Markey takes a moment to mark today's final DTV transition

Now that the absolutely final DTV transition is really here, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) is looking back over the long, laborious process leading up to this point, reports Broadcasting & Cable. Markey is former chair of the House Telecommunications (now Communications) Subcommittee. "When I held the first Congressional hearing on then-high definition TV (HDTV) in the early fall of 1987, " he wrote in an e-mail, "I never imagined that it would take almost 22 years to reach this moment." He said he "aggressively advocated for such a switch and successfully convinced the FCC in 1990 to begin pursuing a digital standard." Markey gave up his communications post this session to focus on energy policy.