FCC Initiates Second Review of DTV Transition.

[Gregg Lengling]

News Release:

hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_p...0562A1.doc [MSWord File]
hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_p...0562A1.pdf [Acrobat PDF File]

Notice of Proposed Rule Making:

hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_p...03-8A1.doc [MSWord File]
hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_p...03-8A1.pdf [Acrobat PDF File]

Todd Shields

JANUARY 27, 2003 -

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday launched a review of progress in the transition to digital TV and used the occasion to revive a long-dormant debate on broadcasters' public-interest obligations.

The agency said it wants answers to public-interest questions it last formally posed in 2000, even as it gathers viewpoints on a host of technical issues that need to be resolved during the transition from traditional analog service.

Democratic Commissioner Michael J. Copps said the public-interest rules "cry out for discussion." Questions that need to be resolved, Copps said in a statement, include whether a broadcaster can discharge public-service programming obligations using just one of several broadcasting streams it will have available within its digital channel.

As for the transition from analog service, the FCC said 807 TV stations currently are broadcasting digitally. Most Americans have available one over-the-air digital signal, and many have several such signals available, the FCC said.

Most TV stations missed a spring 2002 deadline to begin digital broadcasting. The federal government wants the transition to digital to be complete by the end of 2006, but substantial questions remain about whether consumers will have purchased new equipment by then, and whether the industry will be prepared.

In the document it released Monday, the FCC posed more than 100 questions on how it should hasten the transition, with topics including cable and satellite carriage of digital signals, signal transmission technologies, how stations choose channels and protection from interference.

"What factors currently present the greatest obstacles to the transition?" the agency asked. "What steps should the commission take to address these obstacles?"

It said comments are due April 14, with replies to those comments due May 14.