The Politics of the Transition to DTV - Jeff Hart

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The transition to digital television (DTV) is occurring in all the major industrialized countries and in a selected number of developing nations. I will focus today on the transition in the United States as well as discuss the experience of other countries where that helps us to understand the choices available.

Here are the key policy issues in making the transition:

<strong><em>- subsidizing poor and elderly consumers so that the analog broadcasts can be turned off (thus freeing spectrum for other uses); </em></strong>

<em><strong>- working out the relationships between over-the-air broadcasters on one hand and cable and satellite service providers on the other via "must carry" rules in a fair and equitable manner; </strong></em>

<em><strong>- allowing consumers to purchase add-on services without being forced to purchase unnecessary equipment from service providers ("plug and play");</strong></em>

<strong><em>- protecting the intellectual property rights of content producers without violating the rights of consumers to engage in "fair use" of content; and</em></strong>

<strong><em>- maintaining the important role of local broadcasters </em></strong>in providing local political information to citizens.

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