[opendtv] Re: NAB, MSTV applaud FCC must-carry proposal for DTV transition

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:37:56 -0400

> My position all along has been that the broadcasters should
> only insist on must-carry of the digital signal. Let the cable
> companies decide whether to offer an analog tier or D/A STBs
> for their analog subscribers.

Apparently, that is also Chairman Martin's position, as stated to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce today:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-275464A1.pdf

"The Commission is currently considering a rulemaking that would require
cable operators to ensure their analog customers don't lose their
broadcast signals. Cable operators can either continue to carry signals
in analog format to the millions of analog cable subscribers or
alternatively, cable operators who have chosen to go all-digital can
provide their subscribers with the necessary equipment to view broadcast
and other channels."

He doesn't mention it here, but in the past he has been a proponent of
multicast must-carry.

So back to the NCTA comment that I quoted earlier:

http://broadcastengineering.com/RF/ncta-fcc-dtv-transition-0718/

"The NCTA said the option of converting all delivery to digital 'is
effectively no option at all' because it would mean cable subscribers
would have to pay for and attach a set-top box to the 126 million analog
sets that are estimated to still be in use as of the February 2009
transition. Doing so would cost an estimated $6.3 billion - more than
four times greater than the $1.5 billion the federal government has set
aside to pay for the set-top boxes over-the-air viewers will need
continue using their analog sets post transition.

"Thus, the approach that requires cable operators to carry a must-carry
broadcaster in both analog and digital 'is in effect the only proposed
rule,' it said. The NCTA reminded the commission that the FCC has twice
before rejected a dual carriage obligation on constitutional grounds,
which are 'not even hinted at' in the notice."

It looks like the cable companies will probably want to retain some
analog tier for some time, until their customers buy new sets or new
STBs.

I'm puzzled about what the NCTA thinks its options are, I mean even in a
"perfect world" of their own making. If they were not made to transmit
the broadcasters' digital signal, do they really expect their paying
customers, ever more equipped with DTVs, to be satisfied with the analog
signal? That's silly. So, what do they think is the best approach?

Bert
 
 
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