ONLY A THIRD OF 357 PTV STATIONS COMPLY WITH DIGITAL MANDATE

APTS said 188 applications for waiver had been filed with the FCC so far. A spokeswoman said the applications were based on the number of transmitters, not the number of licensees, with some licensees holding multiple transmitters. Among the reasons cited for extensions were technical (79.3%), funding (24.5%), legal (43.1%), others (30.9%). A number of stations that had filed for waivers had done so on a “just-in-case” basis, Lawson said, and many of them expected to make the deadline. However, he didn’t discount the possibility that some stations would go dark. It was possible, he said, that some wouldn’t be able to raise the capital because even federal money was subject to matching contributions from state legislatures or local govts. The other reason for a station going dark could be the “sheer cost of running both the analog and digital transmitters. We are seeing some pretty steep increases in the cost of electricity. So stations are getting squeezed both ways. I would not at all be surprised that some of them don’t make it.”

Lawson applauded the NTIA for making available funds from the Public Telecom Facilities Program (PTFP) in time. The agency had solicited applications for funds even before the FY 2003 appropriations bill was passed in Feb., he said, and so “they were ready to go when they had the money in the pipeline.” Also coming to the aid of PTV stations was $25 million in FY 2002 funding from the CPB, he said. Lawson cautioned, however, that the need for federal funding wasn’t over yet for PTV stations to complete the transition. The reason, he said, was that a significant number of stations would be operating at low power even though they technically would meet the conversion deadline. “So we have continuing infrastructure needs even for those stations that meet the deadline,” he said. PTV stations also have 2 years to replicate coverage under the FCC rules, he said, so many will be upgrading not only their transmitters but also their antenna siting.

Cable carriage was vital for PTV stations’ digital plans, Lawson said, and he lamented that there was “no real movement on the part of cable to give us national agreements.” He charged that cable operators such as Comcast were cherry-picking the largest PTV station in a market for carriage. And although APTS was “happy to see any of our stations covered,” the real challenge will be when 2nd and 3rd stations in markets such as Washington and Philadelphia are broadcasting in digital and seek carriage from cable. “So far, we have seen no inclination on the part of cable to carry them.” He said PTV stations would “suffer mightily” if they failed to secure carriage. But the govt., which had a “big stake” in the transition, will also see its goals of reclaiming the analog spectrum unfulfilled, Lawson said. In his talks with members of Congress and FCC commissioners, he said he asked them how they intended to get to 85% digital penetration without cable carriage and found that “they either don’t have an answer or acknowledge that we won’t get there.”

In its most recent filing on the issue, the NCTA had signaled that cable operators were more inclined to sign digital carriage deals with individual local PTV stations rather than seek systemwide agreements with APTS and PBS. It blamed the lack of flexibility in APTS’s position on digital carriage in markets with multiple PTV stations for failure to reach comprehensive carriage agreements. APTS also was unable to provide “market-specific” information about PTV stations’ digital programming plans, NCTA said. Lawson said public broadcasters never had asked cable to carry PTV’s redundant signals. As for PTV stations’ programming plans, he said APTS had been providing programming information to cable. “But if they want to know which programs are going to run at 8 a.m. on a 3rd SDTV channel for the next 2 years, we can’t tell them that. We can tell that one channel will be for kids, one for education and that we will be broadcasting HDTV at night. We believe that is plenty of specificity.” Lawson said public broadcasters hadn’t even “begun to plan” their strategy for digital carriage on DBS. But he said it was clear that DBS carriage would be greatly influenced by how the cable carriage issue was resolved.

Public broadcasters are setting much store by the proposed DTV bill in Congress to resolve carriage issues. Lawson said he believed the bipartisan DTV bill being developed by the House Commerce Committee will address those issues fully and “we will have a much greater sense of where things are going when that bill is introduced and marked up.” APTS is in “frequent communications” with the members and staffers of the committee, Lawson said: “They understand where we are and I'm sure that there will be some surprises when the bill is introduced.” He said public broadcasters didn’t expect any action at the FCC on carriage issues in the near term. He said it seemed that the Commission wanted the Hill to step up to the plate, and vice versa. “At some point, one these bodies has to decide that it’s time to get serious about cable carriage.”

Asked about PTV’s business plans for digital, Lawson admitted that there had been little activity on ancillary and supplementary services. To boost PTV’s digital transition plans, the FCC had allowed PTV stations to raise funds by soliciting ads on their excess nonbroadcast digital spectrum and by leasing excess capacity. That decision has been challenged in the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. Lawson said legal uncertainty had been a factor in some stations’ lack of momentum on ancillary and supplementary services but he also pointed that the only part of the FCC ruling that had been challenged was that pertaining to ad-supported services. However, the real barrier has been lack of reception devices, Lawson said: “Whether you are looking at TVs or PCs, any business plan calls for simultaneously providing the service and deploying receivers.” Fortunately, the price of DTV tuners cards for PCs are continuing to drop, he said, and he expected a major PC maker to announce the availability of ATSC tuners built into PCs in the next 6 months.