CABLE CARRIAGE OF MULTICAST VITAL TO PTV EXISTENCE, LAWSON SAYS

Accusing cable operators of “stonewalling,” public broadcasters are seeking intervention of Congress and FCC for carriage of their multicast streams that they say are vital for their existence. “We continue to pretty much get stonewalled by MSOs regarding any further national agreements,” Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS) Pres. John Lawson said in interview.

In wake of Time Warner carriage deal, NCTA Pres. Robert Sachs said more such carriage agreements between MSOs and PTV stations were likely “because public TV has a vision for using its digital spectrum.” In contrast, he contended, “most commercial broadcasters don’t have a business plan for how to use their free digital spectrum.” Asked where things went wrong after such accolades from NCTA, Lawson said cable industry had been using agreements with Time Warner and Insight as “sort of poster children for doing nothing else for the rest of the nation.” While cable operators point to agreements already reached to argue against govt. regulation, “there is no indication that they are willing to negotiate with us seriously on carriage to the other 80% households,” he said.

As for sticking points in negotiations, Lawson said there were different problems with different MSOs, but cable operators frequently wanted to carry only one PTV station in major market. Public broadcasters didn’t want carriage of duplicative signals of PTV stations in market either, he said. But insisting on carriage of just one PTV station in market would result in leaving out PTV stations broadcasting programs different from PBS schedule, Lawson said. For example, he said, carriage agreement with WETA-TV in Washington will result in dropping of WHDT operated by Howard U. and serving urban minority audiences. Some of primary PTV stations had reached standalone agreements with cable operators such as WHYY in Wilmington, Del., and WETA-TV in Washington with Comcast, he said.

Some cable operators were interested only in PTV’s HDTV programs, he said: “Our stations are definitely supplying high definition but they also are developing targeted standard definition channels for early childhood education, work force training, state government coverage and other things.” He said he hadn’t heard any specific concerns about PTV programming. But, he said, he “wouldn’t be surprised that it was one of the hidden objections that somehow people just aren’t interested in what we have to offer.” Lawson said there hadn’t been any problem with PTV’s prime-time programming, “but instructional programming for kids, for example, may be considered boring by some cable operators. But that is part of what we can do with DTV. We are happy that Time Warner and Insight got it that education is not only a public service but is a service that would motivate people to upgrade to digital.”

Lawson said 86 PTV stations are broadcasting digital signal and he expected 2/3 to 3/4 of 359 PTV stations to meet FCC’s May digital conversion deadline, “which is really a wonderful DTV success story.” However, he said, many of stations were operating at low power and some were using side-mounted antennas, which meant that “our conversion funding needs will not end in May 2003.” Of estimated conversion cost of $1.7 billion, PTV stations so far had raised $913 million. Of that, $771 million came from state govts. and private sources, with only $141 million from federal govt. In Senate version of FY 2003 appropriations bills, $50 million had been recommended for CPB digital conversion and $51 million for NTIA-administered Public Telecom Facilities Program (PTFP). House hadn’t acted on those appropriations bills, he said. With severe budget crunch in states, “it becomes more important that the federal government step up and help our stations fund this federal mandate,” he said. He said Republican takeover of Congress wouldn’t affect PTV’s funding needs because “we enjoy very strong bipartisan support in Congress, especially in the Senate.” Lawson said he was confident most of recommended digital funding for PTV would survive when Congress finally passed FY 03 appropriations bills.

Cable operators’ carriage of all multicast streams of PTV stations is not just issue of cable subscribers’ getting access to full range of PTV’s services, Lawson said: “It really is a question of whether or not PTV will be in existence 10 or 15 years from now.” PTV stations, he said, had raised “enormous amount of money” from state legislatures and private sources based on multicast service models such as new education services. Stations wouldn’t be able to secure funding for content to leverage DTV infrastructure if 70% of public (cable households) couldn’t receive services, he said: “We will be left as good citizens who took the DTV mandate seriously but got left holding the bag.”

Lawson said public broadcasters had made their case at FCC for broader interpretation of primary video to carry all of PTV’s multicast signals: “We are hopeful that the Commission in the next weeks or months will be able to break their deadlock and establish some policies that really do encourage a faster transition.” Otherwise, he said, PTV’s digital infrastructure will end up as “white elephants broadcasting a wonderful digital signal but with very few people being able to receive our new services. No business, especially one that operates on the margins as PTV does, can survive that kind of financial exposure.”

Given variations in DTV plans of PTV stations, there isn’t one-size-fits-all approach to carriage deals, NCTA said. Cable operators were interested in carrying PTV’s high-definition and “other compelling” digital programs but challenge was that many PTV stations weren’t on air yet, Senior Vp-Communications Rob Stoddard said. Cable operators had taken different approach to digital carriage deals with PTV stations, he said. While Time Warner and Insight had opted for nationwide agreement, Comcast had chosen market-by- market approach, he said. Asked whether there was any major hitch that held up agreements, Stoddard said there wasn’t “any one thing that I would identify or point to.” He said he wouldn’t address public broadcasters’ complaints about cable operators’ insisting on carriage of only one station in market beyond saying that “the marketplace will work its will here and cable operators will continue to talk to public broadcasters and there will be a resolution in time.”