Lawmakers Speak of Compromise in DTV Transition Debate

Congressional lawmakers with jurisdiction over the transition to digital television appear open to a compromise on the issue, with a hard deadline looking more likely. Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said this week that he will probably introduce legislation in his committee that would be identical to that proposed by Congressman Joe Barton, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, that would establish Dec. 31, 2006 as the absolute deadline for the DTV transition. However, Senator John Ensign, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Technology, told attendees at the Consumer Electronics Association's HDTV Summit that while a compromise on a hard deadline may be reached, he seriously doubted that his colleagues would accept a deadline of the end of next year. ABC News and MediaWeek have the full stories.