New Rules Speak Volumes
CALM regs require stations, operators to turn down ad sound
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/19/2011 12:01:00 AM
Five Good Reasons To Keep Spectrum
With broadcasters likely to be asked to return
spectrum in the next couple of years, B&C asked
National Association of Broadcasters
president Gordon Smith for five reasons why
some broadcasters might want to retain their real
estate. Here is what Smith said:
Local television is a great business. We’ve cycled out of the worst advertising recession in the history of the business, and there’s positive momentum looking forward to the election and Olympics year of 2012 and beyond.
Local TV stations are community institutions. [They are as much that] as the Town Square, City Hall and Main Street. Many broadcast groups have been passed down from one generation to the next. It’s not just about owning spectrum; there’s a sentimental attachment to being part of this great business, and most broadcasters I know take very seriously their role as stewards of the public airwaves.
Shaping public conversation. For all the talk about the rise of the Internet as today’s dominant medium, it is easy to forget that every day more Americans turn to local television for news than any other source. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 78% of respondents said they get news from their local TV news station—more than from newspapers, the Internet or the radio. When a major event occurs like a presidential inauguration or the death of a national figure—or a tornado rips through a community—viewers turn to their local broadcast channel to learn more, gain comfort and share in a collective experience.”
Exciting New Opportunities. Just because broadcasters are being asked to give back spectrum does not mean broadcasting is not undergoing a radical transformation itself. The DTV transition and the Internet have opened new windows for broadcasters to reach new audiences. Multicast channels can offer niche programming to underserved populations. Over-the-top services are changing the way to reach audiences. HD and 3D programming have the potential to revolutionize the future of video. And mobile DTV can put live, local programming in the palm of someone's hand, a feat few thought possible just a few years ago.
Cord-cutting is very real, and over-the-air TV antenna sales are exploding. It's absolute nonsense that broadcast TV is dying. The fact is that 4 million viewers in the last year abandoned the pay TV platform in favor of broadcast television. If you talk to college age kids, not many are subscribing to pay TV. But I guarantee that those kids are watching plenty of over-the-air news and sports, and they might be supplementing that by watching last night's episode of Modern Family on Netflix.
It's really fun. Sometimes we forget how exciting and rewarding it is to be part of the broadcast business. If you meet someone at a party and tell them you are a broadcaster, I can assure you that people will take notice.
In what other business can you educate, entertain and inform, maybe save a life with emergency weather warnings, and turn a pretty nice profit? What part of free and local broadcasting is there that's not to like?
Local television is a great business. We’ve cycled out of the worst advertising recession in the history of the business, and there’s positive momentum looking forward to the election and Olympics year of 2012 and beyond.
Local TV stations are community institutions. [They are as much that] as the Town Square, City Hall and Main Street. Many broadcast groups have been passed down from one generation to the next. It’s not just about owning spectrum; there’s a sentimental attachment to being part of this great business, and most broadcasters I know take very seriously their role as stewards of the public airwaves.
Shaping public conversation. For all the talk about the rise of the Internet as today’s dominant medium, it is easy to forget that every day more Americans turn to local television for news than any other source. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 78% of respondents said they get news from their local TV news station—more than from newspapers, the Internet or the radio. When a major event occurs like a presidential inauguration or the death of a national figure—or a tornado rips through a community—viewers turn to their local broadcast channel to learn more, gain comfort and share in a collective experience.”
Exciting New Opportunities. Just because broadcasters are being asked to give back spectrum does not mean broadcasting is not undergoing a radical transformation itself. The DTV transition and the Internet have opened new windows for broadcasters to reach new audiences. Multicast channels can offer niche programming to underserved populations. Over-the-top services are changing the way to reach audiences. HD and 3D programming have the potential to revolutionize the future of video. And mobile DTV can put live, local programming in the palm of someone's hand, a feat few thought possible just a few years ago.
Cord-cutting is very real, and over-the-air TV antenna sales are exploding. It's absolute nonsense that broadcast TV is dying. The fact is that 4 million viewers in the last year abandoned the pay TV platform in favor of broadcast television. If you talk to college age kids, not many are subscribing to pay TV. But I guarantee that those kids are watching plenty of over-the-air news and sports, and they might be supplementing that by watching last night's episode of Modern Family on Netflix.
It's really fun. Sometimes we forget how exciting and rewarding it is to be part of the broadcast business. If you meet someone at a party and tell them you are a broadcaster, I can assure you that people will take notice.
In what other business can you educate, entertain and inform, maybe save a life with emergency weather warnings, and turn a pretty nice profit? What part of free and local broadcasting is there that's not to like?
The FCC is requiring TV stations and cable systems to be responsible for the volume of national ads and network promos, as well as local ads. For the latter, they must demonstrate they have equipment to regularize the volume. But the FCC has given two options for compliance with their responsibility for the “embedded” ads passed along by networks and syndicators.
One method is through certifications from folks up the production chain that their ads are in compliance: Certification that the station and operator have no reason to doubt that compliance, and certifi cation that they have working equipment to pass the complying ad along to viewers.
The other option for larger stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) is to conduct annual, 24-hour spot checks of non-certified programming. Stations with more than $14 million in annual receipts and the top four MVPDs with 10 million-plus subs must spot check all non-certifi ed programming.
The 5th through 15th-ranked MVPDs—those with at least 400,000 subs but less than 10 million—must spot check 50% of non-certified programming. Smaller stations and MVPDs are exempt from spot checks.
Getting stations to secure that certification from national programmers is also a way for the FCC to get around the limits of its authority. The commission’s licensing authority gives it regulatory clout over stations and cable operators, but programmers are beyond its reach, so the certification by programmers cannot be mandated. Now it will be up to the locals to make sure their suppliers are in line, or face potential fines.
FCC bureau chief Bill Lake said the agency has received complaints about loud commercials for years, but it was only through digital means that it became feasible to do something about it.
FCC commissioner Robert McDowell could not help having a little fun with the item. He began his statement by shouting: “TODAY WE IMPLEMENT THE CALM ACT!”, then added: “TV commercials, such as those for OxyClean, ShamWow!, HeadOn and the like will never be the same.”
Here are some of the other basics of the FCC’s new rules, as explained by a commission staffer last week. The CALM Act:
1. Mandates the ATSC recommended practice for commercial loudness.
2. FCC enforcement bureau will only contact a station or MVPD after it has received a “pattern” or “trend” of complaints.
3. Annual spot checks for commercial loudness sunset after two years if no noncompliance is found.
4. If a pattern of complaints is received by the FCC, however, a 24-hour spot check of certified and non-certified programming must be conducted, no matter the station/MVPD’s size.
E-mail comments to jeggerton@nbmedia.com and follow him on Twitter: @eggerton
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