Washington - The Senate Appropriations Committee this week voted to endorse the American Archive, a project spearheaded by the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) to digitally preserve public broadcasting's vast television and radio libraries and make them available to the public. The action would allow the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB) to shift a portion of the $29.7 million designated for digital infrastructure conversion of stations, mandated by federal law to be completed by February 2009, to the American Archive project. The relevant House Appropriations Committee is still working on a companion bill.

Washington - The majority of U.S. households that receive only over-the-air TV signals (61%) are still unaware that these analog transmissions will be shut off in February 2009, and compel an estimated 22 million households to make some sort of digital transition, according to a survey conducted by research firm ICR Media for the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS).