Copps: DTV Transition Must Result in More Diverse Programming

The digital television transition is not really over, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps said Saturday. There will be a period of adjustment as we all figure out how to make this new technology work in the real world. At the same time, there may be changes from the transmission side of the equation that will make consumers' lives easier. Chairman Copps said the transition would Copps said it would not be a home run until "one, we solve all the consumer problems that are out there, and number two, very important in my mind, is to make sure that enhanced digital capacity broadcasters have available to them [goes to] good and solid public interest use." He said that beyond the technical fixes, "how is the American public going to be benefited by this." Saying broadcasters have the capacity to broadcast five or six channels, he suggested he wanted to see a multiplicity of cultures and races and ethnic groups represented. "I don't think we have done a particularly outstanding job of covering it in the analog age, but I think here is an opportunity to do it here in the digital age." He said that he recognized there needed to be a business plan, but that he thought coming up with that multicasting plan could be a way for broadcasters to give lie to reports of their decline, saying it could "rejuvenate" broadcasting.