BROADCASTERS ASK SENATE PANEL FOR ‘FULL’ DIGITAL MUST-CARRY
Broadcasters told Senate Commerce Committee Thurs. that most important action FCC could take to facilitate swift and successful transition to digital TV (DTV) would be to impose full must-carry obligations on cable, move that cable said would be neither lawful nor technically feasible. Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) said hearing was to move beyond “finger pointing” among broadcast, cable and consumers, which blame on one another for “dearth of digital programming.” Although they presented various solutions to ensure industry meets its mandated 2006 DTV transition deadline, all remained firm in blaming others for delay.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“Like us, many other broadcasters including public television stations believe that the capability to multicast several programming services is the key to their use of the digital spectrum,” Paxson Communications CEO Jeff Sagansky told committee. “But we need the assurance that our multiple free, over-the-air programming services will be received by 70% of the homes in this country that are served by cable and satellite. They are the gatekeepers.”
Sagansky and NAB Board Chmn. Ben Tucker seek congressional action to ensure full DTV must-carry, which FCC hasn’t imposed (CD Jan 24 p3). “Getting that access means we need cooperation from all the parties -- the FCC, the cable industry and consumer electronics manufacturers,” Tucker said. “The FCC has the authority to resolve the regulatory issues, but Congress must oversee this transition and take necessary steps to make it happen.”
NCTA Vice Chmn. Michael Willner said cable shouldn’t be scapegoat for broadcasters, whom he said hadn’t developed DTV business plans or determined how much spectrum should be devoted to “free” TV. “Cable will continue to provide consumers complete access to the broadcast channels they enjoy today,” said Willner, Insight Communications CEO. “But we are not prepared, nor do we believe the law requires us, to carry duplicative versions of each and every broadcast station.”
Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Consumers Union asked committee to take back digital spectrum given to broadcasters 5 years ago. CFA Research Dir. Mark Cooper proposed Congress auction off digital spectrum licenses “to the highest bidder.” He said proceeds from auctions “should be placed in a trust fund used for locally developed civic, public interest and culturally relevant content, and recommended Congress set aside part of spectrum for noncommercial programming.
Cooper criticized industry proposals that would benefit broadcasters but not necessarily consumers. He said such proposals “would increase windfalls enjoyed by the broadcasters, like mandating the production of television sets with digital tuners, guaranteed space on cable systems or broadcaster efforts to lower fees for ancillary uses of spectrum, are absurd. This is exactly the right time to expand the public interest obligations of all the digital media, and broadcasting is exactly the right industry to start with because it so clearly relies on the use of a public asset.”