DTV Transition Update -- Americans Unaware Of Digital TV Switch

* For more info on the transition see "Getting to February 2009: Implementing the Digital TV Transition"
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1257

AMERICANS UNAWARE OF DIGITAL TV SWITCH
[SOURCE: TVPredictions.com, AUTHOR: Phillip Swann]
On February 17, 2009, all TV stations must switch their analog signals to digital. At that time, viewers will be unable to watch television unless they buy a Digital TV; subscribe to a cable or satellite service; or get a converter box that will allow their old analog sets to display the digital signals. But millions of Americans are unaware of the transition according to a survey by the Association of Public Television Stations. The APTS asked people who now receive their TV signals over the air if they know that the nation will switch from analog to digital TV signals on February 17, 2009. Sixty-one percent said they had no idea the transition was taking place while 10 percent said they had limited awareness and another 25 percent said they were somewhat aware or very aware. The APTS says an estimated 21 million homes now get their signals over the air. The group says it will urge Congress to increase funding to educate Americans about the switch.
http://www.tvpredictions.com/aptv020307.htm

* APTS Survey Demonstrates Need for DTV Consumer Outreach
http://www.apts.org/news/DTVSURVEY.cfm
http://www.apts.org/

COURT CASE THREATENS DIGITAL-TV TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy group in Washington D.C., is trying to get the courts to strike down the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 signed by President Bush Feb. 8, 2006. The DRA -- passed without a single Democratic vote in the House -- included provisions governing the analog-TV cutoff. Public Citizen’s argument isn't that the mechanics of the digital-TV transition were unconstitutional. Instead, it claimed that the analog cutoff is unconstitutional because it was included in a law that was enacted unconstitutionally in violation of Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution -- language that requires the House and Senate to pass identical bills, also called the bicameral-passage requirement. “The DRA was presented to the president in violation of that requirement: The Senate passed one version of a bill, the House another, and then the Senate’s version was presented to the president, who signed it. Under the Constitution, that bill has not become a law,” Public Citizen said in an October 2006 court brief. On Feb. 9 when a three judge-panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear arguments on whether the inconsistency should invalidate the law that called for the demise of analog-TV service.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413076.html?display=Breaking+News

VIEWERS MUST CHIP IN FOR DTV CONVERTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
National Telecommunications and Information Association Director John Kneuer, appearing on C-SPAN's The Communicators," said government subsidies will not cover the full costs for digital-to-analog set-top boxes. Viewers of analog-only sets will be required to buy the boxes if they want to watch TV on those sets after Feb. 17, 2009, which will be only 28 days after our next President is sworn in. Assistant Secretary Kneuer said he was limited in what he could say about the rules the NTIA is developing for the set-top box subsidy program, but when asked whether there would be a means test, he suggested there may not be. "You build a record and you look at that record," he said. "In this case we have a fairly broad consensus in the record that while trying to be fiscally responsible and not wanting to fund luxury consumer electronics equipment there is a broad sense that there is very broad cross-section of Americans that are going to be impacted by this and that to the extent possible, they should be eligible." Asked about comments in the trade press that the transition was analogous to Y2K and whether or not there was a plan B, Asst Sec Kneuer said he wasn't going to second-guess Congress adding that NTIA is putting in place a way to track and record the transition "as it takes place" so it can identify problems. He said NTIA will have an opportunity if it identifies transient problems to take corrective action by taking that information to Congress. Kneuer said he would seek corrective changes from Congress if need be, but hasn't had the need to so thus far.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413194.html?display=Breaking...

* Digital TV Chief: Converter Boxes Will Not Be Free
http://www.tvpredictions.com/dtv020307.htm

RELIGIOUS GROUP CONTINUES FIGHT FOR DIGITAL MUST-CARRY RULES
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The head of a Christian broadcasting association has filed fresh comments with the Federal Communications Commission calling for the agency to make cable services carry all multicast TV signals broadcast in the area. "The single most important issue facing all independently owned stations is multicast must-carry/anti-stripping," Bob D'Andrea, President of the Christian Television Network (CTN), wrote to the FCC. "Without multicast must-carry/anti-stripping in digital television, smaller stations will struggle and local viewers may eventually lose access to valuable community oriented programs." Much of D'Andrea's January 16th filing comes from comments he made at the FCC's recent hearing on media ownership issues in Nashville, Tennessee. CTN's president argues that 1) "Anti-stripping" rules -- prohibitions against cable companies cherry picking which signals to carry -- are embedded in the 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. "The anti-stripping concept is merely an extension of existing law," D'Andrea writes. 2) Must carry will create a more level playing field for smaller broadcasters. D'Andrea describes the digital TV future as one dominated by "a few ultra large cable companies" that will "carry all the programming and will dictate to customers what they will watch" unless the FCC acts on this issue. 3) The programming offered by the Religious Voices in Broadcasting (RVB) network represents a positive alternative to the "violent, profane, indecent and pornography programming" that has "inundated cable-only channels." D'Andrea's filing extolls RVB shows targeted to youth, such as Pulse TV, geared towards Christian music videos, and Underground, a program that showcases urban Christian hip-hop artists. 4) The FCC unfairly requires broadcasters to go digital without requiring cable companies to carry all their new signals. D'Andrea estimates the re-engineering cost to Nashville's WHTN, a Christian oriented TV outlet, at 2 million dollars. "Our stations are struggling with the burden of developing digital programming plans in an uncertain regulatory environment," D'Andrea writes, "while simultaneously financing the costs of an unfunded, federally mandated digital build out..."
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/320

CBS: MULTICASTING HURTS HD PICTURE QUALITY
[SOURCE: TVPredictions.com, AUTHOR: Phillip Swann]
A top CBS executive says the network's HDTV picture quality is diminished when a local station decides to add a subchannel to its digital feed. Known as multicasting, many local stations today are broadcasting multiple feeds instead of just one high-def channel via their digital spectrum. The extra feeds, which often include local weather channels, splits the digital transmission into parts, thereby possibly diluting the high-def picture quality. The local stations hope the extra channels will generate more advertising. But Ken Aagaard, CBS Sports' senior vice president of operations and production services, tells the Syracuse Post-Standard that his network's engineers believe any digital subchannel takes away from the HD quality. The issue of HD picture quality is a growing concern in the industry, particularly among high-def owners who often feel cheated by what they see on screen. On Internet message boards, HD enthusiasts often accuse local stations and the cable and satellite operators of purposely squeezing the high-def signal to make room for other channels and services.
http://www.tvpredictions.com/cbs020207.htm

* For more info on the transition see "Getting to February 2009: Implementing the Digital TV Transition"
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1257