GAO pushes digital TV deadline

[Gregg Lengling]

Study: Regulators should mandate dropping analog

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 12/2/2002

ith the US television industry making only sluggish progress in converting to digital formats including high-definition TV, a General Accounting Office study being released today suggests that federal regulators should mandate a deadline for cable operators to begin carrying digital channels instead of over-the-air analog channels.


The study, commissioned by US Representative Edward J. Markey of Malden, the ranking Democrat on the House telecommunications subcommittee, also urges the Federal Communications Commission to consider a deadline for requiring television set makers to include components enabling cable and satellite TV subscribers to get digital channels directly.

Five years ago, Congress directed the FCC to set a 2006 deadline for the nation's television broadcasters to shift from analog signals to digital formats that can deliver sharper pictures and CD-quality sound. The move would also free up thousands of analog TV frequencies for reuse by wireless telecommunications providers and public safety agencies.

However, most officials doubt the 2006 deadline will be met because stations would not be required to shut off their analog signals until 85 percent of viewers in their markets own digital-ready television sets. Fewer than 1 percent of the 28 million sets sold in the United States last year included a digital TV tuner, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

In August, the FCC ordered that, by July 2007, all new TVs sold in the United States that have 13-inch or larger screens must have a digital tuner. The electronics association, however, has argued that this mandate could add $250 or more to the price of TV sets, although other industry groups say that added cost could eventually drop to under $20 as mass-production efficiencies develop.

But the new study by the GAO, an arm of Congress, says a major unresolved issue is how to make digital signals more available for the roughly 80 percent of US homes that get TV from cable or satellite.

Instead of requiring cable and satellite subscribers to use an over-the-air tuner to get digital signals, the GAO study said the FCC should consider requiring sales of TV sets that can get a digital signal directly from a cable line without requiring a set-top box, similar to today's cable-ready analog sets.

''Mandating digital cable-ready capability could be an effective policy for speeding the [digital TV] transition if the marginal cost of doing so were found to be reasonable and if the outstanding interoperability issues could be settled,'' the study said.

Also, given that cable operators are resistant to carrying two versions of each broadcast station - the over-the-air analog channel and the digital version - having the FCC pick a date, probably late this decade, for replacing analog signals with digital on cable systems would speed the transition, the study says.

About 620 US television stations, including all the major stations in Greater Boston, have begun transmitting some digital content, according to the National Association of Broadcasters. About five of eight US households are in areas where broadcasters are transmitting at least five digital channels, although broadcasters say they have little incentive to pour money into more digital broadcasts because so few viewers own sets that can bring them in.

Markey said the GAO study ''underscores the fact that the digital television transition is woefully behind schedule, and highlights the need for action by the FCC to force progress by industry participants in several key areas.''

''DTV still has incredible potential for being a driver of economic growth, innovation, and job creation, but only if the government provides the leadership required'' to overcome ''digital dawdling by many industry participants,'' Markey said.

He said FCC deadlines for cable systems to carry digital channels and for TV set manufacturers to produce digital cable-ready sets could be ''especially effective'' in speeding the transition.

The National Cable Television Association, representing companies such as Comcast, AT&T Broadband, and Time Warner Cable, argues that digital TV conversion is happening ''at a reasonable pace'' compared to the adoption of other new technologies.

''Congress and the FCC should continue to work with industry to ensure that the transition proceeds at a reasonable pace but should reject government-imposed solutions,'' the association said in a recent policy paper.

While the industry-backed Cable Labs has developed technology standards for digital cable-ready sets, the CEA and NCTA have been wrangling over details for nearly three years, with TV set makers reluctant to commit to making them until cable companies reach a nationwide standard.

The cable group also says that, despite all the focus on TV set technology, ''compelling digital content is the driving force in this transition. Broadcasters promised Congress they would create high-definition programming for consumers in exchange for $70 billion worth of free spectrum, yet few have fulfilled this commitment. Right now, HBO offers more high-definition programming in any given week than all of the broadcast networks combined.''