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August 23, 2005
Dear Senate Commerce Committee:
America’s family farmers and rural residents are worried about the pending national transition to digital television (DTV). There are specific concerns in rural communities that existing legislative proposals to facilitate this transition do not protect the interests of millions of rural television viewers who rely on over-the-air television broadcasts. As you consider various proposals to facilitate our nation’s transition to digital television, the National Grange asks that you strongly consider the interests of rural over-the-air television viewers .
Founded in 1867, the National Grange is the nation’s oldest general farm and rural public interest organization. Today the National Grange represents individual Grange members who are affiliated with more than 2800 local, county and State Grange chapters across the nation. In addressing the national transition to DTV, the Grange asks that any final legislation contain the following provisions.
First, extend the deadline for the mandatory transition to DTV as long as possible to December 31, 2008 or beyond. Family farms and rural communities are very reliant on locally produced over-the-air television broadcasts, especially for public affairs programming such as weather, news and community specific events. Since most of rural America does not have access to cable service, a large percentage of rural America could become vulnerable to losing their television service all together after the scheduled DTV transition date. We believe that this situation requires that Congress extend the final mandatory DTV transition to as late a date as possible.
Second, the final legislation should address the need for a comprehensive consumer education program so that all consumers in rural America will be fully aware of the specifics of the DTV transition and how they will be affected. This education program should also include immediate extensive consumer advisories and mandatory consumer warnings on specific television products currently on the market regarding the incompatibility of existing analog TV reception devices with DTV technology so that rural consumers who are contemplating the purchase of a new TV set or VCR with an analog tuner will fully understand the risk that this device will be obsolete in just a few years with out further modifications.
Third, the final legislation should directly address the expense and availability of digital TV sets and/or digital -to-analog converter boxes by providing for all consumers, farms and small businesses in rural areas, regardless of their financial circumstances, who lack current access to cable TV service to receive direct financial assistance to purchase either digital-to-analog converter boxes or new digital TV sets for their homes, farms and businesses prior to the final DTV transition date. We believe that broadcasters who currently provide analog television broadcasts over the public airwaves do so as a function of a public trust. In our view, this public trust is similar to a property right vested in the millions of viewers of over-the-air television broadcasts, especially for those viewers who have had no choice but to invest in and rely on over-the-air analog TV reception devices. Therefore, adequate government compensation and mitigation for the taking of this service provided as a public trust is necessary and appropriate for all rural TV viewers.
Fourth, the current “must carry” rules that require cable and satellite services to carry locally produced programming must be extended to “multicast” broadcasts by local TV stations. The Grange believes that a multicasting “must carry” provision would spur the creation of additional local news, weather, traffic, sports and community programming across the country so that free over-the-air service would remain a cost effective and viable alternative to cable for rural communities that currently lack access to cable service.
The national transition to DTV will be one of the most significant and important developments in the history of telecommunications service in the United States. The National Grange believes that properly managed, this transition will benefit rural communities and family farmers as much as any other segment of our national society. However, creating a national consensus on the benefits of DTV will only occur if the legislation to facilitate this transition includes modest, but important provisions to assure that family farmers and rural Americans who currently rely on over-the-air broadcasting for their access to TV can be assured that they will continue to have access to over-the-air broadcasts after the transition takes place. Thank you for listening to our views. We look forward to working with you on this critical legislation.
Sincerely yours,
Leroy Watson, legislative
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