Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night hard and soft news program broadcast by ABC in the United States. The program had its beginnings on November 8, 1979, just 4 days after the Iran hostage crisis started. ABC News president Roone Arledge felt the best way to compete against NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was to update Americans on the latest news from Iran. Caption Credit: Wikipedia Image Credit: Overflowrooms.com
Digital Signal Hostage Crisis Averted – Not Over
The
House of Representatives, yesterday, did not muster enough votes to
place the launch to the conversion of television broadcasting from
analog signal to digital signal in a delay.
The proposal on the
House floor was designed to delay (hold hostage) the conversion date by
four months (from Feb. 17, 2009 to June 17, 2009).
Delaying the transition would cost public broadcasters $22 million, the PBS system chief, Paula Kerger, estimated on Monday.
The
National Association of Broadcasters had not taken a position on
extending the deadline. The TV stations don't want to suddenly alienate
and lose viewers, but they've also sunk money into preparing for the
Feb. 17 transition.
Americans have had about one year to prepare
for this digital signal conversion. With this vote, our broadcast
standards conversion will not be held hostage here in Carter’s Second
Term.
We have averted a Converter Box/Digital Signal conversion
hostage crisis, but hope still looms - proponents of the delay are
hopeful that the House can take up the issue again next week (on behalf
of President Barack Obama) and take a vote for a conversion delay a
second time with a simple majority decision.
Consumers can apply for a coupon at dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV2009. Many converter boxes have sold out, according to the NTIA’s official list.
However, I know digital converter boxes are still in stock. I was at
the Target store in Huntington Beach over the weekend and they had
plenty. Caption & Image Credit: gadgetress.freedomblogging.com
This excerpted and edited from the San Francisco Chronicle -
House vote keeps digital TV deadline, for now
Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer - Thursday, January 29, 2009
Despite
a unanimous vote by the U.S. Senate to delay the Feb. 17 deadline to
transition to digital television, the changeover will proceed as
planned after a vote Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
The
House voted 258-168 in favor of a four-month delay, but the measure
fell 26 votes short of the necessary two-thirds margin for passage. The
Senate voted Monday to delay the transition to June 12, fearing that an
estimated 6.5 million TV households would be unprepared for the shift
from analog TV.
----
The two-thirds vote was required because the bill was fast-tracked on the House's suspension calendar.
Viewers
who use sets with antenna to pull in the old analog signal will need to
buy a TV with a digital tuner, purchase a converter box or upgrade to a
pay TV service.
----
President
Obama urged a delay earlier this month. Republicans were largely
opposed to the delay, saying it would further confuse consumers and
would cost broadcasters millions to keep broadcasting in analog. They
also worried about public safety agencies who were set to take over
parts of the spectrum freed up by moving to more efficient digital
airwaves.
"The bill is
a solution looking for a problem," said Joe Barton of Texas before the
vote. He is the top Republican on the House Commerce Committee.
Congress
allocated more spectrum to broadcasters in 1996 so they could create
digital broadcast channels. In 2005, legislators chose the deadline of
Feb. 17 to free up spectrum for emergency services and advanced
wireless communications. The transition also allows broadcasters to
create multiple digital channels, including high-definition feeds.
Reference Here>>
With
this delay/hostage crisis situation being placed on ice, at least
temporally, don’t look for a revival of the once popular ABC NEWS
program, Nightline, soon.