New hard DTV transition date inserted by US House into Deficit Reduction Act

Washington (DC) - It has been characterized as a measure to fight terrorism, and to strengthen the communications abilities of first responders in the event of disaster. Now, the US House of Representatives is positioning the nation’s transition from analog to digital television broadcasting as a critical step toward deficit reduction.

In a 212-206 floor vote this morning, the House adopted the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Title III, Subtitle D of which now includes the text of what had been known as the Digital Television Transition Act. In a late addition, and perhaps an olive branch to the Senate, the House language boosted the "hard date" from 1 January 2009 to 17 February 2009. The Senate’s language currently calls for 7 April 2009, and had been boosted forward four months to enable broadcasters to show the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championships in their entirety, before forfeiting the public spectrum back to the government for auction.

Calling the hard date "the renaissance of television in America," House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R - Texas), in a statement this afternoon, said 17 February 2009 gives manufacturers and retailers "more than enough time...to move low-cost digital televisions and converter-boxes into the market, for the FCC to complete the channel allocation process, for broadcasters to finalize their digital facilities, and for government and industry to prepare consumers for the transition."

The House language is now in agreement with the Senate’s, in that it expects to raise at least $10 billion through the auction of the analog TV spectrum, though a statement from House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R - Texas) claims it could raise as much as $30 billion. Wavering very little from the original House language, the Deficit Act would earmark the first $990 million raised from auction, for use as a DTV Conversion Fund. According to chairman Barton’s statement, the fund would enable the purchase of as many as 22.25 million set-top converter boxes, at $40 apiece, after as much as $100 million of the fund was set aside for administrative costs (down from $160 million). US households could apply for as many as two coupons apiece, good toward purchase of set-top boxes from manufacturers and retailers of their choice.

At that point, the House language makes further concessions to the Senate, including a $1 billion "Public Safety Interoperable Conversion Fund" (up from $500 million). The fate of a $30 million "NYC 9/11 Digital Transition Fund" and a $3 million "Low-Power Digital-to-Analog Conversion Fund" have not yet been reported. (Perhaps the latter fund may have been accurately renamed "Analog-to-Digital" in the meantime.) The remainder of funds raised at auction are to be turned over directly to the US Treasury.

Removed from the House version was language that enabled cable TV providers to downconvert high-definition signals for transmission over existing standard definition bandwidth. Newly appointed president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, David Rehr, praised the striking of this provision, stating the NAB is "especially encouraged that the legislation thwarts the cable industry’s desire to degrade delivery of HDTV pictures to consumers."

Letting that comment slide, Kyle McSlarrow, Rehr’s counterpart at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said in his prepared statement this afternoon, "The cable industry has long supported the important national public policy goal of completing the digital TV transition. After investing billions of dollars to bring the digital future to consumers, both cable operators and programmers stand ready to deliver."

From here, the House and Senate will convene a conference committee to smooth over the language between H.R. 4241 and what had been known as S. 1932. Possibly obstructing smooth passage may be debates on topics which appear on the surface to have little or no relationship to digital TV broadcasting, including proposed cuts Medicaid entitlements and lump sum benefits, including to provisions for prescription drug purchases ; the planned auction of public land from the National Park Service for $1,000 per acre or more ; and the amount of money to be reserved by the Act for continuing aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina - which currently stands at $2 billion. Both representatives and senators on both sides of their respective aisles have argued that $2 billion for this cause may be too little, when Congress appears willing to reserve at least that much, perhaps more, to ensure Americans’ right to watch "March Madness" in 2009.