WASHINGTON – March 6, 2018 – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) president and CEO Patrick Butler issued the following statement today commending the U.S. House of Representatives for voting to authorize additional funds for broadcasters repacking their channels following the recently concluded spectrum auction:
“America’s Public Television Stations are most grateful that the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to authorize the much-needed additional funding for broadcasters required to repack their channels in the aftermath of the spectrum auction. This additional funding – whose need was predicted by the broadcasting industry and by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden before the spectrum law was enacted in 2012 – would ensure that our local public television stations have the resources they need to complete the repacking in a timely and efficient way, educate consumers about the transition and minimize disruption for their viewers.
“We appreciate Chairman Walden’s leadership and statesmanship in fashioning a bill with broad bipartisan and bicameral support, in the finest tradition of Congress.
“Nonprofit, local public television stations simply can’t afford to cover the costs of the mandatory repacking. With this legislation, the House takes an important step towards keeping Congress’s promise to hold repacked broadcasters harmless. This critical funding would allow local public television stations to continue to pursue their essential public service missions in education, public safety and civic leadership without fear of going off the air for lack of sufficient funds to complete the post-auction transition.
“We commend Chairman Walden and Ranking Member Frank Pallone for their tireless and constructive commitment to ensuring no viewer is left behind by the repack. We also salute Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn and Ranking Member Mike Doyle for their leadership on this issue and their strong support of our stations.
“We remain hopeful that congressional appropriators will include the needed repacking funding in the FY 2018 omnibus appropriations bill.”
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About APTS
America's Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact: Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org