[opendtv] TV Technology: FCC Video Report Finds Expansion of Broadcast Services
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 00:04:34 +0000
Some interesting numbers here. Plus a new acronym, OVD, I guess online video
distribution (Deborah says "provider," but that would be OVP).
Here's the one thing that troubled me:
"The commission said OVD accounted for a growing portion of Internet traffic
during peak hours, and noted that most major cable operators imposed bandwidth
caps or metered pricing during the first half of 2012. Phone companies are said
to be following suit."
That could definitely get my PVR back into high gear. Interesting how the cable
providers took this tack, to prevent people from getting their TV online via
their cable's broadband link, rather than dedicating more of their
infrastructure to broadband and less to MPEG-2 TS signal broadcast, eh? If
wired telcos go this route too, I'm hoping that will create a huge uproar.
The FCC report also disputes that close to 20 percent figure of households
using OTA exclusively. However, the word "exclusively" is the problematic word
here. It sort of depends how the questions are phrased. Quoting,
"Reliance on over-the-air TV has remained steady at around 11.1 million
households, according to the report. This figure is in agreement with one
proffered by Nielsen in January, but far short of another published last month
in GfK's Home Technology Monitor, an annual survey that found 19.3 percent of
U.S. TV households rely exclusively on over-the-air reception."
My bet is, that extra ~9 percent of households did not clearly answer, "We
don't use MVPDs for TV, but we supplement OTA with ... .
Bert
http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/fcc-video-report-finds-expansion-of-broadcast-services/220477
---------------------------
Deborah D. McAdams /
07.22.2013 03:10PM
FCC Video Report Finds Expansion of Broadcast Services
Four-fifths of full-power stations deliver HD
WASHINGTON - Cable is down, DBS and telcoTV is up, and more than 80 percent of
U.S. broadcast TV signals are now high-definition. That's just a few of the
takeaways in the Federal Communications Commission's annual Video Competition
Report, released on Monday.
"As of the end of 2011, 1,501-82.2 percent-of full-power stations were
broadcasting in HD, up from 1,036 stations in 2010," the report said.
Household adoption of HDTV sets also rose. As of 2012, 85.3 million (74.4
percent) of U.S. TV households had sets capable of displaying HD signals, up
from 75.5 million (65.1 percent) in 2011. DVR adoption rose as well, from 46.3
million households (40.4 percent), to 50.3 million households (43.8 percent).
Reliance on over-the-air TV has remained steady at around 11.1 million
households, according to the report. This figure is in agreement with one
proffered by Nielsen in January, but far short of another published last month
in GfK's Home Technology Monitor, an annual survey that found 19.3 percent of
U.S. TV households rely exclusively on over-the-air reception. (See, June 21,
2013: "Survey: 60 Million Americans Rely on Broadcast TV.")
Broadcast TV station revenue followed the political cycle-$22.22 billion in
2010; $21.31 billion in 2011; and a projected $24.7 billion for 2012, a rise in
part attributed to retransmission consent fees. However, TV stations were said
to make about 88 percent of their revenues through advertising, "a slight
decline from the last report."
Prime-time ad rates for a 30-second spot in the top 100 TV markets, based on
composite figures, rose from $26.76 CPM (cost per thousand households) in 2010,
to $28 in 2011, and $32.08 in 2012.
Local news is said to account for 35 to 40 percent of advertising revenues. In
2011, the average TV station aired 5.5 hours of local news per weekday, up from
5.3 hours in 2010.
Network compensation, once paid to TV station affiliates by the networks, has
"all but disappeared," the report said. Network compensation dipped from $48.2
million in 2010 to $25.1 million in 2011, according to SNL Kagan numbers cited
in the report. The 2012 figure is projected at $287,000. Networks have reversed
the compensation model by taking a percentage of retransmission fees from
stations.
Retrans fees comprised 8.1 percent of TV station revenues in 2011, or $1.76
billion; and 9.4 percent or $2.36 billion in 2012.
Ancillary DTV revenues were nearly negligible. Broadcasters can use a portion
of their spectrum for revenue-generating activities such as subscription video
or data transfer, but they must pay the FCC 5 percent of those revenues. In
2012, 81 licensees made total ancillary DTV revenue of $499,970. The peak year
was 2010, when 99 licensees brought in more than $7.1 million in ancillary
revenues.
While the commission has been bullish on reducing the spectrum available for TV
broadcasting, it did give stations props for public service:
"Since the last report, full-power television stations have continued to take
advantage of digital broadcasting technology to offer improved service to the
public. In addition to high-definition content, broadcasters are using
multicasting to bring more programming to consumers by expanding the
availability of established networks and adding new startup digital
networks-including networks targeting minorities and programming targeting
niche audiences-and Spanish language offerings."
Multicast diginets include Bounce TV, which now has 154 affiliates, This TV,
with 133, and Retro TV with 44 affiliates. Established networks have also
benefited from multicasting. The CW is on 115 multicast channels; MyNetworkTV,
on 92.
Total day audience share for the network affiliates held steady between 2011
and 2012 at 28, percent with the total broadcast share at 33 percent, compared
to 52 percent for ad-supported cable networks. In prime time, network
affiliates held 33 percent of the audience; all broadcast, 38 percent; and
ad-supported cable, 51 percent.
The availability of mobile DTV grew between reports, from 60 stations in 2010
to 105 stations at the end of 2011. The National Association of Broadcasters
said the total now stands at 130 stations in 30 states delivering 150 channels.
Despite ongoing reports of cord-cutting, the FCC found that pay TV
subscriptions rose slightly between the end of 2010 to June 2012, from 100.8
million to 101 million households. Cable's share fell however, from 59.3
percent to 55.7 percent as of June 2012. Direct broadcast satellite TV
providers picked up 600,000 subscribers in the time period to end June 2012
with 34 million, or 33.6 percent of all pay U.S. pay TV subs.
TelcoTV grew by 1.7 million subscribers during the period, to 8.6 million,
according to the report. However, it noted that the total comprised "AT&T's
Uverse and Verizon's FiOS services," but not other small telcoTV providers
around the country.
Technologically, cable systems are catching up with telcoTV, which delivers
only the channels being watched at a given time versus the entire package a la
traditional cable. At the end of last year, more than half of the footprint of
the top eight cable providers was all-digital, with 43 percent of that portion
using switched digital video delivering only those channels watched.
The average price of a basic cable subscription increased by 6.2 percent to
$20.55 between 2011 and 2012, with expanded basic up 4.8 percent to $61.63. The
basic price-per-channel was up 1.5 percent to 63 cents, while expanded
price-per-channel fell one-tenth of a penny in the 50 cent range.
The Video Competition Report divides TV distributors in to three
types-broadcast, multichannel video programming distributors (cable, satellite
and telco pay TV), and online video providers, or OVD. The commission cited SNL
Kagan numbers indicating that the number of Internet-connected TV households
grew from around 26.6 million (22.8 percent) at the end of 2011, to an
estimated 41.6 million (35.4 percent) by the end of 2012.
The commission said OVD accounted for a growing portion of Internet traffic
during peak hours, and noted that most major cable operators imposed bandwidth
caps or metered pricing during the first half of 2012. Phone companies are said
to be following suit.
The report was issued under the watch of Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn,
who said she was "encouraged by the pro-consumer trends it reveals."
"Options for accessing video programming are swelling," she said. "Nearly all
consumers now have a choice among three... MVPDs, and today, more than
one-third of all households can choose from four or more providers.
"However, I am concerned, because not all of our citizens are realizing the
promise of these competitive benefits," she said. "Nearly three out of 10 rural
Americans to not have access to high-speed Internet.... sufficient to receive
online video. distributors' services, and I sincerely hope that these consumers
are not forgotten.
"In this regard, I note that broadcast TV remains one of the most affordable
sources of entertainment and news," she continued. "As the report shows, 11
million American [households] still rely on free, over-the-air broadcast
signals as their exclusive source for TV viewing."
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