[opendtv] DTV Deadline
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:14:42 -0400
Two views on the DTV deadline from B&C...
And a warning: Don't expect the hard date to stick if you don't give
us everything else we want...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6263732.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
DTV Date Still 2009, Says Stevens
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/5/2005 1:25:00 PM
Commerce Committee Chairman Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), told
broadcasters Wednesday that he still backed a 2009 hard date for
return of analog spectrum, but was now primarily concerned with
keeping the auction money from that spectrum from being commandeered
for non-communications-related Katrina costs.
Stevens said the bill establishing that hard date would be marked up
Oct. 19, though he said he did not yet have a bill to show anyone or
any details. But he reiterated that it would have to be free of
anything not tied to the budget.
The DTV issues not in the hard-date bill, which could range from
multicast must-carry to cable downconversion of the digital signal to
use of DTV spectrum by unlicensed devices, will be addressed in a
separate bill that Stevens said would be introduced as a companion to
the hard-date bill.
The DTV transition hard-date bill deals with analog spectrum that
will be returned for auctions expected to bring billions to the
treasury. As such, it must be included in a budget allocation bill
that, by Senate rules, cannot deal with other legislative issues.
Stevens said that he had been told by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that
the commision could be ready with regs and DTV channel assignments by
2007, but reiterated his preference for a 2009 date.
"With a 2009 hard date, there would be three Christmas buying seasons
during which Americans will buy digital television sets....The later
the hard date is, the more digital televisions people will have
bought on their own, and fewer set top boxes, obviously, will be
needed," he said. "And, the fewer the set top boxes, obviously, the
less subsidy will be required. In addition, by providing time for
manufacturers to gear up the production lines and achieve economies
of scale, the price of the box will likely be less."
Stevens said he and commerce Co-chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) had
decided that it would not to bifurcate the transition by requiring an
earlier return of spectrum by stations in the portion of the FM band
outside of the core DTV channels that is being handedover to first
responders.
While he recognized the need to get that spectrum for emergency
communications, "we concluded that a transition that differed from
market to market would be most confusing to consumers. And, after
meeting with a wide variety of public safety experts, our Committee
learned that in many cases, the devices, particularly radios, which
will use the abandoned analog TV spectrum, have not been engineered
yet."
Stevens said one of the biggest problems he now faced was trying to
keep that $10 billion for transition-related costs, including the
subsidy and funding better local 911 communications, rather than have
it applied to the cost of Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, estimated
in the hundreds of billions.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6263606.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
2007 DTV Date Has Some Backers, But...
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/5/2005 8:03:00 AM
The heads of some major broadcasting groups said Wednesday they are
ready for the switch to digital, with one even saying she thought
moving the hard date for return of analog spectrum from 2009 to 2007
might be a good idea.
Broadcasters have committed to a hard date of 2009, but,
post-Katrina, there has been a push by Sen. John McCain and others to
move up the date so more spectrum can be freed for emergency
first-responders.
The broadcasters' caveat, however, was that they didn't think
viewers, or government, for that matter, were ready for that date,
and that the government would have to take a comprehensive approach
to the switch if those viewers were to be well-served by the
transition.
Speaking on a panel at the Association for Maximum Service Television
conference in Washington, Elizabeth Murphy Brown, president of Morgan
Murphy Stations, said she thought most stations could handle a 2007
date, adding that in some ways it might be easier since it would
force the industry and government to face issues like a subsidy for
digital-to-analog tuners and cable downconversion of the DTV signal.
The latter would be devastating, she said, completely negating their
efforts and investment in digital.
Broadcasters are concerned that the DTV transition bill coming out of
the Senate will deal only with a hard date, and push off the
political flash points of multicast must-carry and downcoversion of
DTV signals, among others, to sometime next year.
Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Stevens, who is motormanning
that bill, has said there will have to be two bills, one dealing with
the money-related issue of setting a hard date and getting the
spectrum back for auction, and another to deal with related issues.
Essentially his hand was forced by a budget committee deadline of
Oct. 19 for bills that will bring money to the treasury, and a Senate
rule that prevents tacking non-budget related legislation on those
bills.
Stevens, addressing the conference, said there was as yet no bill,
or agreement on the elements of that bill, but he continued to
advocate a 2009 hard date.
David Barrett, president of Hearst-Argyle Television, agreed with
Burns that "most stations are ready to go." In fact, he said it might
make sense post-Katrina to flash-cut to digital in New Orleans on
WDSU rather than having to rebuild both digital and analog
facilities. It would save him millions, he said, but would likely not
serve his primarily analog viewers.
Barrett said he was offended by suggestions that the horrors of the
Louisiana Superdome were somehow the result of broadcasters sitting
on spectrum. The broadcasters were in agreement that too much blame
was being laid on them, with not enough attention paid to their
efforts before, during and after the crisis.
Barrett also emphasized that the government should not put off
dealing with the issues of multicasting, downconversion, or subsidies
for digital-to-analog converters.
CBS Executive VP Martin Franks pointed out that Congress initially
established a marketplace approach to the return or spectrum. If it
wants to change that to a government-engineered model, he said, it
has to deal with the implications of that change.
If it only does a hard date and punts on those other issues for a
year, Franks said, "does anyone think that hard date will stick? I
don't."
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