Politicians playing digital TV 'hard' ball!

A little over three weeks ago I stumbled upon an article from Reuters News Media concerning a question that comes up on a daily basis in the Audio/Video Electronics field and that is will 2006 be the year analog signals are shut off? Well, it seems as though it is getting a good push from the republicans in the House and Senate. I will continue to follow this for our readers as this is the most asked question in consumer Audio/Video Electronics.
A/V Reporter,
CL West

Thursday, February 3, 06:38 PM [Reuters New Media]

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - The chairman of the House Commerce Committee plans to fast-track legislation setting the end of 2006 as a "hard date" when TV stations must quit broadcasting on their existing analog channels. Legislation forcing broadcasters to complete the final transition to digital needs to be passed swiftly in order to improve the government's balance sheet, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said Tuesday as he laid out his priorities for telecommunications legislation in the 109th Congress. "I think there ought to be a hard date," he said. "I think it ought to be the one in the law." Currently, broadcasters are required to stop analog transmissions at the end of 2006, or when 85% of the U.S. TV viewing audience receives a digital signal, whichever comes later. The 85% number has long been considered an unreachable goal. "This either or, if we leave the or, you'll never have a transition," Barton said. Although Barton has been an advocate of setting a date for the end of analog broadcasts, this is the most aggressive position he's taken on the switch. His call for ending the broadcasts was seconded by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the Commerce Committee's telecommunications subcommittee. "There's billions and billions of dollars out there, and that money should be used in reconciliation (of the national deficit) this year," he said. With the deficit topping $400 billion, the pressure to find money is becoming intense. Both President Bush and President Clinton included provisions in their budget requests to Congress that would encourage broadcasters to vacate the analog channels. Broadcasters still using the analog spectrum after the nation's proposed 2006 switch to digital television would have to pay the FCC as much as $500 million each year to continue using that spectrum under legislation Bush proposed as part of his 2004 budget plan. Auctioning the analog channels is estimated to bring in tens of billions. "In my committee, I have the votes," Barton said. "On the floor, I have the votes. In the other body, that's an open question." The comments by Barton and Upton come as broadcasters are facing their stiffest challenge over the conversion to digital TV in years. Next week, the FCC is expected to approve a plan that will require cable operators to carry only the channel that most resembles broadcasters' current offerings.