Released: September 20, 2007

GAO: No direction in digital transition

Source: John Dunbar, Associated Press

A congressional investigator warned a Senate panel Wednesday that there is no lead agency responsible for helping the nation navigate the transition to digital TV broadcasting.

“It is pretty clear to us that there is no one in charge,” Mark Goldstein, Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues with the General Accountability Office, told the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Non-digital television sets that are not attached to a cable or satellite service and not equipped with special converter boxes will no longer work when broadcasters stop transmitting analog signals on Feb. 18, 2009.

Goldstein said there is a lack of coordination between the two federal agencies that Congress put in charge of the transition — the National Telecommunications & Information Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.

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