Canada has much to learn from the U.S. experience with DTV

This week, the CRTC issued its long-waited proposal to guide the transition to over-the-air digital television in Canada (see story in this issue). The government has been criticized by some for lagging behind the U.S. in releasing a policy. Others point out that the extra time has given Canada time to learn from the American experience.If the battles going on in the U.S. are any indication, Canada has a bumpy road ahead before full-fledged DTV becomes a reality. Must-carry rules and technical compatibility with cable set-top boxes are just a few of the issues that must be resolved on both sides of the border. The issue was highlighted at the recent annual conference of the National Association of Broadcasters. The U.S. may be further ahead of Canada in one respect, but as the NAB’s CEO Edward Fritts pointed out in his keynote speech, there are still obstacles to overcome. Tennessee Williams said, "There is a time for departure even when there is no place to go." Now, we all know where we must go – to digital. The hard part is the logistics of bringing it about. This country faces a choice between two timelines. Either marketplace or governmental. We can follow the marketplace timeline, in which case the transition to digital will be elongated over many, many years. Or, we can follow a government deadline that forces consumers to replace nearly 300-million analog TV sets in just five years. I submit that if we follow the government timeline, there needs to be minimal government intervention to facilitate the needs of consumers. Today, for instance, if a consumer purchases a new digital TV set, takes it home, and plugs into cable, and turns it on, they will learn it doesn’t pick up free, local broadcast channels. How does that benefit consumers? What’s wrong with this picture? We contend there are three obstacles standing in the consumer’s path to digital broadcasting. One, the cable gatekeepers must carry the local broadcast channels offering digital and HDTV programming. Two, TV manufacturers must put DTV tuners in every new set that is made. Consumers want and deserve sets that will receive both analog and digital. Three, the issue of DTV/ Cable interoperability must be resolved. It is not simple, but none of these issues are. Congressman John Dingell has said that the barriers to DTV transition may be "too great to overcome without additional government intervention." He is absolutely right. The transition to digital in this country has been handled about as effectively as California handled the deregulation of energy. We are working to resolve these issues with the consumer electronics association. A sign of our partnership can be found at the DTV Store in the lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center. On display there is a wide variety of DTV receivers available to consumers today. Most importantly, that display sends another important signal — that broadcasters are committed to the DTV transition. On the other side of the aisle, radio faces its own digital challenges but the signs look good for the iBiquity system providing in-band, on channel digital radio. We’re excited about recent announcements from iBiquity denoting steady progress toward adoption of IBOC digital radio. Without a doubt, our biggest victory last year was in scaling back the FCC’s Low-Power FM plan. This was a true victory for spectrum integrity. It was a tough fight. It took the entire year, but NAB, the 50 state associations and hundreds of local broadcasters protected the airwaves from increased interference…. The issues we face are indeed daunting. I call on broadcasters all across the country to redouble their efforts to meet these challenges. What we provide is a free, local service to the community. Broadcasters also provide over $8-billion a year in public service announcements and funds raised for local charities and disaster relief. What we provide is a public good, and that deserves defending.

Canada has much to learn from the U.S. experience with DTV

Broadcast | June 7, 2001

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