Adelstein Advocates More Analog-Cutoff Tests
FCC commissioner: New York broadcasters plan Oct. 28 soft shutoff.
By Robert Marich -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/26/2008 12:30:00 PM
Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein made an impassioned plea for more tests on the consumer impact of dropping analog-TV broadcasting, including praise for an Oct. 28 test planned in New York, speaking to an Advertising Week session.
“Here in New York City on Oct. 28, they are going to do a soft cutoff, and everybody is participating that can,” said Adelstein, a Democrat on the FCC. He provided no details.
Adelstein lauded ION Media Networks chairman and CEO Brandon Burgess for spearheading a previously announced drive for a series of soft local tests over mid- and late October to prepare for consumer distress for the Feb. 17, 2009, hard cutoff nationally.
“Planning, I think, has been disappointing to say the least” in government, he said. He cited education efforts not highlighting that lower-power TV stations will continue telecasting and said little thought has been given to the dangers of repositioning rooftop antenna in the snow belt, since the national cutoff date is in the middle of winter.
“Nobody’s ultimately responsible for vetting or prioritizing the ideas from both public and private sector into a concrete, comprehensive and coherent plan,” Adelstein asserted. “While our [FCC] staff has been hard at work and despite some recent improvements, our overall DTV effort is not a model of effectiveness.”
One reason why he worries is that he feels that the soft test in Wilmington, N.C., Sept. 8 was misinterpreted as a success. He said projecting Wilmington’s 2,272 consumer calls seeking help in the first week to a national cutoff translates to 2.2 million such calls. “And that’s an optimistic scenario,” he added, because the Wilmington test had more manpower and in-market education than the national cutoff.
“While we can take small comfort in what went smoothly, we should fear what didn’t,” he said. “There is no plan remotely comparable for that kind of outreach nationwide … I think the FCC is continuing to underestimate the task ahead.”
Adelstein was welcomed by Broadcasting & Cable publisher Larry Dunn and Promax/BDA president Jonathan Block-Verk. Promax/BDA and B&C sponsored the session.
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I agree that Congress and the FCC should act now to delay the shutoff
of analog TV signals. This operation has been poorly planned, with
inadequate recognition of the many problems that will result. The
public has not been informed of the many technical problems
associated with the ability of indoor and outdoor antennas to receive
over the air digital signals. What about the millions of people who
happen to live in apartments that do not face toward the broadcasting
towers? Digital signals are far more quirky and unreliable than
analog, whether you are in a city or in a remote area. Imagine the
risks of people going up on their roofs in the middle of winter trying
to put up new antennas or adjusting the old ones? Time to stop all
the "happy talk" and retrench on the misguided conversion.
Joe Keyerleber - 9/29/2008 2:33:00 PM EDT -
Delay 'til summer - of 2011. Aug. 31st, 2011, to be precise, the Canadian date for analog shut-off. No snow to cause DTV-related trauma, and an extra 2-1/2 years to get the industry-government act together.
And pass the legislation NOW, while Congress is still in session for the bailout bill, or risk an unmitigated PR disaster five weeks into the new administration... not to mention the millions of disenfranchised antenna-dependent viewers, especially the elderly and minorities, who won't be ready for the switchover.
And what happens in a driving thunderstorm? Let 'em buy cable... or have analog backup by law, even if it means retaining bandwidth. It's a public safety issue every bit as much as the planned emergency services radio bands.
Adam Smith - 9/26/2008 8:44:00 PM EDT
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