FCC Likely to Set Low-Power TV Digital Transition Date
The FCC likely will require low-power broadcasters to switch to all-digital transmissions, Chairman Kevin Martin said. Those broadcasters won’t have to make the DTV transition before full-power broadcasters, on Feb. 17, 2009, he told a press briefing Thursday. Their analog cutoff won’t likely be set until after the stations can start getting $65 million in 2010 set aside by Congress for them to buy and install digital equipment, he said. That means the transition date likely wouldn’t be before 2011 or 2012, he added.
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Most commissioners are concerned that people may be unaware that thousands of such stations won’t switch to digital when full-power broadcasters do, said other FCC officials. Three of 34 DTV converter boxes NTIA certified as eligible to be purchased with $40 coupons it will start sending out later this month can pass through analog signals, said an agency spokesman. The NTIA expects to certify more pass-through boxes, he added. The agency is seeking a “technical correction” from Congress to start disbursing DTV funds to low-power and TV translator stations sooner than 2010, he said. He declined to say when NTIA wants to start giving out the $65 million.
Commissioner Michael Copps publicly voiced concern about lagging awareness of the lack of pass-through boxes at his own press briefing Tuesday (CD Jan 30 p1). “I am concerned about this issue and the impact it is going to have,” Martin said. “I've personally already had several conversations both with some of the retailers and the manufacturers about trying to make sure that we are getting boxes out that have the pass-through capability.”
Martin recently became concerned about the small number of pass-through boxes, and plans to work with NTIA to educate consumers who rely on low-power broadcasts, an FCC official said. The source said he took an interest in the issue after the Community Broadcasters Association, representing low- power broadcasters, asked the commission in December to declare that coupon-eligible converters lacking analog pass-through break agency rules and the All-Channel Receiver Act. A lack of coordination between the NTIA and FCC on the pass-through receiver issue may be to blame for what appears to be a lack of public understanding about the fact that some broadcasters will continue transmitting in analog, said an FCC source.
Other commissioners besides Copps and Martin also are concerned, said two FCC officials. The analog cut-off affects only about 20 percent of U.S. TV stations because the FCC has not set a date for low-power and Class A broadcasters to convert to digital, the group said. The CEA has said electronics retailers and the government will educate consumers about pass-through boxes and said the FCC should consider setting an analog cutoff date for low-power stations.
Martin said he wants to do just that. “The commission needs to make sure that we're doing things to educate people more broadly about the DTV transition and that would include any issues related to low-power television,” he said. “But I'm still focused on what we can do to resolve the problem of low-power television rather than just educating people that there is an additional problem.”
Thursday, NAB’s TV board agreed on several steps the group said will address the issue of low-power and translator TV stations not making the transition. The board directed NAB President David Rehr to send a letter to converter box manufacturers “urging them to incorporate analog pass through capacity,” said the group. Directors asked NAB to identify areas where “large numbers of viewers could continue to receive analog signals from low power and TV translators after the DTV transition” and to urge all TV stations to educate viewers about low-power stations.
FCC rules don’t preclude such broadcasters from going all digital, they just don’t require them to, said Martin. “What we didn’t do is require them all to make that investment, so we are trying to provide them extra latitude, Congress was, in saying that they would give them additional time to make that transition,” he added. “I think the commission will end up having to set a time frame requiring them to make that transition as well.”