Funferal

DTV and the public interest

I received an interesting mail today about digital television that highlights the manner in which digital broadcasters are neglecting the public interest. The release, which I include below, comes from the Media Policy Program of the Campaign Legal Center and is tied to a campaign to pressure congress to ensure regulations on DTV content remain in place and are enforced.

The Media Policy Program of the Campaign Legal Center today released groundbreaking new research detailing how digital television broadcasters are failing to live up to their promises and failing to serve the public interest, despite having received additional spectrum (aka “airwaves”) for free.
The new study, titled Broken Promises: How Digital Broadcasters Are Failing to Serve the Public Interest found that:

• Only 0.3% of digital programming focused on local public affairs – compared with 8.8% for reality shows, 6.9% for paid programming and 2.5% for celebrity news shows (such as Access Hollywood).
• Less than five percent (5%) of programming aired by digital broadcasters is aired in high-definition (HD).
• Ninety eight percent (98%) of HD programming is entertainment-oriented in nature.
• There is little evidence that broadcasters are using their multicasting capabilities to provide enhanced public interest service to the local communities to which they are licensed.

Congress is currently considering digital television (DTV) legislation that will determine the rules for how the transition from analog to digital spectrum will proceed. Now is the time to let House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) and Ranking Member John Dingell (D-MI) know that they should include provisions in the DTV bill to ensure that broadcasters live up to their statutory public interest obligations.
Specifically, urge Chairman Barton and Representative Dingell to include a quantifiable, minimum number of hours of programming on local civic and electoral affairs in their DTV legislation. This minimum number of hours should at least meet the current statutory standards for children’s programming which is three hours per week. The bill should also make clear that broadcasters do not have the right to require cable stations to carry their new digital signals if they don’t commit to these minimum standards.
Visit the better campaigns site today to tell Congress to make sure broadcasters keep their promises!