WASHINGTON-The House of Representatives late Thursday passed its version of budget reconciliation, which sets the hard date for the transition to digital TV at Dec. 31, 2008, with an auction beginning Jan. 7, 2008.
Congress is considering a hard date for the DTV transition as part of the 2006 budget reconciliation process. The Senate passed its budget reconciliation bill setting the hard date at April 7, 2009, with the auction starting Jan. 28, 2008.
The two versions now have to be reconciled or changed since both chambers must pass identical bills. Although the DTV hard date is not controversial, the rest of the budget, which contains cuts in social programs and tax provisions, is controversial-so final passage of the hard date is anything but certain. Congress is expected to return sometime in December to consider the final budget agreement.
CTIA hailed House passage.
In 1997, Congress said that broadcasters in 2007 would have to return the extra 6 megahertz of spectrum they were given to facilitate the DTV transition, but TV broadcasters could keep the spectrum if more than 15 percent of the homes in their viewing areas could not receive digital signals. The hard date would eliminate this caveat.
Getting past the 15 percent threshold could be slowly gaining momentum. According to a study by Parks Associates, consumers are growing less skeptical about purchasing high-definition TVs but “the industry lacks a sense of urgency” in creating content which would entice consumers to buy DTVs, said Deepa Iyer, Parks Associates research analyst.
The Congress Budget Office has estimated the DTV spectrum is worth around $10 billion. Private estimates of the value of the spectrum have reached as high as $30 billion.
