronics industry estimates the converter boxes might cost about $50. To placate unhappy consumers, lawmakers agreed to spend up to $1.5 billion to help people buy converter boxes. Households can request two $40 coupons to offset the cost of purchasing the converter boxes. It has been nearly a decade since Congress first tried to establish a date for the digital-TV transition. Lawmakers originally set a deadline of Dec. 31, 2006, but stipulated that it could take effect only when 85% of households in a local market could receive digital signals, essentially making it unworkable. www.wsj.com

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