FCC to move on cable slots for multicasts, report says
May 30th, 2006Channel slots on cable systems for local digital TV multicast channels may get a fresh look from the FCC, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Commission chairman Kevin Martin, in line with his remarks at the broadcasters’ convention last month, may put the multicast must-carry question before the panel again, now that it has a Republican majority.
Digital television allows each local broadcast station to provide up to five or six channels of programming at once if they so choose. (During HDTV broadcasts, which use more of their allocated space in the broadcast spectrum, fewer additional channels are attainable.) Broadcasters have announced several multicasting initiatives in recent months, and regulations requiring cable companies to carry the channels are a key priority for the broadcast lobby.
Making multicasts available via cable would expand stations’ economic potential—at a time when Congressional proposals could threaten stations’ leverage in retransmission-consent agreements and deny broadcasters the ability to protect HD broadcasts from downconversion by cable systems. The “signal degradation” issue is also on Martin’s radar, John Eggerton reports.
Earlier:
• FCC chair would consider multicast carriage
• Digital TV multicasting: More local channels for free
• Link: B&C