Mister DTV in the News!

[Gregg Lengling]

Our own Mister DTV (Mark Aitken, director of Advanced Technology for Sinclair) hit the latest issue of DigitalTV Television Broadcast Magazine.  Here's a clip of part of the article.

"By Deborah D. McAdams of DigitalTV"

Bottom Line:  DTV signals will not generate revenue in 2003, but neither will the FCC go away.

Capital investment will take two forms in 2003-compliance and streamlining.
   
Digital deadlines caused a flush of compliance spending in 2002, a good portion of it on low-power transmitters.  About half of the 600 or so stations on the air with a digital signal are using low-power transmitters, according to NAB extimates.  Just how long stations will be allowed to use low-power DTV transmitters is currently under review at the FCC.

"The reason [the] FCC gave us [the] opportunity to go low power is that there are so few DTV-compatible sets that have been sold, and because of enormous utility costs inherent in running analog and digital side by side," said Dennis Wharton, NAB senior vice president of Communications.  Barring a miracle, those conditions aren't likely to change radically in 2003, and all stations that bought low-power transmitters this year aren't likely to dump them next year, as long as they meet regulatory requirements.

"We spend roughly $3 million to install low-power transmission facilities in markets not yet on the air to meet the letter of the law," said Mark Aitken, director of Advanced Technology for Sinclair.  "We will do a high-power porduct, but those markets will go to the end of the line."  Sinclair chalked up around $65 million in captial spending in 2002, with similar spending levels projected for 2003.  A majority of 2003 dollars are earmarked for Sinclair's new centralized digital news infrastructure, designed to cut local news costs in half.

"The whole point of centralcasting is to be able to use the technology wisely based upon workflow requirements to create efficiencies," Aitken said.  "Nonlinear editing is nothing new, but the price-point has reached greater efficiency than walking tape around."

Efficiency will drive digital production in 2003, one manufacturing insided predicts.  "Because certain areas are flat, networks can't increase cash flow, so they look at making production more efficient," he said.

Shooting in digital HD tape costs around $1.27 a minute, as opposed to $49.48 per minute for 35mm film.  "We can't get cameras ou the door fast enough,"  continued the manufacturer.

(end of excerpt)