Public TV Clinches Digital Carriage Deal on Verizon FiOS TV
Public TV digital programs will get carriage on Verizon’s FiOS network under an agreement announced Fri. The deal is the 2nd of its kind. Last Jan., the Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS) and NCTA made a voluntary carriage pact under which MSOs will carry up to 4 multicast channels of public TV stations. The Verizon deal resembles the NCTA agreement, said APTS Pres. John Lawson.
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Under the multiyear agreement, Verizon will carry up to 3 public stations’ digital signals per market, plus any other noncommercial station’s programming that isn’t redundant. It also includes station multicast channels and PBS and station HDTV programming. As with the NCTA agreement, the Verizon pact doesn’t cover VoD offerings. Verizon’s FiOS network, which passes 3 million homes in Cal., Fla., Md., Mass., N.Y., Va. and Tex., is expected to add 3 million homes this year, Verizon officials said.
PBS has allocated 10 titles, including Nova and The News Hour, for stations to provide as VoD offerings on local cable systems (CD April 4 p9). The national agreement with Verizon doesn’t cover VoD, but an arrangement like one with cable could take shape, letting stations negotiate with Verizon, officials said. The Verizon deal “establishes a carriage regimen,” but there’s nothing in it to bar local stations from negotiating “any number of agreements” with Verizon, said Lawson. The FiOS archive of 2,200 VoD titles is expected to reach 3,500 soon, Verizon Senior Vp-Public Policy Kathryn Brown said.
Verizon also will carry all free digital data broadcast by public TV stations, including public safety warnings and subscription-based educational material. “The guaranteed carriage of public safety warning information was an essential part of the agreement,” because it recognizes public TV’s role in issuing public alerts and warnings, Lawson said. APTS, which has completed 2 successful pilots of a digital emergency alert system with the Dept. of Homeland Security, is poised to roll out the system nationally. Answering a question, Lawson said the Verizon pact announcement had nothing to do with a new FCC must-carry proceeding. Verizon isn’t involved in that proceeding, Brown said.
Digital carriage negotiations with the American Cable Assn. have reached a “mature phase,” Lawson told us. Asked if there’s any major hitch, he said there are no “philosophical” barriers to an agreement. The ACA membership’s “complexity” -- cable systems with widely varying carrying capacity -- has delayed agreement, he added. Public TV is talking to AT&T but isn’t close to a deal, Lawson said. In contrast, he said, the response from DirecTV and EchoStar has been “disappointing.” There’s no “real movement toward any kind of agreement to carry our digital signals.” The DBS providers have rolled out local-into-local HD programming in the top market, he said, and it’s “unfortunate” they're carrying only major commercial network affiliates.