DigiTAG

Web Letter

January 2009

DigiTAG seeks to inform members and non-members about important developments in the digital terrestrial television market. Each month, DigiTAG distributes its web letter with news updates and further exploration of one topic.

To subscribe to the DigiTAG Web Letter, send an email to the DigiTAG Project Office.

Delaying ASO in the United States

"I initially thought the digital transition would turn into a TV version of Y2K, but now it's looking more like Hurricane Katrina," David Waterman, telecommunications professor at Indiana University. (Washington Post, 9 January 2009)

It is looking increasingly likely that the analogue switch-off date in the United States will be delayed. Initially set to take place on 17 February, it is now expected that Congress will approve legislation delaying analogue switch-off for 90 days. This follows a request made by the Obama presidency transition team in a letter sent to leading members of Congress on 8 January, just 41 days before the set analogue switch-off date.

According to the Obama team, the digital transition is facing major difficulties due to insufficient education and support for television households, and lack of subsidies available. The president-elect’s team warns that the consequences will be overwhelmingly borne by ‘vulnerable’ households given that the majority of them rely on terrestrial television reception.

Current problems facing the programme

The call to delay analogue switch-off is not surprising given the recent problems facing the digital switchover programme. The National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) announced in early January that it no longer has sufficient funding to meet the growing demands for its coupon subsidy programme. As part of this programme, viewers can apply for up to two $40 coupons to use towards the purchase of a digital converter boxes within a 90 day period. However, the money for coupons has been allocated and new coupons cannot be issued until existing coupons expire. Currently, the waiting list for coupons has registered over 2 million requests and it is estimated that it will reach 5 million requests by early February.

This lack of available funding coincides with the increased demand for coupons. Increased demand should probably have been anticipated as many viewers were likely to hold off until the last minute to prepare for analogue switch-off. However, the financial crisis has also triggered increased demand as viewers have cut their satellite and cable subscriptions and instead opted for free terrestrial television services. In addition, consumers have backed away from buying digital television sets and instead purchased converter boxes.

The message reaching viewers has also been rather lackluster. According to surveys conducted by the leading consumer advocacy group Consumer Union, although 90% of television households are aware of the transition, 25% mistakenly believe that they must subscribe to cable or satellite after February, and 41% think that every television set in a house must have a new converter box.

The handling of the transition process by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also been put into question. Despite investing $10 million for call centre operations, it admits that they will not be able to handle all of the expected calls and will rely on other members of the broadcast industry for support. Criticism of the call centre has also been put forward by FCC members.

According to analysts at Nielsen, 19 million television households admit that they are not fully prepared for analogue switch-off. In December, 6.8% of television households were completely unprepared while a further 10% of households had one television set that had not yet been converted.

Reaction to the delay

As can be expected, the reaction to the proposed delay has been divided along political party lines with Democrats backing the Obama proposition and Republicans against it.

Within Congress, a group of Republicans has written a letter to President-elect Obama opposing the proposed delay and suggesting that the proposal is a panicky decision based on false information about the readiness of viewers. The Republican-appointed head of the FCC, Kevin Martin, has also opposed the delay, stating that it will create confusion for viewers. Instead, he has called on Congress to enact changes to the switchover programme such as providing more funding.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been preparing legislation to delay the analogue switch-off date and provide an additional $650 million to the coupon programme.

Within the broadcast industry, support for the delay has been given by media companies including News Corp, NBC Universal, CBS and Walt Disney. However, local broadcasters have been more ambivalent. They fear that the delay will increase uncertainty and add new costs including the simulcast of both analogue and digital services, the broadcast of further public service announcements, and manning local call centres. The delay has also been opposed by the Consumer Electronics Association, fearing that such a delay will further confuse consumers.

Among the license holders of the frequencies to be vacated by broadcasters following analogue switch-off, Verizon has opposed the delay while AT&T has stated that it would support a “short extension” of 90 days or less.

Next steps

Despite a surprise vote last Friday against the proposed analogue switch-off date delay, it can be expected that Democrats will muster sufficient votes to pass the legislation when it is again presented this week. Analogue switch-off can be expected to be delayed until 12 June 2009. This will likely provide sufficient time to ensure that all viewers that have requested coupons are able to receive them. However, further funding of the coupon programme may also be necessary.

Education will be essential in ensuring that viewers are prepared. While much of the messaging has informed viewers that they need to purchase a digital converter box, information about the quality of antenna reception will be essential. Because of the change of the frequencies used for broadcasting services from the UHF to the VHF band, many receiving antennas will need to be replaced. However, changing a rooftop antenna in June will be much easier and less dangerous than in the winter month of February.

Viewers will also need to be informed about the digital coverage areas which will differ slightly from the analogue transmission areas. In some cases, the direction in which the receiving antenna points may need to be changed. Information on channel rescanning once analogue switch-off is completed may also be necessary.

In deciding to delay analogue switch-off, Congress must ensure that concrete actions are taken to ensure that viewers are properly prepared rather than just allowing viewers to procrastinate until the new deadline approaches.

Source: Natalie Mouyal, DigiTAG Project Office

About DigiTAG

DigiTAG aims to encourage and facilitate the implementation and introduction of digital terrestrial television services using the Digital Video Broadcasting Project's Standard (DVB-T). It has some 60 members from broadcasting, network operators, regulatory, and manufacturing organisations throughout Europe and beyond.

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DTT NEWS ROUND-UP

For access to the full articles archive, please go to DigiTAG News

Spain - 15 million DTT receivers sold

According to the latest figures published by Impulsa TDT, 14.2 million DTT receivers were sold by the end of November 2008 and a further 800,000 receivers sold during the month of December.

Impulsa TDT estimates that DTT penetration has reached 45.1% of television households.

Since the end of 2008, DTT coverage has reached 90% of the population.

The first phase of analogue switch-off, which will affect 12% of the population, is expected to be completed by 30 June 2009.

Source: Impulsa TDT

Portugal - Launch of DTT services set for April

Portugal Telecom (PT), which will operate the DTT platform, has announced plans to launch services on 29 April. Services will be available to 80% of the population by the end of 2009 and reach full coverage by 2010.

PT holds the license to operate one free-to-air DTT multiplex which will provide the services of RTP1, RTP, SIC and TVI as well as a new broadcaster.

In addition, PT will also operate five additional DTT multiplexes. It has not yet announced the services on these multiplexes.

Source: Rapid TV News

Lithuania - Nearly universal DTT coverage

The broadcast network operator TEO LT has extended the coverage of its pay-DTT service to provide nearly universal coverage with the addition of 6 new transmitter sites.

The pay-DTT service allows subscribers to access 40 television programme services. The service, launched in March 2007, has an estimated 26,000 subscribers.

Source: TEO press release

United Kingdom - Ofcom to auction 'white spaces' in UHF band

Ofcom is inviting candidates to submit applications to participate in spectrum auctions for local television services in the cities of Manchester and Cardiff.

Ofcom is making available one 8 MHz frequency channel in the spectrum used for terrestrial television in each city in the so-called 'white spaces'.

Ofcom expects to make further such frequencies available and has suggested that bidders could put together blocks of this spectrum to offer new digital television services across many parts of the country.

Source: Ofcom website

Israel - DTT launch set for July 2009

The launch of DTT services is set to take place in July 2009 and will offer viewers access to 5 free-to-air television programme services from a single multiplex.

The platform will use the MPEG-4 AVC compression format. DTT receivers must be HD-compatible although no plans for the launch of HD/DTT services have yet been made.

Analogue switch-off is set to be completed by the end of 2010.

Source: Go Digital

France - Canal J to return pay-DTT license

The broadcaster Lagardère has returned its pay-DTT service license to the CSA. It has decided to stop operating its pay children's service Canal J.

This follows from the decision by AB to stop the operation of its pay-DTT service AB1 in October 2008.

Despite the lackluster performance of two pay-DTT services, other services are quite successful.

The Canal+ bouquet of services has announced 600,000 subscribers on the pay-DTT platform.