Members of Congress talk about digital TV transition

The House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology held a hearing concerning “The DTV Transition and Small Business: Small Firms Contributing to a Big Change.” Committee members spoke with cable company leaders in small communities to better understand the effect that the transition to digital television will have on their respective societies.

Chairman Bruce Braley (D-IA) focused his questioning on the implications the transition will have on small business, and was assured by panel members such as Jack Dempsey, the President and General Manager of WJHL- TV/ News Channel 11 of Johnson City, TN that the public will be well informed enough to make the transition smooth and affordable.

Some panel members, particularly Ed Pardini of Mediacom Communications in Des Moines, IA cautioned that the transition might hurt competition between local cable markets, and would hurt people having too little money to afford the new technology. Dempsey noted that companies such as his were focused particularly on informing and assisting the elderly, poor, and people in rural areas about the transition.