DTV Transition & Media Reform
In February 2006, Congress passed an early 2009 "hard deadline" for the nation’s transition from analog to digital television (DTV) transmission. The bill reallocates more than $40 billion of TV broadcast spectrum for auction to wireless broadband services and to public safety. It also earmarks spectrum revenues to finance a converter box subsidy for all low- and middle-income consumers who rely on over-the-air TV -- a plan originally proposed by New America. With a hard deadline and consumer subsidy now law, New America is helping to lead an increasingly broad public interest coalition to address other, related issues in the DTV transition debate, including the expanded public interest obligations for broadcasters and the opening of unused TV channels in each geographic market for unlicensed community wireless broadband use.
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Articles
| Article | Date |
|---|---|
| Broadcast to Broadband | March 1, 2008 |
| New Television, Old Politics | November 1, 2006 |
| Onward, Christian Moguls | January 1, 2002 |
| Local TV News Archives as a Public Good | September 1, 2000 |
Policy Papers
Events
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| From TV to Public Safety | October 26, 2006 |
| Should Vacant TV Channels Be Opened for Wireless Broadband? | November 15, 2005 |
| Public Safety at Stake | October 18, 2005 |
| DTV 201: How the DTV Transition Can Move The Nation from "Broadcast to Broadband" | September 7, 2005 |
| The Politics of America's DTV Transition: Will the Telecom Act Rewrite Repeat the Fiasco of the 1996 Giveaway? | May 24, 2005 |
| Broadcast vs. Cable: Should DTV Must-Carry be Expanded, Sunset, or Preserved As-Is? | March 2, 2005 |
| Spectrum Policy Luncheon on Capitol Hill: Broadcast to Broadband? | May 12, 2004 |
| Is Digital TV Must-Carry a Must-Giveaway? | December 5, 2003 |
| Media Monopoly? | May 9, 2003 |
| Senator John McCain on Free Air Time | June 19, 2002 |
Press
