DTV must-carry not only is important to speed DTV transition, it ...
DTV must-carry not only is important to speed DTV transition, it also is needed to assure continued diversity in TV programming, Cox TV Pres. Andrew Fisher said. He told Media Institute lunch Wed. that, in era of broadcast consolidation,…
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DTV transition was necessary to preserve locally controlled TV, which in turn was critical to diversity. But for DTV to succeed, “we have got to get carried on cable,” he said. Fisher said there’s not single “viable” retransmission consent agreement for DTV carriage outside network-owned stations. He said cable “must be told to carry” DTV, probably by govt.: “Stonewalling is not in the cable, broadcast or public interest.” Fisher said transition would be aided by improved and affordable DTV display devices, as well as additional DTV programming. He also said there needed to be “healthy relationship” with broadcast networks, rather than increased pressure to carry all network programming. It’s “a very difficult time,” Fisher said, and transition “won’t happen unless there is equilibrium in the network-affiliate relationship.” Asked about current DTV standard, Fisher said he was confident VSB would continue to “improve markedly.”