Lott: Multicarriage rights for DTV stations

[Gregg Lengling]

By Bill McConnell
Broadcasting & Cable
10/15/2002 10:55:00 AM
The Senate's top Republican, Minority Leader Trent Lott, said cable companies must carry broadcasters' multiple digital signals.

The Mississippi lawmaker is the highest-ranking member on Capitol Hill to call for digital-carriage rights beyond the one signal long required for analog broadcasts.

Without full carriage rights for local and independent broadcasters, "the constructive and positive programming they offer will be highly diluted as a percentage of total channels available on digital-cable systems," wrote Lott and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, chairman of the Senate GOP policy committee, in a Oct. 11 letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell.

The senators asked Powell for his "thoughts" on multicast carriage and for suggested legislative or regulatory changes needed to ensure that cable companies will be required to carry every station's entire 6-megahertz capacity.

The senators' position mirrors arguments by the National Association of Broadcasters, and it was praised by Religious Voices in Broadcasting, members of which include Christian TV stations.

Previously, House Commerce Committee leaders Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and John Dingell (D-Mich.) authored draft digital-TV legislation that left multicast-cable-carriage rights unaddressed. Tauzin himself, however, has said cable must carry more than one broadcast channel to justify the expense of buying digital TV sets. That idea, however, got mixed reviews from fellow committee members. The cable industry is dead-set against any expansion of broadcasters' carriage rights.
 

[Joseph S]

The cable companies are nuts.

The only reason I got cable again was PBS, HBO and Showime HD plus the possibility of Discovery HD by the time the Sopranos is done. They're milking me for all the analog + digital + Premium HBO/Showtime P&S movies I'll never watch. They're several of us in this country that can't get satellite due to line of site issues and would be more than willing to pay for HD only packages.

[gparris]

Yes,and some of us that are fortunate to have satellite are still unlucky as cable will be the sole delivery device for HDTV locals as satellite is limited in bandwidth. Now hampered with the destruction of the merger, we will thus have even less HD in the sky as bandwidth is duplicated with so-called "competition" for our sat dollars. Even Consumers Union realized it goofed recently by not backing the merger! If TWC knew what it had in front of itself to "kill" satellite: A killer application-for inputing all the HD networks into its system, since it only has to carry the locals that are  truly "local". Satellite subscribers would drop like bugs except for out-of-cable areas. Even DIRECTV knows this that if HD locals and more networks go HD -it is going to lose...
I live in Kenosha and every "expert" I have called says I need a massive monster antenna and even that might be useless to get Milwaukee stations, let alone Chicago's. I will not invest the money when TWC can get off its lazy butt and offer us ALL the digital stations from a box I would buy, if necessary, certainly rent and deliver at a cost as high as any "premium" channel package. We just have 2 HD channels and no one at their office knows anything about ANY LOCALS in (HD or DTV) coming out of their HD boxes anytime soon. UNDERSTAND THIS: if your hatred of analog TWC locals and (not to mention analog channels like SCI FI,etc.) is as great as mine, and TWC finally transmits them all in digital(like my dish does)-or at least then as clearer-with better sound, that dish is going down immediately! Some of us can do a dish, but can't do the monster antennas and/or with success like the many on this forum can. We literally pray for the day TWC realizes what REAL DTV piped into their system can do to boost revenue and subscribers!They can try TIVO like devices(coming soon) and while that is a start, true digital locals and more HD offerings will boost subs and help out those who cannot even use a dish because of line of sight,etc.

[gparris]

 

Originally posted by lummox:
By Bill McConnell
Broadcasting & Cable
10/15/2002 10:55:00 AM
The Senate's top Republican, Minority Leader Trent Lott, said cable companies must carry broadcasters' multiple digital signals.

The Mississippi lawmaker is the highest-ranking member on Capitol Hill to call for digital-carriage rights beyond the one signal long required for analog broadcasts.

Without full carriage rights for local and independent broadcasters, "the constructive and positive programming they offer will be highly diluted as a percentage of total channels available on digital-cable systems," wrote Lott and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, chairman of the Senate GOP policy committee, in a Oct. 11 letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell.

The senators asked Powell for his "thoughts" on multicast carriage and for suggested legislative or regulatory changes needed to ensure that cable companies will be required to carry every station's entire 6-megahertz capacity.

The senators' position mirrors arguments by the National Association of Broadcasters, and it was praised by Religious Voices in Broadcasting, members of which include Christian TV stations.

Previously, House Commerce Committee leaders Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and John Dingell (D-Mich.) authored draft digital-TV legislation that left multicast-cable-carriage rights unaddressed. Tauzin himself, however, has said cable must carry more than one broadcast channel to justify the expense of buying digital TV sets. That idea, however, got mixed reviews from fellow committee members. The cable industry is dead-set against any expansion of broadcasters' carriage rights.
 

Speaking of rights, the FCC is all screwed up: In so-called DMA's (designated marker areas) we cannot get locals from Chicago, only Milwaukee,if Satellite is used, but TWC is allowed for over-the-border Chicago stations on the Kenosha cable system. Sounds like cable can have it anyway it wants to,law or no law.
In addition, if cable demands that satellite systems deliver all the local stations or none-as they recently screamed-and got their way-then all the "local" HD/DTV stations should be piped in,too. The only way HDTV sets will take off isn't so much price anymore, but cable interconnectablity (even with a box added) and HD content delivery.
Cable cannot and will not have it BOTH ways.
Many of us in this forum cannot get digital signals due to the expense or clutter of big DTV antennas - or in my case, just live in an awkward area,even if I did want to deal with the whole mess. Some of us cannot get a dish out the window or roof/balcony due to line-of-sight with even a dish (not my case). So cable licenses are a gift from the government like a station license is and the public should be served. Cable is not a right,but it is regulated and should better serve the populace with more access and if this means ALL the stations transmitting HD or DTV content and the corresponding analog-so be it.
One more thing: with the cable prices going up all the time anyway ( at least annually ), what would be the harm if every sub had a box (like satellite) attached to their TV for digital downconversion,like what will happen after 2006 or so,and all those awful analog channels got dumped to use the space more effectly, like HDTV channels, to free up the system??
Think about it. Isn't this what these government people are all leading up to? Boxes make more sense than building inside the TV as technology changes and boxes are easier to swap up or at least upgrade. I do not tell my customers when I consult to buy a TV with a built-in anything (DVD,VCR,etc.) just because components are better. So why the tuners,FCC (read: digital mandate OTA's).