TVL and the Digital Transition TODAYIt's Digital Transition Time: Do You Know Where The FCC Is?
Staci D. Kramer06.11.09, 8:15 PM ET
The long-delayed digital translation finally is here—but the Obama Federal Communications Commission isn’t.
Team Obama pushed to have the analog-to-digital switch moved to June 12—as in this Friday—to avoid as many last-minute glitches as possible, but it hasn’t been able to get its FCC nominees confirmed, starting with Julius Genachowski as chairman.
The postponed Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing is now set for June 16; that doesn’t mean immediate action and, the NYT reports, one analyst thinks the Senate could wait most of the summer.
That means that during one of the most challenging tech events the U.S. has faced, the FCC only has three members: Michael Copps, the Democrat who was appointed acting chairman in January when Kevin Martin resigned; McDowell, the only Republican; and Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat whose term ended last June but is staying until a replacement is confirmed.
In addition to Genachowski, Obama already has nominated Mignon Clyburn, a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the daughter of House majority whip James Clyburn.
He is expected to add Meredith Atwell Baker as the second Republican; she headed the the National Telecommunications and Information Administration during the Bush administration and is the daughter-in-law of Bush 41 cabinet member James Baker.
The digital TV transition isn’t waiting for a full FCC and Copps did hire former FCC chief of staff Blair Levin to head a national broadband initiative, but other issues are stacking up: enacting that broadband policy, reforming the Universal Service Fund, dealing with wireless spectrum leftovers, and more.
The administration hasn’t helped its case: Obama waited until March 3 to nominate Genachowski and has yet to nominate the Republican he has in mind. Getting the FCC staffed shouldn’t be taking this long.
As for the transition, Copps estimates that as many as 20% of the households in major U.S. cities are still analog. He told the LA Times:
“I think things are going to go considerably better than they would have gone had we gone ahead on Feb. 17. They will not go as well as they would have gone had we been sufficiently serious about this four years ago instead of four months ago.”
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