[opendtv] Re: CEA White Paper
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 08:07:35 -0700
At 1:43 AM -0700 10/25/05, Tony Neece wrote:
>Your comment, Craig, that the broadcasters are trying to protect their =
>NTSC
>service is overly cynical and plain wrong. Most but the smallest market
>broadcasters have truly embraced digital. In addition to the mandated
>transmitters and antennas, they have upgraded their studio plants with
>millions of dollars worth of digital and HD equipment. They have taken =
>on
>the wrath of whole communities in battles over antenna tower =
>construction to
>try to duplicate their service areas. You can hardly expect =
>broadcasters to
>be very gleeful about it all when 7 years into it the public still has =
>no
>economical way of benefiting from all that.
You are entitled to your opinion.
So am I.
I have been in the trenches in these battles; I have extensive
experience both in the ACATS process and in ATSC committee work, not
to mention the MPEG process and SMPTE standard efforts. I have been
inside the beast and seen the way this whole process has been
manipulated by every side. There have been so many deceptions over
the years, with rigged tests, rigged demos and blatant lies, that the
whole thing would be comical, if not so important to the future of
this nation.
The MOST GLARING evidence that broadcasters have used this process as
a Trojan Horse to protect the NTSC franchise was the almost complete
lack of involvement by the folks who actually control the licenses.
Most never believed that they would actually have to build a digital
facility; and almost all have done the minimum possible to comply
with the FCC mandates.
Very few stations have invested in HD production equipment. Most have
invested in digital, as they would have anyway because of
operational efficiencies. Sorry, but I have little sympathy for the
broadcast industry in this matter. And I have even less respect for
CE manufacturers who were handed this opportunity on a silver
platter, and used it to disadvantage broadcasters, while they used
the core technologies to build DBS into a viable competitor to cable.
This forum has been there every step of the way with participation by
many broadcasters, members of the CEA, and video manufacturers around
the world. I have been behind the curtain too many times, and have
seen too many deceptions to believe that this is just a problem of
lack of support by the CE manufacturers. You are in a small minority
of Americans who even care about OTA broadcast TV - most move on
years ago and will never look back.
The sad truth is that broadcasters have NO INTEREST in using the
spectrum to compete with cable and DBS. DTV has one real strength: it
provides a very good STL to cable head ends.
>
>Broadcasters would like nothing better than to get rid of their NTSC
>equipment and the attendant power costs. How is it fair to blame the
>broadcasters if they have no real audience for their digital =
>transmissions?
You may believe this, but I do not. It is easy to blame them since
they have made NO EFFORT to promote the digital transition, while
they have made every effort to use the process to delay the end of
NTSC broadcasts and to seek even more control over the competitors
they use to deliver their content.
>The average Joe just can't afford it. All the while the retailers have =
>been
>pushing zillions of analog only TVs out the door, pushing cable and
>satellite sign-ups, and downplaying Digital reception. I have had =
>retail
>salesmen tell me there was no such thing as an over the air digital
>receiver, even after the tuner mandate was on the books! Surely you
>wouldn't suspect the evil broadcasters have brought the retailers into =
>their
>NTSC conspiracy! (I'm teasing you with that last line, sorry)
You're getting warm here. Retailers will promote what feathers their
nests. They pushed DBS because they were able to create ongoing
revenue streams by working with the DBS operators to promote an
alternative to cable. Broadcasters have done NOTHING to work with
retailers to promote DTV. Selling ATSC receivers has been a liability
for retailers because of the LACK OF DEMAND and high return rates due
to reception issues.
Keep in mind that you are in a market where reception tend to be good
due to the co-location of transmission facilities on a mountain above
the city. There is little terrain blocking and multipath issues are
not a problem in many areas of LA and the Valley.
Cost of receivers has been an issue, but this is DIRECTLY related to
the level of demand. The one positive of the FCC receiver mandates is
that it has forced manufacturers to build more receivers. But a very
high percentage of consumers have purchased monitors instead.
I do not believe that broadcasters brought retailers or the CEA into
their conspiracy. They just didn't care, and as a result they have
gotten what they asked for - another decade out of a dying service
with all of the attendant perks that come from Retransmission Consent.
Regards
Craig
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