As a part of the wide reform of telecommunications law in 1996, networks were given a wide swath of spectrum for the development of high definition television. The belief at the time was that if the spectrum were put up for auction at a price range in the tens of billions of dollars, the networks would not be willing to invest the necessary funds into the HD technology.

As a condition of the bill -- which as noted gave the networks billions of dollars worth of spectrum for free -- the networks were given a soft deadline of Dec. 31, 2006 to give back the VHF spectrum, which could potentially be used for cell phone-like high speed internet access. However, they have been fighting tooth and nail to keep both spectra for as long as possible. Apparently, they have been successful, as Drew Clark reports for National Journal's insider update on the telecom act.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee late Friday released draft legislation setting a so-called hard date for the transition to digital TV broadcasts. But committee Democrats said they had not agreed to the bill, which was the subject of bipartisan negotiations in recent weeks.

The draft legislation includes a cutoff date of Dec. 31, 2008 for analog spectrum broadcasts -- two years later than the Dec. 31, 2006 date that has been pushed by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas. But it does not contain any provision to subsidize set-top converter boxes -- which, at a cost of about $50 each, are necessary for over-the-air television viewers with current analog TV sets to receive signals after analog broadcasting ceases.

"If there is no subsidy program, the bill cannot pass," declared Energy and Commerce member Rick Boucher, D-Va. -- who represents the type of rural district where the analog-to-digital transition is expected to be particularly difficult. "There are too many members who would feel a severe political backlash from their constituents if they all had to pay $50 to keep their analog television sets in operation." A DTV bill that does not include subsidies also would be "dead on arrival" in the Senate, according to a Senate Democratic aide.

Noting that there are 73 million analog television sets now in use, Boucher said Monday that adding a subsidy for converter boxes is "inevitable" if the sponsors want to pass their bill. "I'm confident that at some point in the process, when the legislation goes to markup, an amendment will be offered that would contain an adequate subsidy if an agreement is not reached [beforehand]," he said.

Not only have the Republicans managed to give the networks another two years to sit on this prime real estate of spectrum for free, now they also expect the poorest Americans to dole out $50 for a converter just to be able to watch TV. Why not use some of the $28 billion that "could be generated by the sale of the 60 megahertz" in auction to provide converters for working class Americans? Or does Rupert Murdoch need more pork flowing into his pockets?