NTIA’s Baker Supports Analog Slate After DTV Switch
The switch to DTV is on the radar of the current and incoming presidential administrations (CD Nov 12 p2), acting NTIA Administrator Meredith Baker said. Speaking to media executives Thursday in Washington, she supported plans floated by lawmakers to let broadcasters use their analog signals to run a fixed image with information on DTV for a brief time after Feb. 17. (See separate report in this issue.) Baker also said at a Media Institute lunch that the Bush administration doesn’t support several cable-related policies pushed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
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“We're working with the [presidential] transition team now to make sure everyone is prepared” for full-power broadcasters’ analog cutoff, Baker told reporters. “This is a high priority for this administration, for the next administration. We all want to make sure it works.” She said she hasn’t been asked by members of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to stay on as head of NTIA between his inauguration and the switch to digital. “We're in discussions with the transition team now, and I'll do whatever they need to make the transition successful.” Baker said she'll be staying in Washington regardless.
The next 88 days will “likely be a race against time” to get as many unprepared TV viewers as possible ready for the transition, Baker told the luncheon. “We face several challenges that will make the difference in getting these households across the finish line.” Among them is ensuring that everyone needing an NTIA digital converter box coupon orders it by year-end, since it will take a week for coupons to be processed and at least that long again for them to be mailed to consumers. Altogether, the agency estimates it will take at least six weeks between the time a coupon is ordered and the time a box is set up, Baker said. “We must accelerate the pace of moving those households to the ‘ready’ column before the new year.”
Another challenge is that some viewers living on the edge of analog signal contours may not be able to get digital programs after the cutoff, Baker said. She cited an earlier estimate from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that this may happen in as many as 15 percent of markets. “This will undoubtedly cause confusion and frustration for consumers,” she added. “I echo Commissioner Rob McDowell’s call for broadcasters to inform viewers about the potential loss of reception due to service contour changes, and I encourage the FCC to do the same.” FCC engineers are working to identify such areas and the agency plans to make the information public, a commission spokesman said.
A commission order letting DTV broadcasters sprinkle smaller antennas throughout their coverage areas to fill in any coverage gaps “is a step forward,” she said. But the order on distributed transmission systems doesn’t require broadcasters to use the technology, she added. “It may be too late for some to construct DTS facilities before Feb. 17.”
It’s a good idea for broadcasters to be able to run an informational slate on their analog signals for a short time after Feb. 17, Baker said, supporting the so-called analog slate envisioned in House and Senate bills. Those slates would allow for a “soft landing” after the transition and “provide continuity in public safety and emergency messaging as necessary,” she added. Martin has said that he too thinks the analog slate is a good idea (CD Oct 17 p4), the FCC spokesman said. But the chairman has said he’s unsure if the agency has authority to allow it, he added.
Baker used the speech to push for media deregulation and oppose possible reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. “In such a robust and diverse media marketplace, government would do best to tread lightly,” she said, calling a 3-2 FCC vote in December to soften cross-ownership rules for daily newspapers and broadcasters a “sound” move. “A reversal of this action, if it was to occur, would be contrary to the public interest,” Baker said. “Likewise, it would be a mistake to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine,” because there’s “little need for government to mandate, and more importantly, to enforce, ‘balance’ on any one outlet.” Localism rules for broadcasters also would be a bad idea, Baker said. Martin supported issuing a rulemaking notice on such rules. Martin hasn’t decided what he'll do on localism between now and Jan. 20, the FCC spokesman said.
Baker seemed to differ with the FCC chairman on cable issues, calling “counter-productive” proposed “mandate” that operators let subscribers pay only for channels they want. She also criticized “the proposed prohibition on the bundling of networks by programmers in licensing agreements with cable operators.” The Bush administration has “made our position clear” (CD Sept 4 p3) on a la carte, Baker told reporters: “We've been against a la carte for a while.” Martin “believes that consumers deserve relief from increasing cable prices,” the FCC spokesman said. “Consumers are facing trying economic circumstances right now.”