Report: Martin would extend HD degradation ban
August 26th, 2007Degradation of local HD broadcasts by cable companies would be prohibited, under a behind-the-scenes proposal from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin reported in Multichannel News.
Cable (and satellite) TV companies that put the squeeze on high-definition quality have aroused the ire of subscribers who have purchased HD packages and costly home-theater equipment. The problem is channel capacity—and systems that don’t have enough of it know that they can squeeze in more channels by skimping on signal quality.
Martin’s plan would apparently strengthen restrictions on HD downconversion that are already on the books. Under existing regulations, cable operators will be required to provide local stations in digital form, without degrading their signals, following the shutdown of analog TV broadcasts on February 17, 2009.
But those rules apply to stations that request space on the cable system under “must-carry” privileges granted to local broadcasters. Stations with sufficient leverage can bypass must-carry and instead negotiate with the cable company under “retransmission consent” rules that allow stations to demand compensation in return for carriage.
The report seems to suggest that the HD degradation ban would be extended to retrans-consent stations. Ted Hearn’s article is an update to the earlier piece he broke about Martin’s plan to require many cable companies to provide must-carry stations in both analog and digital form after completion of the DTV transition. (HD broadcasts are compressed, by necessity, when offered in analog form. Also, HD programs cannot be viewed in their full splendor on standard-definition (SDTV) digital TV sets.)
If the FCC votes in favor of the chairman’s plan, consumers may rejoice. After all, who wants to pay a bundle for cable service, only to get short-changed on HD signals that you could get over the air for free?
The cable industry will undoubtedly be less pleased. Martin may view the prohibition against HD downconversion as offering protection to local broadcasting against potentially anticompetitive behavior by cable companies. Without rules against signal degradation, cable operators might be tempted to downconvert local channels in an attempt to steer viewers to full-HD offerings on cable networks (some of which are corporate cousins to the cable companies).
If the FCC beefs up HD carriage mandates for broadcast stations, however, cable channels may be at a disadvantage. Making local channels available in HD leaves less space for cable networks and their high-def offerings.
• Link: Multichannel News