NCTA Boss Dumps On Martin Class A Plan
House Testimony Argues Against 'New And Uprecedented' Mandate
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 2/12/2008 4:39:00 AM EST
Washington – Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin “has proposed a new and unprecedented must carry mandate for low power television stations, injecting new uncertainty and potential litigation at a critical time in the DTV transition,” National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow plans to tell a House subcommittee on Wednesday.
McSlarrow was reacting to press reports that Martin is looking at rewarding more than 500 Class A stations with so-called full-power status, entitling them to mandatory carriage on local cable systems for the first time. A copy of McSlarrow’s testimony was obtained Tuesday by Multichannel News.
Martin hopes that full-power rights will spur Class A stations to upgrade to digital, which would lessen concern about the small number of digital-to-analog converter boxes approved by the U.S. Commerce Department that can pass through analog signals.
Class A stations and thousands of low-power and translator stations are not required to transition to digital on Feb. 17, 2009 along with full-power stations. These station owners fear their signals won’t be viewable after millions of consumers connect converter boxes to their analog sets.
In his testimony, McSlarrow said cable would resist any attempt by the FCC to flood cable systems with Class A and low-power signals.
“Obligating cable operators to carry upwards of 2,800 LPTV signals – which Congress determined were not entitled to must carry unless they meet specific statutory criteria – imposes an unacceptable, unconstitutional new burden,” McSlarrow said.
McSlarrow noted that forcing Class A and low-power stations onto to cable would do nothing to solve the problem before them: losing access to over-the-air viewers.
“LPTV stations need to launch an information campaign to inform their viewers that they should: (1) request an NTIA voucher for a converter box and (2) make sure that they buy one of the models that pass through the analog signals,” McSlarrow said.
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Class A stations have been trying to get must carry rights for a very long time. In the DMA''s over the largest 150 they have must carry rights, all Chairman Martin is doing is creating a level playing field for those stations in the markets below the top 150 DMA''s. If cable companies would have played fair with these local broadcasters and agreed to carry these signals local cable systems this would not be required. However cable monopolies do not want competition for local ad revenue. That is what this is all about. Cable systems in large DMA''a can find the space to carry hundreds of channels, but have no room for a couple of local Class A stations. This is absurd.
Cable wants to use scare tactics with fraudulent advertising to scare subscribers, and it wants to eliminate competitors from the marketplace, through more scare tactics and bullcrap to Congressional committees. Class A stations deserve must carry and will get it when the new order is published. Cable company litigation and scare tactics will do nothing to stop this. If I was Kyle McSlarrow I would seek legal council for the cable industry because their current ad campaign about digital transition is fraudulent and harms Class A stations, as well as low power stations. The Class A stations may choose to sue all the cable companies for slander and fraudulent advertising.
In addition Cable companies are subject to FCC regulation and are already required to carry Class A stations in some markets, The FCC has every right to upgrade Class A stations to ensure a smooth transition to digital Television. By having Class A stations switch to digital signals quicker it will free up valuable spectrum for first responders, and create a level playing field between all broadcasters and cable companies. The actions of the cable industry in this matter is disgraceful, slanderous and fraudulent.
