FCC Adopts DTV-Related Items

FCC ADOPTS DTV-RELATED ITEMS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a long-delayed public meeting, the FCC took a number of steps late Wednesday to advance the DTV transition. The commissioners voted unanimously, but not without some dissent and caveat, to adopt the items. No discouraging word was heard on the unanimous decision to require analog TV sets to carry labels letting viewers know they will become useless after February 2009. There was less unanimity on a proposal to define signal degradation and viewability as it pertains to cable's carriage of a broadcaster's TV signal after the transition to digital. The FCC is seeking comment on whether requiring cable to carry TV station signals in both analog and digital formats after the transition is necessary to meet the 1992 Cable Act's requirement that cable must deliver a "viewable" signal of any station opting for mandatory carriage (must-carry). Finally, the FCC took the first steps toward guidelines for its fall auction of analog TV spectrum in the UHF band being reclaimed in the transition to digital. The commission proposes a mix of geographic sizes for the parcels of spectrum being auctioned, and sets build-out requirements on winning bidders. It also put out for comment a proposal by Frontline Wireless to create a public-private interoperable emergency communications network.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6436592.html

* NCTA Scorns FCC TV-Carriage Plan
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow rejected a tentative proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to provide new cable-carriage guarantees to certain local TV stations starting in early 2009. The FCC plan, adopted in a 5-0 vote, would allow digital-TV stations that elect mandatory cable carriage to insist on cable distribution in both analog and digital formats. The so-called dual-carriage requirement wouldn't apply if all subscribers of a cable system have digital-reception equipment. “Federally mandated dual carriage as proposed in today’s notice of proposed rulemaking is a completely unnecessary government intrusion into the marketplace. Worse, it is unconstitutional, as the FCC itself decided twice unanimously in 2001 and 2005,” he said.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6436594.html

-- From the FCC --
* FCC TV Equipment release: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272656A1.doc

* FCC Initiates Third Review of DTV Transition
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272655A1.doc

* Must Carry Proceeding: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272654A1.doc