Who Will Benefit from DTV Transition?

Standard and Poor's Equity Research suggests large media companies may be in the best position to exploit opportunities during the future switch from analog to digital TV. "Local TV broadcasters that are part of media conglomerates such as Disney, Viacom and News Corp.'s Fox, mostly with leading O&O (owned and operated) stations in major U.S. markets, are well-positioned to negotiate adequate in-kind compensation, including further launches of branded cable networks, or increasingly, forced carriage of multiple digital streams," says Tuna Amobi, Standard and Poor's equity analyst for the broadcasting, cable and satellite industries. But Amobi cautions that the $1.5 billion currently budgeted to subsidize digital-to-analog converter boxes may not be enough to ensure an orderly transition. In addition, the Big Tuna says the issue of "multicast must-carry" (whether or not cable operators must carry all of broadcasters digital TV signals) will reemerge this year in Congress perhaps through a separate bill or an appropriations amendment.
http://www.skyreport.com/#Story1
See Also:
* Sony CEO says move to HD will be watershed
Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer said on Thursday he expects the transition to high-definition television and video will be a watershed, surpassing even the move to color TV from black-and-white. He also noted the changing nature of content delivery. Consumers now more than ever control how, when and where they want to view video or listen to music, which, increasingly, is carried about on portable devices such as MP3 players.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-01-05T204345Z_01_ARM573856_RTRUKOC_0_US-ELECTRONICS-SONY-STRINGE...
* FCC interested in emergency wireless network
will study the feasibility of constructing a nationwide interoperable wireless network for emergency workers using some of the spectrum that TV companies will abandon as they transition to digital television. Providing mobile broadband communications, in addition to upgraded communications equipment and training, could offer emergency responders many important capabilities, the FCC said in a recent report to Congress. The report was required under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
http://www.fcw.com/article91846-01-03-06-Web