FCC Analog Cut Rules May Deter Many Early DTV Switches
New DTV rules requiring an array of extra steps for many of those switching off analog early probably will deter some ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates from going all-digital early, many broadcast-industry lawyers said. The FCC on Friday required that an affiliate ending analog transmissions before June 12 open a help center and staff call centers if another Big Four affiliate in the market won’t reach 90 percent of analog viewers in the station’s Grade B contour (CD March 16 p4). The conditions are so heavy that many stations may broadcast in both analog and digital until June 12, when all full-power stations must switch to DTV, industry lawyers said.
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Several said the order violates at least the spirit of the DTV Delay Act by denying broadcasters a workable choice to end analog service before June 12 and save money on electric bills to power analog transmitters. The order is “grossly illegal because the statutory construction was strained at best, and Congress said the early transition should follow” rules laid out in the commission’s third periodic review of DTV procedures, lawyer Anne Crump said. “But on the other hand what can anybody do? Because by the time anybody would go to court, it would be too late.”
Republican senators who voted for the DTV Delay Act wanted to ensure broadcasters flexibility, but the commission’s order doesn’t do that, said another lawyer. “They clearly don’t want major network affiliates to transition early. The clients I have, they've just thrown in the towel.”
The regulator counted “from the beginning” on Big Four affiliates to provide more help with the transition, so Friday’s order is consistent with recent commission decisions, an agency spokesman said. Many stations in small and midsize markets that stopped analog service Feb. 17 were able to meet the same public interest requirements that some major network affiliates now will face, he said. “The order itself points out that it is a balance of consumers’ need for time and information with broadcasters’ need for flexibility.” The commission gave industry leeway by, among other steps, letting stations stop analog service any time on June 12, he said.
All stations must tell the FCC of their transition plans by Tuesday evening. That will make for a hectic day as they grapple with whether it’s worth following the “public interest related conditions” to switch off analog early or bear the expense of keeping it going until June 12, industry lawyers said. “It’s going to be a very busy St. Patrick’s Day,” David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, said Friday. Many Big Four affiliates already planned to wait until June 12 because their owners promised the commission they'd wait or because other stations in their market are waiting, broadcast lawyers said.
The order does have some benefits for the industry, they said. It lets digital-only broadcasters that complied with DTV construction permits stop running public service announcements, screen crawls and other information about the transition, eliminating a source of annoyance and confusion for many viewers, lawyers said. One said his clients were “very pleased” about that. The order also reduces the time of the DTV countdown clock to 60 days before a station goes all-digital, from 100 days, another benefit, said broadcast lawyers.
Public TV stations found something to like in the order. It lets them stop analog service March 27 if they show they face financial hardship. “We are pleased the FCC recognizes the singularly harsh impact the economic recession is having on public television stations,” said President Larry Sidman of the Association of Public Television Stations. NAB spokespeople didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.