The digital revolution in television is just around the corner. But broadcasters have been preparing for years. And this revolution affects everyone who offers free programming—from big broadcasters like CBS and NBC, to government-owned broadcasters like PBS.
On Feb. 17, all U.S. television stations are scheduled to stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and switch to digital broadcasting. The switch is designed to offer consumers better-quality video and audio.
One attorney who specializes in Federal Communications Commission law, Arnold & Porter senior counsel Theodore Frank in Washington, has been providing counsel to a longtime client, Georgia Public Broadcasting, on the upcoming digital TV transition, according to the state Department of Law. GPB operates nine Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) TV stations in Georgia, in addition to a radio network.
For its most recently completed fiscal year, the state of Georgia paid Frank about $232,000 for his FCC legal work advising state-owned GPB, as well as for work advising Georgia State University, which owns a student-run radio station, WRAS-FM.
Frank’s work also included advising the two state entities on matters not related to the digital TV transition, including carriage rights and investigating consumer complaints, said Russ Willard, a spokesman for the state Department of Law.