FCC Commissioners Agree to Give DBS Until 2013 to Carry HD
The FCC commissioners tentatively agreed to give direct broadcast satellite system operators until 2013 (CD March 17 p2) to carry all TV stations in high definition in every market they serve with at least one local signal, said agency officials. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his colleagues all made commitments to vote for a revised order extending the deadline for DirecTV and Dish Network from 2009, the sources said. Three FCC members have agreed so far to vote for a provision that encourages but doesn’t require the DBS companies to offer so-called local into local service in all 210 U.S. markets, the sources said. Broadcasters had sought that provision.
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Martin on Feb. 6 circulated a carry-one, carry-all order with a Feb. 17, 2009, deadline -- the day of the analog cutoff. A public interest statement would be added to the revised order encouraging the DBS providers to carry the signals of all TV stations in every market, the FCC officials said. The officials said the revised order won’t require the FCC to ask DirecTV and Dish to give the regulator information showing why they lack capacity to carry all HD signals sooner than 2013, as NAB had sought. NAB and FCC representatives didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Under a deal among the commissioners, the DBS companies would be required to provide by Feb. 17, 2010, all HD signals of broadcasters in 15 percent of markets where they carry a signal of at least one local station, said agency sources. That figure would double to 30 percent of all markets by Feb. 17, 2011, and to 60 percent a year later, the sources said. DirecTV and Dish would have to carry HDTV in all markets where they carry broadcast signals by satellite no later than Feb. 17, 2013, the officials said. That’s the phased-in proposed Feb. 15 by DirecTV and Dish.
Martin’s first version of the order is being redone by the Media Bureau, an FCC source said. Once the revision is complete and commissioners can read the final order, it’s expected to be approved 5-0, a commission official said. The order may be approved on circulation and not at Wednesday’s meeting, as Martin had envisioned, two commission officials said. But with time short before the meeting, the chances of approval beforehand are declining, they said.
Launch Problems
The commissioners’ agreement comes on the heels of the failed launch of AMC 14 and the postponed launch of DirecTV 11. AMC 14 has been leased by Dish Networks.
The DBS industry believes the situations prove that it’s much tougher for them to offer local HD signals than either cable or telcos using fiber, said sources. “There is nothing that compares to launching a satellite into space,” an industry source said. Another noted that DBS providers really do use “rocket science” to deliver their service.
International Launch Services announced the AMC 14 problem early Saturday. A Russian State Commission is examining the reason for the failure, ILS said. “In parallel with the state commission, ILS will form its own Failure Review Oversight Board,” it said. This is the second Proton launch failure ILS has recently suffered. In September, JCSAT 11 came crashing to Earth about two minutes after launch (CD Sept 7/07 p15).
An anomaly arose during the second burn of the fourth stage of the rocket, SES Americom said. “The satellite is healthy and is operating nominally in a stable orbit under the control of Lockheed Martin,” said Martin Halliwell, president of SES Engineering.
AMC 14 was built by Lockheed Martin for SES Americom. SES Americom leased all the capacity for 10 years to EchoStar Communications, which leased it to Dish Networks.
To move the satellite to geostationary orbit, “station keeping fuel” would need to be used, EchoStar said. This is fuel used to move the satellite to keep it in its correct orbital position. AMC 14 is supposed to orbit at 61.5 degrees west.
“We cannot, at this time, speculate on the impact of the orbit raising activities on both the in-service date and the service life of AMC 14,” said SES Americom President Edward Horowitz.
EchoStar doesn’t have to pay SES Americom until AMC 14 is in commercial operation, EchoStar said. EchoStar “also made significant up front payments with respect to the satellite prior to launch, substantially all of which are covered by insurance we procured,” it said. Revenue from leasing the satellite to Dish Network “would be lost if the satellite cannot be placed into commercial operation,” EchoStar said.
Dish was planning to use the AMC 14 to increase its HD offerings, it said. “The launch anomaly will result in a delay in our roll out of some high definition channels, including some local network channels.”
The AMC 14 launch failure will reduce Dish Network’s ability to compete with DirecTV, said Craig Moffett, senior analyst of cable and satellite broadcasting for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “Given the long lead times involved in contracting for, building, and launching a satellite, however, it could take years for Dish Network to fully recover.”
AMC 14 has 32 Ku-band transponders with antennas designed to operate over two separate orbital arcs, Lockheed Martin said.
Meanwhile, Sea Launch has postponed Monday’s planned launch of DirecTV 11. “Our mission director has stopped the countdown for tomorrow’s launch of DirecTV 11 to study an issue,” a Sea Launch spokeswoman said late Sunday. DirecTV 11 is set to orbit at 99.2 degrees west.