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Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters (PIAC)

President's Advisory Committee on
Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters

Introduction | Members | Recent Activity | How to Participate | Related Websites In Executive Order No. 13038, President Clinton established the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters (PIAC). The Committee will study and recommend what public interest responsibilities should accompany digital television licenses. These decisions need national attention and should include the input of broadcasters, government leaders, public interest groups, and the American public. We need to define what "in the public interest" means in the digital age -- and where it can take us.

On April 3, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that will forever change free, over-the-air broadcast television, a service available in nearly every home in the nation. The aim of the transition is to create a new broadcast system providing broadcasters with additional revenue streams so that they can remain competitive with cable and satellite video services. Broadcastersâ new revenue streams will presumably support free, over-the-air programming into the next century. But the transition will come with costs. Broadcast stations will have to spend millions to buy digital transmission equipment. And consumers must choose between new, expensive digital TV sets or converter boxes to be able to pick up the new signals. Initially, digital TV sets will retail at near $5,000. And there's bound to be some confusion as the consumer electronics and computer industries vie to become the dominate entertainment and information device in American living rooms.

The new FCC rules do not answer the central question: How will digital television serve the public interest? At stake in this debate is how television, arguably the most powerful medium of the 20th Century, can contribute to the 21st Century.

Recent Committee Activity

The final report of the Advisory Committee and additional materials are available on the PIAC Legacy Project homepage.

Eighth Meeting Brief Summary of November 9 Meeting

Seventh Meeting Wednesday, September 9, 1998 in Washington, DC Meeting Summary

Sixth Meeting Monday, June 8, 1998 in Minneapolis, MN Meeting Summary Transcript Available Morning Session Afternoon Session Hear it on the Web

Fifth Meeting April 14, 1998 in Washington, DC Summary of Meeting Transcript of Meeting: Morning and Afternoon Sessions RealAudio Archive Research Submitted Broadcasters Bringing Community Service Home: A National Report on the Broadcast Industry's Community Service, submitted by the National Association of Broadcasters (Adobe Acrobat file, 646Kb) NAB Survey of Public Affairs Activities -- Interview Schedule for National Report, August 1997, submitted by the National Association of Broadcasters What's Local About Local Broadcasting?, a joint report of the Media Access Project and Benton Foundation submitted by Charles Benton, Chairman of the Benton Foundation. Proposals Submitted "Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters: An Examination of Possible Regulatory Models," submitted by Robert Decherd, CEO, Chairman of the Board and President of A.H. Belo Corporation "A Proposal for Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters" submitted by Gigi Sohn, Executive Director of the Media Access Project Section I(D)(2) regarding accessibility issues to be amended to "A Proposal for Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters," submitted by Karen Peltz Strauss, Legal Counsel for Telecommunications Policy of the National Association of the Deaf

Fourth Meeting Summary of Meeting Monday March 2, 1998 at
Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California Full Transcript of Morning and Afternoon Sessions Hear it on the Web

Third Meeting Friday, January 16, 1998 in Washington, DC Summary of Meeting Full Transcript of Meeting (~250 pages)

Second Meeting Summary of Meeting President appoints Jose Luis Ruiz to Committee Notice of December 5th Meeting (Press release)

First Meeting Summary of October 22-23 Meeting (10/22/97) Meeting Minutes Full transcript in two files: October 22 and October 23 Documents distributed at the meeting NTIA's Public Interest Primer NTIA's The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Digital Television Erwin Krasnow's The Public Interest Standard: The Elusive Search for the Holy Grail

Set-Up Members of the Committee Amendment to Executive Order (10/22/97) Public Notice of First Meeting of President's Committee
The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 22, 1997 from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., and on Thursday, October 23, 1997 from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. (10/7/97) President Names Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee (6/30/97) President's Radio Address (6/28/97) Executive Order Creates Public Interest Obligation Panel (3/11/97)

How to Participate

To automatically receive future announcements via e-mail, you can subscribe to the PIAC-Info mailing list operated by the NTIA. To do so, send join piac-info

in the message. You will receive a confirmation message, as well as additional instructions on using the mailing list.

Or join one of the Benton Foundation's communications policy mailing lists for updates and summaries of the PIAC meetings.

Committee's Offical Web Page
(Operated by NTIA) Committee information, meeting minutes, and documents produced by the Committee are available by calling 202-501-6195, or by written request to:

Karen Edwards
Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters
NTIA - Room 4716
Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20230

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Last updated: 10 November 1998 kjt