Broadcasters, Cable Seek FCC Flexibility for DTV Transition
Broadcasters and cable operators want flexibility making the digital transition, they told the FCC. TV stations asked permission to reduce or terminate analog service, while NCTA said cable operators want to choose how to carry DTV signals. Broadcast networks and NAB were among parties asking the FCC to ease requirements that stations get construction permits so transmitters and other gear can meet specifications in the DTV table of allotments. The table was released by the agency last week. The requests for flexibility came in response to a rulemaking asking how the agency should monitor compliance with DTV rules (CD May 22 p5).
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In their comments, networks, industry groups and station owners stressed the need for leeway as they swap analog gear for digital and make other changes to broadcast digitally. Many filers asked that in enforcing DTV deadlines the FCC take note of factors beyond broadcasters’ control. CBS’s filing was representative. “We do not suggest that extensions of the February 17, 2009, deadline be lightly granted, even where a station is changing to a new post- transition channel,” CBS said. “We propose only that the Commission should be prepared to consider the full range of circumstances that may delay construction, and are beyond a licensee’s reasonable control, before declaring delinquent a licensee.” Those needing more time to broadcast at their full digital power should be able to apply for special temporary authority waivers, said CBS, Disney, NAB and others.
Several broadcasters endorsed FCC proposals to extend deadlines for construction and interference protection to stations that will use the same channels post-transition for digital operations as they now use for analog transmission. “Disney urges the Commission to grant flexibility” to stations “for whom minimal, short-term service reductions may be necessary to finalize post-DTV operations,” the company said. FCC plans now call for allowing broadcasters to reduce analog service en route to the transition if they meet six criteria. These include not being a top-four station, and the service reduction will affect fewer than 5 percent of a station’s viewers, said Disney. The company termed that proposal too stringent because it wouldn’t help stations that may need to reduce analog or DTV service while changing antennas or making other tweaks. “The Commission should adopt a prospective solution that addresses these stations’ flexibility needs without further delaying the DTV transition,” said Disney. “Stations in this category at least should qualify for a rebuttable presumption that their short-term, reduced power operations are in the public interest.”
Stations should be able to reduce analog service a year before the transition and end analog broadcasts six months before the switch, NAB and the Association for Maximum Service TV (MSTV) said in a joint filing. Stations should be able to move to their final DTV channels six months before the DTV deadline if that won’t cause more than 2 percent interference to analog stations or more than 0.5 percent interference to other digital operations, the groups urged. “During the transition period, reducing analog service should not change a local television stations’ carriage rights on cable for satellite systems” or those conferred by the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act, the joint filing said.
Broadcasters not owned by networks described technical hurdles they'll face unless commission rules change. Scripps, Tribune and others said the agency should let stations with digital antennas on the sides of towers wait until after the transition to move them to the top. Pre- transition relocation means using backup analog antennas that may reach fewer viewers, said Scripps, seeking a six-month post-transition extension. Tribune sought a year’s reprieve. Unless that rule changes, analog coverage will suffer “severely,” it said. A filing by 28 public interest groups said consumers won’t benefit much from the transition unless the FCC, as promised, defines DTV public interest rules. Benton Foundation, Campaign Legal Center and others said the FCC has been dodging that obligation for 12 years. Commissioner Michael Copps said the agency “has been asleep at the switch.”
NCTA members want to keep carrying TV stations with no interruptions during the transition, but cable operators need flexibility of their own to maximize spectrum efficiency, the group said. “There is no global answer to cable carriage of digital broadcast stations,” said NCTA. “Nor can it be the case that broadcasters alone should be allowed to dictate the answers to these complex technological cable carriage issues.” TV stations should have to declare by Dec. 1 what they plan to do with their antennas, how that may affect reception at cable headends and whether they will use ATSC active format descriptors, said NCTA.
In joint comments NAB and MSTV said coordination among broadcasters and cable and satellite providers is “critical” for a “smooth transition.” They said cable operators must ensure that headends get all DTV channels in each market by the night of the transition. The groups want “a thorough review” of all pay-TV companies’ “technical capabilities to receive and process digital signals,” requesting a cable and satellite readiness status report by December, similar to one NCTA wants from TV stations. - Jonathan Make