[opendtv] PR: Consumers in 39 Million U.S. Households Cannot Receive Complete Network Digital Service
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 09:38:35 -0400
Consumers in 39 Million U.S. Households Cannot Receive Complete
Network Digital Service
First-Ever Digital Maps Illustrate and Quantify Even Greater Need for
Speeding up the Digital Transition
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Digital Transition Coalition
(DTC) said that, contrary to the claims of the National Association of
Broadcasters (NAB), the DTV transition has a long distance to traverse before
it becomes a reality. Tens of millions of Americans are still unable to
receive one or more of their local network stations in digital mode. The
coalition released state-by-state maps, using Federal Communications
Commission data, which clearly illustrate the current (as of July 2004)
coverage of digital signals across the nation. The maps were filed with the
FCC as part of the coalition's response to a filing by the NAB.
The coalition hired Primus Geographics to demonstrate the true extent of
the digital transition in America today. It has been clear to most observers
that the transition is lagging and the maps prove that, according to the
coalition.
"This analysis paints a stark picture of the digital transition in this
country," said George Landrith of Frontiers of Freedom, a member of the
Digital Transition Coalition. "It illustrates once and for all that the
transition to digital television is behind schedule and continues to exclude
millions of Americans -- especially those in rural areas. And this is
happening despite the fact that the nation's broadcasters were supposed to be
broadcasting their DTV service at full power by 2002," he said.
"While technology is improving and more offerings are available, the
reality is tens of millions of Americans are still being denied digital
service because the local broadcasters have been dragging their feet. The key
to speeding up the transition is to provide incentives for local broadcasters
to make digital signals available and to give other services the ability to
offer those signals if the local broadcasters won't."
"One area where Congress can make a real difference right away is by
approving the digital white area provisions contained in the Senate Commerce
Committee's satellite legislation," added Mr. Landrith. "If local
broadcasters fail to provide a network digital signal, then satellite
providers should be allowed to do so. This provision will be the much needed
catalyst for achieving the goal of returning the analog spectrum to the public
and providing choices to consumers across the country."
The NAB, together with the Association for Maximum Service Television,
Inc., submitted its filing to the FCC's Media Bureau in a proceeding where the
Bureau is examining the effects of the digital transition on Over the Air
Broadcast Television viewers. In its filing, the NAB claimed that
"[b]roadcasters have met the challenge of the conversion to DTV [digital
television]," and that "[t]he transmission side of the DTV equation has been
built." The DTC's maps, along with its written response, call into question
these claims.
The DTC analysis found that, nationwide:
-- 36.1% of households (over 39 million) cannot receive digital service
from at least one of the network broadcasters. More specifically:
- 19.0% of households (over 20 million) are receiving digital service
from only 3 digital network broadcasters
- 5.8% of households (over 6 million) are receiving digital service
from only 2 digital network broadcasters
- 6.2% of households (over 6 million) are receiving digital service
from only 1 digital network broadcaster
- 5.1% of households (over 5 million) cannot receive digital service
from any network broadcaster at all
Excerpts of the letter follow:
"The Coalition's members have a direct interest in the immediate
availability of network digital television service in high definition to all
consumers nationwide, and the broadcasters' timely return of their 'analog'
spectrum. Upon completion of the transition, part of the analog spectrum
would be redeployed to the nation's first responders to improve homeland
security. The rest would be auctioned off, raising tens of billions of
dollars, to make available new advanced services, or to promote unlicensed
uses. For this reason, the Coalition has been closely monitoring the progress
of the DTV transition.
"In their comments, the National Association of Broadcasters ('NAB') and
the Association for Maximum Service Television ('MSTV') have claimed that
'[b]roadcasters have met the challenge of the conversion to DTV [digital
television]' and that '[t]he transmission side of the DTV equation has been
built,' citing the NAB's own statistics on the number of full power DTV
stations, the number of markets covered, and the percentage of households in
markets that have a certain number of DTV stations. See NAB/MSTV Comments at
7 (filed Aug. 11, 2004)."
"The Commission should evaluate these claims in light of the more
granular, state-by-state DTV coverage maps that Primus Geographics has
generated on behalf of the DTC using publicly available FCC information on DTV
broadcast stations and OET guidelines for DTV coverage profiles. Primus has
used the point-to-point Longley-Rice version of the methodology to determine
the Grade B contours of the digital signals of every network station, and then
mapped these contours over the 2003 projected Census data.
"The maps and accompanying data depict a very different picture than the
optimistic one reflected in the NAB filing. They make clear that as many as
36% of American consumers -- over 39 million households -- and many regions of
the United States remain unserved by the digital television signal of one or
more of their local network stations."
"The proportion of unserved households is even more alarming in the most
sparsely populated states -- typically states with a disproportionate number
of rural households. In the 10 states with the fewest households, a full
74.2% of these households are unserved by at least one of their local network
stations. These maps and data thus illustrate graphically the distance that
still needs to be traversed to achieve the goals of the DTV transition."
In an effort to inform the public about the status of digital television,
the DTC will make all these maps available on its website --
http://www.iwantmyhdtv.com . The website was created as a resource for
consumers and policy makers to learn about the issues surrounding the digital
television transition.
Primus Geographics provides geospatial technology solutions that help
organizations leverage business location intelligence. Through their extensive
service and consulting experience, they help companies leverage spatial
information, enabling them to make the most successful business decisions
possible.
The Digital Transition Coalition (DTC) is comprised of consumer
organizations, taxpayer groups, technology providers, and other interested
parties dedicated to expediting the transition to a digital future. The DTC
wants to maximize the use of spectrum to allow optimal innovation and
utilization to meet growing consumer demand. For more information please
visit http://www.digitaltransitioncoalition.org .
DTC State by State Digital Coverage Fact Sheet
One of the most striking elements of these coverage maps, are the findings
on availability of digital service in the states with the fewest number of
households, as evidenced by the chart below.
% of % of % of % of
Households Households Households Households
Unserved Unserved Unserved Unserved
by FOX by NBC by CBS by ABC
The 10 States with the
fewest Households* 58.2% 52.8% 49.6% 40.6%
The 20 States with the
fewest Households 51.0% 38.3% 32.0% 29.0%
The 25 States with the
fewest Households 40.3% 31.0% 25.5% 26.2%
Nationwide 21.4% 18.1% 13.3% 16.8%
*Households totals based on U.S. Census estimates for 2003; Includes
District of Columbia
The coverage maps also demonstrates that households in the states with the
fewest number of households many times cannot receive any digital television
service, and rarely can receive all four network stations.
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