[opendtv] News: Cable might not have to carry multicast channels

Posted 1/26/2005 11:35 PM

Cable might not have to carry multicast channels

By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY

Federal regulators appear set to rule that cable companies need not 
carry the multiple channels that broadcasters are beaming in digital 
TV.

The staff of the Federal Communications Commission has recommended 
that the agency deny a broadcaster's petition to require cable 
companies to carry the extra channels, FCC officials say.

  The petition, opposed by Chairman Michael Powell, lacks support from 
a majority of the commission, officials say. But the officials 
cautioned that it's possible sentiment on the panel could change 
before it votes next month.

With high-definition TV sales surging, 1,400 stations are 
broadcasting some shows digitally. Many are sending high-definition 
pictures.

  But a growing number are instead "multicasting"- chopping their 
digital streams into several separate channels.

Of the nation's 1,700 broadcast stations, 491 are multicasting, up 
from 213 a year ago, says Decisionmark, a media technology company. 
They are producing such fare as 24-hour local news and weather, live 
coverage of political debates and regional sports. WRAL, the CBS 
affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., airs an all-news channel that televised 
the murder trial of a former city councilman while CBS aired its 
daytime lineup.

To view the programs, consumers must have a digital TV or subscribe 
to the digital tier of a cable system that carries the channels. Most 
of the channels are not on cable.

  Broadcasters argue that a law that forces cable systems to transmit 
their main channel also forces them to carry the multicast offerings. 
Several say they'll ditch multicasting plans without that guarantee.

But cable operators say the law requires transmission of a 
broadcaster's "primary video," meaning the main channel only.

  A multicast "must-carry" rule would not take effect until after a 
broadcaster returns its analog channel. The government can reclaim a 
broadcaster's analog channel once 85% of homes in a market can 
receive digital signals - a threshold that could take decades to 
reach. Still, the must-carry rule would empower stations in talks 
with cable systems now.

Ken Ferree, who heads the FCC's media bureau, has backed a must-carry rule.

  But Powell cooled to the idea after broadcasters refused to embrace 
his plan to speed the digital TV transition, FCC officials say.

  Powell's plan would reach the 85% threshold by 2009 by counting all 
cable-TV households. Cable systems would have to convert digital 
signals to analog for analog TV owners. Broadcasters argue that would 
discourage consumers from buying digital TVs.

But the FCC is unlikely to vote on Powell's plan because Congress 
wants to take on the issue.
 
 
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