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The Federal Communications Commission late Wednesday rejected, at least temporarily, a quarter of the requests from the 491 TV stations that had asked to switch to digital-only signals on Feb. 17. President Barack Obama earlier Wednesday signed legislation pushing back the national switch to June 12...
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President Barack Obama today signed legislation postponing the national digital TV transition until June 12. “During these challenging economic times, the needs of American consumers are a top priority of my administration,” the President said in a statement. The signing caps a month of political back...
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In the end, a bad brew of poor planning and politics led Congress to delay the nation’s transition to all-digital television signals by three months to June 12. In the poor planning column: An underfunded coupon program to help pay for analog converter boxes; public outreach in some markets that raised...
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On Tuesday, the House of Representatives will vote on whether the transition to digital broadcast television will be delayed, setting off a new scramble by broadcasters to adjust to a changing DTV switch deadline. After a political back-and-forth that kept station managers off-balance for two weeks,...
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The possibility that Congress may not delay the digital TV transition, despite a request from President Barack Obama, was raised today by the sudden cancellation of a House committee’s expected vote on a bill changing the DTV switch date. The cancellation doesn’t necessarily mean that House Democrats...
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The U.S. Senate could vote as early as today to delay the digital TV changeover to June 12. Senate staffers said today that because of the limited time before the Feb. 17 transition, the Senate leadership is hoping to short-circuit normal committee procedures and take directly to the floor legislation...
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Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is proposing the transition to all-digital television signals be delayed until June 12. The current DTV-switch date is Feb. 17, but President-elect Barack Obama last week asked legislators to push the date back. (Editor: Baumann)
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Barack Obama may not be president yet, but he showed the kind of leadership the media industry needs last week by asking for a delay of the planned Feb. 17 switch to all-digital television broadcast signals. The current administration should heed his call and put the brakes on the DTV switch. Once that...
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President-elect Barack Obama is urging a delay in the Feb. 17 switch to digital TV signals. In a letter today to senators and congressmen, John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama transition team, said questions about converter-box coupons and other issues warrant a delay. Read full TVWeek coverage of the...
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Consumers Union is asking Congress and the White House to delay the digital TV transition from Feb. 17, citing problems with the government coupon program for DTV converter boxes and other worries. In letters today to President George W. Bush, President-elect Barack Obama and U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman,...
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Wed, Jan 7 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, Digital, DTV, Barack Obama, NTIA, Henry Waxman, Ed Markey, Department of Commerce, Consumers Union, George Bush
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After Barack Obama ran for president promising change and openness, and making a point of refusing to accept lobbyists’ contributions, the president-elect’s transition team secretly held a meeting with broadcasting lobbyists to discuss the digital TV changeover. The unannounced meeting was held Friday...
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Wed, Dec 10 2008
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Filed under: Broadcast, Digital, Fox, ABC, DTV, Barack Obama, FCC, Kevin Martin, NCTA, Kyle McSlarrow, NAB, House Energy & Commerce Committee, David Rehr
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing the agency speed its response to independent networks’ complaints that satellite and cable providers treat their owned channels and independent ones differently. Such discrimination could help the NFL, sports team owners and some new...
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The Business of Television
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Wed, Dec 3 2008
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Filed under: Broadcast, DTV, NFL, NFL Network, Barack Obama, FCC, Kevin Martin, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Bright House Networks, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, WealthTV Network
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As President-elect Barack Obama juggles a cratering economy and two wars, broadcasting and consumer groups are throwing him another sticky issue—the impending switch to digital over-the-air broadcasting. While less than 1% of TV viewers lost their signals during the Sept. 7 DTV test in Wilmington, N...
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The sun is starting to set on the administration of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin. President-elect Barack Obama last week named Susan Crawford, a University of Michigan professor of communications law, and Ken Werbach, a Wharton School assistant professor and former counsel...