Digital Signal delay would be costly to local TV

[Skaggs]

Signal shift delay costly

TV stations will lose money if bill passes pushing back digital transition deadline

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Albany Times Union Business writer. First published: Thursday, January 22, 2009

With the nationwide shutdown of analog television signals less than a month away, Congress is considering a bill that would delay the digital transition by as much as six months.

But pushing back the Feb. 17 deadline doesn't sound good to most Capital Region television stations, which have been planning — and paying — for the change for years.

Most stations are operating two transmitters, one for the traditional analog signal and another for the new digital signal. And delaying the analog shutdown would cost the stations between $10,000 and $20,000 a month.

"That's not a small amount of money," said Fred Lass, chief engineer at WRGB Ch. 6, the CBS affiliate in Niskayuna.

Congress mandated the signal shift in 2005, saying viewers would get improved picture and sound quality and additional channels. The change requires that viewers have a digital-ready television, or a converter box for their analog TV.

The shift is an issue only for viewers who receive television via an over-the-air signal. Cable and satellite subscribers will not be affected.

As the deadline draws near, some fear that thousands of viewers are unprepared for the transition, despite a publicity blitz by federal officials and broadcasters.

Adding to concerns is this: A federal program that subsidizes the cost of converter boxes has run out of money.

"It is an outrage that there are analog-only consumers who were unable to obtain coupons," U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, said Wednesday. He is among those pushing for a delay.

But many in the broadcasting community believe the concerns are exaggerated. They point to last week's mostly successful digital transition in Hawaii, which rushed the change to remove analog towers affecting an endangered bird, the Hawaiian dark-rumped petrel.

The broadcasters also say there's little evidence that pushing the deadline back will make viewers better prepared.

"The people who aren't ready now aren't going to be ready in six months," said Sarge Cathrall, engineer at WXXA Ch. 23, the Fox affiliate in Albany.

Many of the stations are already struggling with tight budgets, as advertising revenue declines during the recession. Most Capital Region stations have in the past year resorted to laying off employees.

Robert Altman, president of WMHT Educational Telecommunications Inc. in North Greenbush, said he might support a delay if there was a concrete federal plan to smooth the transition for affected viewers.

But he sees little evidence of that. And his public broadcasting station is paying $15,000 monthly to keep its analog signal operating.

"It's not a crushing amount," Altman said. "But in a year when everything is as tight as can be, it's an expense that none of us anticipated."

Stations conceded their analog transmitters are aged. Many delayed repairs or updates because they knew the equipment would soon be obsolete.

"Most of us believed Congress when they said this is a hard and fast date," said Richard Klein, chief engineer at WNYT Ch. 13, the NBC affiliate in Menands. "And you make equipment purchases and decisions based on that."

That's not to say the stations are unsympathetic to unprepared viewers.

Klein, for example, called the lack of money for the converter program "troubling," and all of the engineers said they have been answering technical questions from concerned viewers for months.

But a delay? They don't see it as necessary.

"It's too late to delay it," said WRGB's Lass. "All of the plans that the stations have would be put in turmoil."

Chris Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at [e-mail].

[ebo]

If Congress changes the date but all of the major broadcasters in the area want to shut down analog on the current schedule, what's to stop them? Don't they already have whatever FCC permissions they need? I can understand that an individual station might not want to abandon the analog OTA market to its competitors, but this article says most if not all of the locals want to stick to the plan. And I expect WNYA hopes WNYT will release channel 13 for them ASAP.

I think that February was a poor choice originally because many stations can't do major tower work then, but they've all had plenty of time to figure out how they're going to handle it. Let's do this.