Critics slam FCC chairman's low-power TV plan

Value to current over-the-air viewers questioned
By John Dunbar
The Associated Press
updated 2:09 p.m. CT, Tues., Feb. 19, 2008

WASHINGTON - A Federal Communications Commission plan to help owners of rural television stations survive the transition to digital broadcasting is great for station owners, bad for cable companies and of questionable value to viewers, according to critics.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's plan is meant to help thousands of low-power television stations across the U.S. that operate in rural and underserved communities hold on to their viewers during the digital shift.

Owners of these stations have been upset because they say they have been largely left out of government efforts to educate the public about the change.

Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, all full-power television stations in the U.S. will broadcast a digital-only signal. Anyone who gets programming via an antenna and does not have a newer-model digital set will need to buy a box that will "down-convert" the digital signal to analog.

The government will provide two $40 coupons per household that can be used to buy these boxes.

The problem facing the low-power stations is that they are not required to go digital. Use of a converter box may actually block the low-power analog signal, yet digital signals would display normally. The problem was first publicized in an Associated Press story in January.

Martin outlined his plan to help rural stations to reporters earlier this month. In it, he "explicitly encourages" the consumer electronics industry to configure their boxes to allow for analog signals, but that fell short of what low-power stations had sought. In December, the Community Broadcasters Association, which represents the small stations, asked the FCC to declare that boxes that do not "pass through" analog signals violate the federal "All-Channel Receiver Act" and should be banned from sale.

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There's more argument at the link.

The possibly significant point from the article:

Fortunately for viewers of low-power programming, four of the 42 converter boxes that have been approved for sale allow for both analog and digital programming. According to the NTIA, they are: the Philco TB150HH9; the Philco TB100HH9; the ECHOSTAR TR-40 and the Magnavox TB-100MG9.

John