My Fellow Broadcasters
Our editorial page this week presumed to tell FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski what to say to his NAB audience in Last Vegas next week. But in case he doesn’t, here is the gist of it:
My fellow broadcasters [he is a former USA Broadcasting exec] we can all agree on some key points: broadband is a critical infrastructure challenge and opportunity; it will require rethinking spectrum policy, and everything should be on the table.
But in this new equation, the value of broadcasting is not simply in dollars and cents, but in its over-the-air audience of millions of citizens, many of them the poor, rural, elderly and minority populations whose interests can be, and must be, served by any national plan for our media future.
After all, those are the very viewers we spent over a billion dollars to equip with converter boxes, and delayed the DTV transition to insure they could receive over-the-air TV, a lifeline for emergency information and local news and information.
Broadcast spectrum is beachfront property, but that does not mean broadcasters don’t have the capacity and potential to develop it with our help to meet the new broadband demands of the digital age, while at the same time serving those key populations who rely on over-the-air TV.
There are capable and experienced broadcasters in this audience who can help free up existing spectrum and capitalize on the ability of TV stations to partner with wireless companies to help share the load of broadband traffic.
Broadcasters are not a blot on the white board of a media remake, but a key partner in that effort, which should combine the best of broadcast and broadband technologies to serve, not just the iWant generation, but all Americans.
Paul Elkin commented:
Greg, the "many" that you refer to have elected to receive broadcast stations via DBS, cable, etc., rather than "over the air." The days of the masses erecting antennas to receive broadcast stations are gone, particularly with each succeeding generation. Hence, my original question: is this really an efficient use of spectrum (particularly when stations are increasingly using fiber, etc., to deliver their signals to headends)?
Greg commented:
Paul;
Do your research. The vast majority of DBS and cable head ends rely on over-the-air reception. Therefore most Americans rely on over-the-air reception. Why? Because broadcasting is be the most efficient means to deliver a signal from one to many.
free TV commented:
That 85% you refer to will be without TV after a hurricane, flood, or earthquake. They will quickly figure out how to rig a car battery, portable tv, and rabbit ears. Been there, done that.
Mark Aitken aka MisterDTV commented:
This sounds exactly like my proposal to the FCC contained in comments to the recent NPRM regarding 'Innovation in the Broadcast Television Bands'. It was also presented in a paper delivered at the recent ATSC "Next Generation Broadcast Television" symposium (entitled "Exploring Innovative Opportunities in ATSC Broadcasting"). Broadcast and Broadband are not an either/or proposition. I believe that if ATSC, DVB, 3GPP, IEEE and other Standards Defining Organizations were to come together, we could understand and resolve the conundrum. I am ready to help lead the charge, the question is...are there enough brave souls ready to do the heavy lifting required to get us (collectively) to the finish line?
Paul Elkin commented:
Any serious discussion regarding efficient use of spectrum has to take into account that only 10-15 percent of viewers rely on over-the-air reception of television signals. Is this really efficient use of the spectrum?