[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4006-S4007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 705. A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish 
statutory rules for the conversion of television broadcast station from 
analog to digital transmission consistent with the Federal 
Communications Commission's fifth order and report, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.


                 the digital television conversion act

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Digital 
Television Conversion Act. This legislation codifies the rules and 
policies recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission to 
govern the transition of the over-the-air television system from analog 
to digital broadcasting.
  Mr. President, every American has a stake in the speedy and 
successful implementation of new digital broadcasting technology. Those 
of us who like to watch TV will benefit from crisper, larger video, CD-
quality audio, and more channels of video programming choices. Even 
better, those of us who would prefer to interact with TV will find that 
the convergence of digital television and computer technology will make 
exciting new interactive video service offerings possible. The economy 
will benefit from the new jobs created by manufacturing new digital 
television receivers. The television broadcasting industry stands on 
the threshold of a transformation that will assure that over-the-air 
broadcasting isn't relegated to the slow lane on the digital 
information superhighway.
  To enable this all to happen, the $100 billion television industry 
will be given extra channels of broadcast spectrum valued at up to $70 
billion for free. In return, each television licensee will only be 
required to incur the cost of installing digital broadcasting 
equipment--a cost, I assure you, far below the estimated value of the 
new digital spectrum each broadcaster will be given--and, when the 
transition is complete, return the analog channels they now occupy, to 
be auctioned for other uses.
  The new and improved services that will come from digitial 
television, plus whatever revenue is derived from auctioning the analog 
channels, is what the American people will get from the television 
industry in return. It is therefore absolutely imperative, Mr. 
President, to guarantee that this transition to digital takes place as 
quickly as conditions will reasonably allow. Put another way, Mr. 
President, it is incumbent upon us to make sure, on behalf of the 
American people, that the television industry actually crosses the 
digital threshold upon which it now stands.
  And that is the reason I am introducing this legislation today. For 
the rules recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission do 
not establish firm timetables and deadlines to govern the television 
industry's critically important digital conversion. For example, 
although the FCC set out target dates for television stations in each 
market to convert to digital, this conversion schedule is not binding 
on more than 90 percent of all television stations, and the Commission 
has not adopted any way to verify licensee's compliance with the 
nonbinding conversion schedule. Likewise, there is no rule requiring 
that television licensees return their current analog channels by any 
given date so they can be auctioned.

  Given the tremendous promise that digital broadcasting holds for 
television licensees, why not simply rely on broadcasters to 
voluntarily implement a rapid transition out of their own best 
interests? The answer, Mr. President, is that different licensees may 
see their own best interests in different ways.
  Some may see their own best interests served by delaying the 
conversion to avoid the added expenditure, at least until a majority of 
other stations take the plunge. This could produce a classic ``chicken-
and-egg'' problem, especially in smaller markets: Local stations wait 
to convert until the cost comes down and until local viewers buy 
digital sets or converter boxes--but the cost won't come down and 
consumers won't buy digital sets or converter boxes because local 
stations aren't broadcasting in digital. It would be unfortunate that 
viewers in smaller markets, who probably stand to benefit the most from 
the diverse array of new services that digital broadcasting can 
provide, are most likely to fall victim to these perverse incentives.
  And of course, Mr. President, there is that element of self-interest 
that any broadcaster, regardless of market size, might have: the 
perfectly understandable interest in retaining both the old

[[Page S4007]]

analog and the new digital channel for as long as possible. But this, 
of course, would doubly enrich television licensees, who would already 
have been given their digital channel for free. It would also delay the 
ability to use the returned analog channels for different 
telecommunications services from which the public would benefit. 
Moreover, any delay in returning the analog channels would also affect 
the revenues realized from auctioning them. This has now become an 
especially important consideration with the bipartisan agreement 
between Congress and the White House to balance the budget by the year 
2002: Revenues from the auction of these channels have been scored and 
included in the estimates on which this bipartisan budget agreement is 
based.
  To be sure, many station licensees are apparently eager to get on 
with the job of conversion, although they sometimes foresee practical 
difficulties beyond their control getting in the way. In recognition of 
these potential problems, this legislation also codifies the FCC's 
standard for waiving the conversion schedule on a case-by-case basis. 
And in codifying the FCC's nonbinding analog channel giveback dates, 
the bill also recognizes the special circumstances faced by 
noncommercial broadcasters, and codifies the more liberal analog 
channel giveback target dates the FCC provided for these licensees.
  Nor am I concerned, Mr. President, that some markets could lose over-
the-air television if analog channel reversion deadlines are codified 
but, for some unforeseen reason, digital broadcasting does not take 
hold. Codifying the digital conversion timetables will assure that as 
many stations as possibly can convert to digital, will. And it is 
simply preposterous to think that, even if digital broadcasting somehow 
fails to take hold during the next 9 years notwithstanding this bill's 
legislative impetus for it to do so, further legislation extending the 
date for the give back of the analog channels would not swiftly be 
enacted.
  In sum, Mr. President, those televisions broadcasters who are willing 
and eager to convert to digital will not be hurt in any way by 
codifying the deadlines and the waiver standard. It is only those 
licensees who, for whatever reason, might be less than anxious to make 
the transition who will have their feet held to the fire. Is this fair? 
You bet it is. We cannot be lax in our duty to guarantee, to the 
greatest extent we can, that consumers enjoy both the 
telecommunications benefits of digital television and the economic 
benefits of the analog channels' auction revenues.
                                 ______