NAB opposes aspects of the FCC draft notice on ATSC 3.0, said Vice President-Spectrum Policy Alison Neplokh in a blog post. “The draft asks a lot of questions about a tuner mandate, something we and our co-petitioners agree would be counter-productive to the goal of a market-based transition,” Neplokh said. CTA, one of NAB's co-petitioners on ATSC 3.0, similarly voiced concerns recently with “troubling language" in the draft notice about a TV tuner mandate (see 1702030075). Neplokh also criticized questions in the draft on retransmission consent. The retrans portions “have no bearing on enabling innovation in broadcast services, other than to stifle them,” Neplokh said. But she praised Chairman Ajit Pai's recent changes to FCC processes to make circulating items publicly available. The changes are good for commission staff and the agency itself, along with stakeholder groups, said Neplokh, a former FCC deputy chief technologist. “As a former Commission staffer, I often longed for feedback from stakeholders on the feasibility of the rules we were preparing to adopt.” Pai's rule change allows a more open feedback between staffers and stakeholders, Neplokh said. That clearer exchange of ideas will have “tangible benefits” for rules once they're passed, because rules created through a more open process are less likely to lead to petitions for reconsideration and long appeal processes, she said.
The FCC's draft ATSC 3.0 NPRM could use more specificity on how the new standard will affect pay-TV operators that carry 3.0 broadcast signals, said representatives of the American Television Alliance in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Monday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 16-142. The NPRM should include questions about “the format and geographic scope of 'simulcast' ATSC 1.0 transmissions” and the carriage of simulcast signals under existing retransmission consent agreements, said representatives of ATVA members AT&T, Charter Communications, Dish Network, Verizon and the American Cable Association. ACA also submitted separate comments in a letter to the FCC praising Chairman Ajit Pai's decision to make circulating documents public. “This new process, we believe, will help lead to a better NPRM than otherwise would have been possible,” ACA said. The FCC should gather additional information on the additional capacity that multichannel video programming distributors will need to carry ATSC 3.0 signals, ACA said. “This proposed transition will result in broadcasters consuming dramatically more capacity on already-constrained cable networks, requiring them to either eliminate other programming or reduce the quality of their broadband Internet service,” ACA said. “A small cable operator would have to eliminate at least six HD cable channels or sharply degrade broadband performance in order to carry the four major network affiliates in a higher-resolution format.” NAB backs "a voluntary, market-driven deployment of Next Gen TV," and the regulator shouldn't "impose overly prescriptive requirements for the transition," the association's representatives reported telling FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry.
LG Electronics and its Zenith subsidiary don't support a tuner mandate for the transition to ATSC 3.0, spokesman John Taylor told us. LG and Zenith back the recommendations in the petition for ATSC 3.0 rulemaking that CTA, NAB and others filed April 13 at the FCC (see 1604130065), urging that ATSC 3.0 tuners in receivers not be required because the evolution to the next-generation TV standard should be market-driven and based on voluntary standards, Taylor said. It’s too soon to say whether LG and Zenith will file comments if commissioners approve at their Feb. 23 meeting the NPRM on ATSC 3.0 that the agency released publicly as a draft item last week (see report in the Feb. 3 issue of this publication). In the draft, the FCC said it tentatively agrees with the argument that an ATSC 3.0 tuner requirement won't be needed, but that it would seek comment anyway on whether a market-driven approach would be enough. LG and Zenith in 2002 supported the FCC mandate that DTV tuners be included in analog sets on the grounds that a tuner requirement was the best way “to provide consumers with cost-effective products while achieving the national policy objectives” of the DTV transition. “Times have changed,” Taylor said of LG/Zenith’s endorsement of a market-driven approach for ATSC 3.0.
The ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard will enhance broadcasting, said Raycom CEO Pat LaPlatney in a release praising FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s circulation of an NPRM on authorizing a transition plan (see 1702030075). “We can’t fall behind on technology or our ability to provide the very best experience and services to our viewers who count on us every day.”
New concerns emerged Friday over some details and lack of others on ATSC 3.0 in the first attempt by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to publicly release drafts of entire items before they're voted on at commissioners' meetings. CTA and the New America Foundation said they found bothersome some of the details in the draft ATSC 3.0 rulemaking, issued Thursday along with a draft order on AM revitalization. And a spectrum consultant sought more details. The regulator declined to comment.
The FCC will advance broadcasters closer to a new standard by considering a draft NPRM in docket 16-142 on ATSC 3.0 at commissioners’ Feb. 23 meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai announced Thursday. The FCC also will consider a draft order in docket 13-249 that would remove the 40-mile limit on where FM translators can be placed by AM stations. Though both items are still on circulation, Pai released the full text of the items as part of a “pilot program” intended to increase FCC transparency, he said. (see 1702020051).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's pilot project to make draft agenda items public three weeks before commissioner meetings drew applause from key policymakers, industry parties, former commissioners and others who said it should improve agency transparency. Some cautioned the move could add to pressure on the FCC as stakeholders flood the commission with last-minute concerns and proposals. Pai and fellow Republican Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said they believed the process will sharpen public feedback and improve agency decision-making.
In an FCC pilot begun Thursday morning, the agency will release the full text of draft items before commissioners vote on them, when they're slated for consideration at members' monthly public meetings. Chairman Ajit Pai did just that, releasing a draft NPRM on broadcasters' envisioned move to next-generation ATSC 3.0 TV, plus an order on AM revitalization, of which he has been a major proponent.
Ajit Pai -- in his first public speech as FCC head -- highlighted robocalls and closing the digital divide as his top consumer issues. “The focus of this committee really is where the rubber meets the road in terms of the FCC’s mission,” he said at the opening of an Consumer Advisory Committee meeting Friday. As he did in recent meetings with commission stakeholders and to the agency's staff, he talked of his plan mentioned also in a September speech to help close the digital divide (see 1701230058). Also at the CAC meeting, NAB General Counsel Patrick McFadden repeated the promises of the next TV transition to ATSC 3.0.
The FCC Consumer Advisory Committee plans to discuss the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, incentive auction, consumer device security and spoofing and robocalling at its Friday meeting, said an agenda released Wednesday. Chairman Ajit Pai and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Deputy Chief Mark Stone will speak, it said. The meeting is 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.