Martin, Baker to Appear at Senate Commerce Committee DTV Hearing

The Senate Commerce Committee will hear from the heads of the two key government agencies overseeing the digital-TV transition.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin and acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Meredith Atwell Baker will be the witnesses at an April 8 hearing.

The hearing will focus on consumer education, the "role of broadcasters and the FCC, and how the NTIA-administered converter-box program is going.”

The hearing was originally scheduled close to Feb. 17, marking one year until the switch of full-power stations to digital TV, but it was postponed due to the funeral service for Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.).

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.