After half a decade sparring in the back rooms of the FCC, the debate over cable's obligation to carry local broadcasters' digital signals has been pushed into the ring of big-time politics. Trent Lott, the top Republican in the Senate, has called on agency Chairman Michael Powell to decide the extent of big cable systems' obligation to carry local TV stations' digital signals. If attention to a debate long removed from the minds of top policymakers wasn't surprise enough, the Mississippi lawmaker went further by giving his strong endorsement to broadcasters' latest demand that cable systems around the country be required to carry every free channel or service that local stations can shoehorn into their 6 MHz of digital spectrum.
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