Overcoming partisan divisions, the Senate on Monday night unanimously voted to delay the digital-television transition until June 12.
Senate Republicans earlier this month blocked a bill to delay the national switch from analog television broadcasting to digital broadcasting, which was originally scheduled for February 17. The so-called DTV Delay Act, though, was brought back to the Senate floor after Democrats and Republicans in the Senate reached a compromise.
The approved bill would allow television stations to switch to digital signals before the June 12 deadline if they are ready, for the vacated spectrum to be allocated to public safety services. The coupon program to subsidize digital converter boxes is also extended under the legislation, allowing consumers with expired coupons to apply for new ones. Since the coupon program ran out of money, hundreds of thousands of consumers have been waiting for a coupon.
"I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time," said Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. "The Senate acted responsibly to give the Obama administration time to attempt to bring order to a mismanaged process."
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to review its own version of the digital-TV delay bill Tuesday morning.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday night unanimously passed a bill allowing television stations to broadcast emergency and informational messages in analog format in the days following the digital TV transition.
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act was approved by the Senate last month and now awaits the president's signature. It requires the Federal Communications Commission by January 15 to implement a plan to encourage broadcasters to provide analog messages with public safety information or information about the digital transition for 30 days following the nationwide switch to digital broadcasting on February 17.
The legislation has been endorsed by the National Association of Broadcasters.
"Coupled with our billion dollar campaign to educate Americans on the digital TV transition, this timely legislation will give broadcasters one final resource to ensure that no TV viewer is left behind due to insufficient information," NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton said.
However, not all broadcasters will be able to continue sending messages over analog, because new spectrum holders will have access to those airwaves after the switch, according to Graham Jones, the director of communications engineering for the NAB science and technology department.
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