"U.S. television broadcasters would be required to air only digital signals by April 7, 2009 and an auction of their old airwaves would have to raise at least $4.81 billion, under draft Senate Commerce Committee legislation obtained by Reuters on Friday. ¶ The committee is slated to consider the bill on Wednesday that would require television stations to stop airing analog signals and return them to the government by that date. ¶ Most of the airwaves to be freed up would be sold to commercial wireless companies, expected to raise billions of dollars for the government. The Senate draft calls for the auction to start January 28, 2008. ¶ The legislation calls for the auction to raise at least $4.81 billion for the federal budget, according to the draft. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the auction could raise approximately $10 billion. ..." Link: Reuters.
Senate Digital TV Measure Sets April 2009 'Hard Date'. Drew Clark writes: "Analog television reception would go dark on April 7, 2009, under draft digital television legislation by the Senate Commerce Committee – which is scheduled to take up the digital TV transition this coming Wednesday. ¶ And, on another controversial issue, the bare-bones five-page draft – which is slated for attachment to the budget reconciliation measure once the Senate Commerce panel acts – takes no position on whether cable TV operators “must carry” the multiple signals that an individual station can broadcast in the digital spectrum. ..." Link: National Journal.
2009 Likely to Be Digital TV Deadline. Link: Washington Post.
Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens Speaks on DTV Transition at the Association of Maximum Service Television's Conference. Link: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation text and MP3.
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