Cable Ops Agree To Short Digital Migration Freeze

In a letter to Congress Tuesday, National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow announced an industry plan to stop moving nearly all channels from analog to digital tiers during the first two months of 2009 to minimize potential consumer confusion about the federally mandated shut off of over-the-air analog TV signals on Feb. 17, 2009. Under the NCTA plan, cable operators that still have an analog tier in service plan to offer a low-cost basic tier as a one-year promotion, probably something akin to Comcast's $10 a month basic tier offer to new subscribers for one year. Consumers need to sign up for NCTA's low-cost plan from Dec. 31, 2008 to June 30, 2009. NCTA's plan also addressed analog-only consumers who are upset about renting a digital box to see migrated channels. NCTA's cable operator members intend to offer subscribers one free device (set-top box or adapter) to view analog channels that have been moved to digital. The device is free for one year for analog-only consumers who request one from March 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009. The channel migration freeze will begin on Dec. 31. Exceptions to the freeze include cable operators that need to free up channels to comply with FCC rules that require carriage of some local TV stations in analog and digital after Feb. 17.