Millions could be without TV; Powell's plan to speed digital delivery angers broadcasters, threatens HD.(Top of the Week)

Broadcasting & Cable, March, 2004 by McConnell, Bill

Imagine this nightmare scenario Millions of viewers see their TV screens go blank. Hundreds of stations are forced to give up their analog channels years sooner than expected. The horror comes courtesy of FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who is quietly floating the idea on Capitol Hill. His goal is to accelerate the move to all-digital TV by allowing cable operators to convert a digital signal to analog.

That household would then count toward the threshold at which broadcasters must return their spectrum. The idea would radically rewrite the rules for America's DTV conversion, which calls for stations to give back analog channels when 85% of a market's homes receive a digital signal, either flee over-the-air or by cable or satellite. If analog cable...

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