[opendtv] News: Ferree Fall? Beltway Pundits See Slow Road Ahead for DTV Plan
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 08:36:54 -0500
Ferree Fall? Beltway Pundits See Slow Road Ahead for DTV Plan
December 3, 2004 12:00am
Source: Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.
CableFAX Daily: The so-called Ferree Plan for the digital TV
transition appears to have stalled in recent weeks. That was the
consensus Wed at a Media Institute panel that discussed the
regulatory outlook for media-always a favorite DC parlor game. "I get
a sense that the momentum the plan had gathered in different parts of
Washington has slowed down," said Stanford Financial Group's Paul
Gallant. "I think there is a greater chance now than 18 months ago
that [the transition] is something Congress will deal with." DTV is
not expected to be on the Commission's Dec 15 agenda, which will be
released next week. One of the Ferree plan's more controversial
aspects continues to be a multicast must carry requirement, with a
federal court recently requiring (per a Paxson request) that the FCC
explain in 30 days why it hasn't ruled on the issue.
"The court making them respond puts [the Commission] on the spot,"
said Legg Mason's David Kaut. He expects the FCC's response to focus
on the nebulous nature of the matter, noting that the House and
Senate have passed different versions of legislation that would
impact the transition and multicasting. Most of the panel's analysts
discounted House Commerce chmn Joe Barton's wish to have the DTV
transition come to an end in '06, saying the '09 timeframe set forth
in the Ferree Plan is still the most likely scenario. Although there
is a "real wild card," warned Kaut. "If we have another terrorist
attack ... [Congress] is going to want that spectrum quickly, at
least the public safety spectrum."
The White House seems keen on moving the DTV transition along and
getting back that valuable analog spectrum. On Tues, Pres Bush
introduced a spectrum policy initiative that recommends the formation
of a Spectrum Management Advisory Committee that would increase
private sector input into spectrum policy issues.
Horizontal Ownership: When it comes to cable horizontal ownership
rules, the FCC would probably like to put a 35-40% cap in place, but
the problem is that it doesn't have the record there for such a rule
to withstand legal scrutiny, Gallant suggested. The horizontal rules,
struck down by a federal court 3 years ago, limited a cable company
to 30% of all pay TV subs. It's possible that the FCC may set a
35-40% soft cap that would make any company who wanted to increase
its size beyond the cap to really have to show why it would be in the
public interest, Gallant said.
Telecom Rewrite: Several analysts predicted that any revamp of the
'96 Telecom Act wouldn't be ready until '06 or '07. "The more they
try to include beyond telecom, the harder it will be to get it done,"
Gallant said. And perhaps they're won't be too many sweeping changes
for the Bells. "They [the Bells] are getting a lot broadband
deregulation through at the FCC," Kaut said. "That takes away some of
the urgency on the Hill, although they obviously want to level the
playing field with cable."
[Copyright 2004 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]
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