The Senate Commerce Committee has released the witness list for its two hearings on the digital television transition, scheduled for July 12.
The first panel will comprise representatives from broadcast, cable and satellite, while the second will feature tech types, a consumer activists, and first-reponders.
Both the House and Senate are working on bills to deal with a range of DTV-related issues, from cable carriage of TV stations' digital signals to a hard date for the return of analog spectrum to a subsidy for DTV -to-analog converter boxes.
The Senate Commerce Committee staff is still working on a draft of a bill. "The hearing will not focus on a specific piece of legislation," said a committee staffer. The House Commerce Committee has the outlines of a bill, which would include a Jan. 31, 2008 hard date, but is still working on a number of contentious issues.
Following are the two hearing times and witnesses:
10:00 a.m.
- Edward O. Fritts, President & CEO, National Association of Broadcasters
- Manuel Abud, Vice President & General Manager, KVEA-TV in Los Angeles (Telemundo)
- Kyle McSlarrow, President & CEO, National Cable & Telecommunications Association
- Patrick Knorr, Vice Chairman, American Cable Association
- Richard Slenker, Executive Vice President, DirecTV
- John M. Lawson, President & CEO, Association of Public Television Stations
2:30 p.m.
- Harlin R. McEwen, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Communications & Technology Committee Chairman
- Charles Townsend, President & CEO, Aloha Partners
- Mike Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Motorola
- Gary Shapiro, President & CEO, Consumer Electronics Association
- Gene Kimmelman, Senior Director Public Policy, Consumers Union
- Michael Calabrese, Vice President & Director, Wireless Future Program, New American Foundation
