[opendtv] Re: News: Spectrum Return Trumps HDTV
- From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 09:11:15 -0700
I've been saying (hereabouts) for almost five years that this would come to
pass. I mention it to Chief Engineers at TV stations as well.
John Willkie
-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 5:20 AM
To: OpenDTV Mail List
Subject: [opendtv] News: Spectrum Return Trumps HDTV
Spectrum Return Trumps HDTV
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/2/2004 2:44:00 PM
Leaders of the House Commerce Committee Wednesday heaped praise on
the Federal Communications Commission's plan to accelerate the
digital-TV transition, with its chairman saying that government
spectrum needs trumped ubiquitous HDTV.
The support is an ominous sign for broadcasters, who oppose the plan
because it would obligate TV stations to return their analog channels
to the government before most viewers have purchased the
high-definition television sets that take advantage of digital's
benefits.
But reclaiming the channels--and selling them off to new technology
business--is the government's priority, not new digital TV services,
said Rep. Joe Barton, Commerce Committee chairman. The 1997 law
requiring the switch to DTV "is not about promoting high-definition
directly but about reclaiming analog spectrum as soon as possible,"
said the Texas Republican during a hearing on the FCC's plan.
Developed under Media Bureau Chief Ken Ferree's leadership, the FCC
plan would count all cable subscribers as digitally served by local
broadcasters, even if the subscribers don't have a digital set and
their only access to local broadcasters' digital offerings are cable
signals that have been "downconverted" to analog.
The FCC's plan would let nearly all cable customers be considered
digitally served almost immediately.
The 1997 law states that broadcasters must return their old analog
channels to the government when 85% of homes in any given market are
considered capable of receiving a station's DTV signal. In most
markets, the result of the FCC plan would obligate broadcasters to
return their analog channels to the feds at the government's
discretion. Ferree said the giveback date should be Jan. 1, 2009.
Ferree told lawmakers that the FCC must be proactive in defining how
the 85% test will be reached or the transition won't be completed for
decades. "If we wait for 85% of consumers to have digital equipment
in their homes, we could be waiting until 2050 or beyond," he said.
Barton even seemed intrigued by the FCC's solution for dealing with
the 15% or so of Americans who might lose TV entirely if analog
channels are shut off in 2009.
Those at-risk viewers are folks who do not subscribe to cable or
satellite TV and are too poor to buy a digital set. The FCC has
suggested that the government use a portion of proceeds from
auctioning analog channels to pay the $50-$100 for supplying them
with a digital-to-analog converter that would keep their old sets
functioning.
Barton suggested that the subsidy would be a bargain if it speeds
the creation of new wireless and other telecom businesses. "If we
debate when is the best time to have the digital transition, we'll
still be having that debate 30 years from now," he said.
Commerce Committee ranking Democrat John Dingell also praised the FCC
for striving to speed the day when broadcasters return their
spectrum. "Continued delay only serves to inhibit innovative
companies and to dampen their ability to attract capital and create
jobs," said the Michigan Democrat.
Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the Telecommunications Subcommittee,
didn't throw his full support behind the FCC plan, but said it
"brings a lot to the table."
Broadcasters oppose the plan, arguing that they will have spent $16
billion on digital transmission equipment with no guarantee that
cable viewers will receive their high-definition programming or other
digital services. To soften that impact, Ferree recommends that cable
systems be required to carry all of a station's multicast signals.
The prospect of winning multicast carriage rights wasn't enough to
satisfy National Association of Broadcasters President Eddie Fritts,
who called the plan "against the best interests of the American
consumer."
If the offer wasn't sufficient to get Fritts' support, it may have
soured cable operators on the plan. "The DTV transition plan should
not provide broadcasters with expanded must carry rights," said
Robert Sachs, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications
Association.
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