More DTV Funding Needed, Hill Hearing Told

The FY 2009 FCC request of $20 million for DTV transition activities is “woefully inadequate,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. FCC educational efforts show progress, but more resources are needed to make sure a thorough campaign on the transition reaches all Americans, Dingell said. The coupon converter box program could encounter problems, and may need more funding to ensure that all who need boxes get them, Dingell said.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the $20 million could go to create public service announcements on the transition. The commission is using this year’s $2.5 million appropriation on education, he said. “We have tentative plans” for the $20 million, if appropriated, he told Dingell, adding that inter-agency coordination and the digital transition coalition have made a good start at education. “If Congress thinks we need more money, we would welcome it,” he said.

Low-power TV broadcasters want more funding for digital gear, urging that Congress unleash promised funding this year, not in 2010 as now mandated. The broadcasters also want Class A stations to get limited cable carriage rights on the basic digital tier. “The proposal is reasonable and fair,” said Ron Bruno, president of the Community Broadcasters Association. “Our industry was under the impression that adequate time would be provided” for the transition, Bruno said. But the converter box program “cuts our industry’s conversion time to zero,” he said.

Only a limited number of boxes allow analog signals to be passed through, and some viewers could be out of luck if they can’t purchase the proper equipment. Four makers offer boxes, but more could be certified, said NTIA Acting Administrator Meredith Baker. Coupon recipients will be given information on which boxes have “analog pass through” capability, plus lists of local outlets selling the boxes, she said. The first round of coupons will be mailed out next week.

“It is important that we don’t make any rash changes” in rules governing the transition, said subcommittee ranking member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. Neither “must-carry” rules nor mandating production of converter boxes with analog passthrough capabilities “is necessary,” he said. The market is responding to problems, and making mid course policy changes would be counterproductive, he said.

EchoStar Developing Sub-$39.99 Converter Box

EchoStar, which made CES headlines when it said it will sell $39.99 DTV converter boxes that would be free except for sales tax when purchased with a $40 coupon, is working hard to develop a coupon-eligible box that’s even cheaper, said EchoStar Technologies President Mark Jackson. He testified to a House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Wednesday on the progress of the DTV transition.

EchoStar has filed notices of intent with NTIA to submit additional converter boxes for approval, Jackson said. The company has “devised means of lowering the cost even further” than $39.99, Jackson said. “We're hopeful that the NTIA and FCC will test the devices and approve them quickly, as there’s no time to lose.” In Q-and-A, Jackson told subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., that EchoStar is “working very hard” to commercialize a sub-$39.99 coupon- eligible box.

NTIA has received notices of intent from a “half-dozen” manufacturers to resubmit DTV converter boxes with analog passthrough added, Acting Administrator Meredith Baker said. All makers that filed the notices already have had converter boxes certified as coupon-eligible, but without analog passthrough, Baker said.

Though only a small proportion of certified boxes have analog passthrough, that manufacturers included the feature voluntarily proves that the market is working, said the subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. He urged that “no rash changes” be made in the converter box program. Under questioning from Stearns, Baker said she feared that analog passthrough mandates could “stifle” retailer and manufacturer coupon program participation, which is voluntary.

Still, the Community Broadcasters Association, which represents low-power TV stations, will sue in federal court if the FCC doesn’t grant its petition for declaratory ruling that NTIA-approved converter boxes violate the All-Channel Receiver Act, CBA President Ron Bruno told the subcommittee. Converter boxes without analog passthrough are “bad” boxes, while boxes with analog passthrough are “user-hostile,” Bruno said. Either type of box will cause LPTV stations to lose viewers, he said. CBA’s vision of a “good” box is one that contains dual analog and digital tuners, Bruno said, calling on Congress to require NTIA to approve no boxes that lack dual ATSC and NTSC. Such set-tops already are on the market and they're affordable, Bruno said. But EchoStar’s Jackson said they wouldn’t be coupon-eligible.

The NTIA expects to ask Congress for money for the coupon program’s contingency phase, as the DTV statute provides for, Baker said. In that phase, coupons will go only to households that certify they depend on over-the-air TV alone. The NTIA isn’t sure it will need the money, but it wants to be ready, to minimize any “disruption” to the program, Baker said. At the rate of coupon requests the past three weeks, the current base phase would last 521 days, she said. Coupons would last 286 days at the rate the first few weeks of the program, she said.

Other disclosures: (1) The NTIA would consider the proposal by subcommittee Democrats to allow consumers to reapply for new coupons if their originals have expired, Baker said. The agency wants to study coupon-redemption patterns before committing but has already asked its vendor, IBM, to run cost analyses to figure out whether that would cause a financial problem, she said. Tom Romeo, testifying for IBM, said there’s no technical barrier to the change. (2) Of the nearly 5 million coupons ordered, about 47 percent have been requested by households that said they're over-the- air only, Baker said. (3) The FCC has circulated notices of apparent liability against nine additional CE makers proposing $6.5 million in fines for V-chip violations, Chairman Kevin Martin said. (4) The NAB has forged a promotional partnership with the CEA to educate consumers to buy the proper antenna for DTV reception, NAB President David Rehr said.

Panel Discusses DTV Challenges

Industry and government officials discussed transition education, including some early successes, on a Wednesday District of Columbia Bar panel. “Consumers are wondering what are their options,” NTIA official Maureen Lewis said. “It seems that some of the consumer education efforts are really paying off.” She cited the 4.7 million $40 DTV converter box coupons requested by 2.4 million people since Jan. 1, when NTIA started taking requests. About half of coupon seekers depend on over-the-air TV, and the rest have cable, satellite or other pay-TV, Lewis said. “Demand is keeping apace, and we hope we'll be able to fulfill all the demand.” She said NTIA officials are kept awake at night by the fear that Americans’ TV screens will go dark Feb. 17, 2009.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau continues to monitor whether stores, online retailers and others adhere to DTV equipment rules, Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Kathryn Berthot said at the event. Hundreds of stores and Web sites have been inspected by bureau staffers to ensure they label analog sets as such, she said. “We are continuing to inspect the retail stores and Web sites and will continue to do so” until the cutoff, she added. “We're seeing fewer violations.” The bureau is investigating “a number of other companies” for DTV tuner violations, said Berthot.

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau updated its Web site with more material on low-power stations that will keep transmitting in analog after full-power stations make the switch, said bureau official Pam Slipakoff. The bureau is working with the NTIA on the issue, she said. She has met people confused about how to get TV after the transition, she said. “A lot of consumers think they have to run out and buy a high-definition television,” Slipakoff said. “The transition is to standard definition. There’s a lot of confusion about that.” She hopes “technologically savvy” kids will tell grandparents and other relatives about the shift’s finer points.

Stations are trying many innovative approaches to DTV education, said NAB General Counsel Jane Mago. Some send engineers to retailers to discuss converter boxes and other topics, she said. “The guys are turning into celebrities. They're turning into a bunch of extroverts.” The NAB is trying to figure out the “best ways” to alert viewers of low- power stations that those broadcasters won’t soon make the switch, said Mago.

Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein fears that retailers are “another weak link” in the transition, he said in separate remarks. He cited a U.S. PIRG survey of stores finding low employee awareness of DTV. “If young, tech-savvy retail workers don’t get it, imagine how your grandma who’s owned the same TV for 30 years is going to cope,” he said. “Imagine the challenge that awaits the elderly, those with disabilities, the low income, non-English speakers, and people in rural America.”

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Adelstein is among the speakers scheduled for a Feb. 28 FCC DTV workshop on how to educate people with disabilities about the transition, said a news release Tuesday. He and Commissioner Michael Copps will start the meeting at 9 a.m. FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Cathy Seidel will moderate a panel with officials of Easter Seals, Goodwill Industries, the Special Olympics, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and other groups.

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Telemundo stations will start airing public service ads on DTV Sunday, a year before the deadline, the broadcast network said Wednesday. The company’s Alerta Digital campaign includes 30-second spots, which will run on stations owned by Telemundo and on network affiliates. Also starting Sunday, the company will start a Web site offering information on the transition at yahootelemundo.com/alertadigital. Web sites of individual stations will link to it. Telemundo will make spots available to its radio affiliates by March 1.