DATACASTING PLANS RAISE GOVT. CONCERNS ABOUT HDTV
04/06/2000
COMMUNICATIONS DAILY
(c) Copyright 2000 Warren Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Proliferation of groups planning to use TV spectrum for datacasting is causing some concern in Washington over whether true HDTV broadcasting will be compromised. Capitol Hill is "absolutely" concerned about issue, House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) told us, because Congress authorized 2nd 6 MHz channel for broadcasters on condition that "consumers would get to see some true HDTV and make a decision." Failure to provide HDTV "would violate the spirit of that unwritten agreement," he said.
Congress has become "very petulant at the prospect that they wouldn't see a lot of HDTV," Media Access Project Chmn. Andrew Schwartzman said, referring to heat faced by ABC's Preston Padden. He predicted that carrying data instead of HDTV would prompt some legislators to "act as if they were misled" by broadcasters, although he said they "shouldn't be surprised... Policymakers expecting to see more HDTV were just wrong."
Broadcasters would be "making a mistake and walking into a minefield" if datacasting fully replaced HDTV, Tauzin said. He said legislators already are facing much criticism for giving broadcasters additional channels: "If they're not going to use it for HDTV, it will be hard to explain." Govt. could have given broadcasters much smaller channels for standard-definition digital TV, Tauzin said. He noted that Hill "did not say how much, when or with what standard" broadcasters must carry HDTV: "We never intended to micromanage this, but they have got to do it." Tauzin said if broadcasters can provide "good quality" HDTV with less than 6 MHz, and use rest for datacasting, "then so be it."
FCC appeared to be less concerned about issue. Commission rules require only that broadcasters provide one standard-definition digital video stream on their 6 MHz channels, which can be done with as little as 4-5 Mbps of 19.3 Mbps that DTV channels can carry. Stations can "do whatever else they want" with remaining bits, said one FCC official involved in issue: "We fully expect that that would be mostly television, but not necessarily. They ought to be able to experiment, not just re-create the 50-year-old business model" of TV.
"I think there are looming concerns," said one broadcast official who has been heavily involved in HDTV. He said some of new datacasting groupings are requiring that member stations commit 3-7 Mbps of their data stream to consortium, and that's enough to preclude at least some types of HDTV. Stations that do that, he said, may be "selling off the seed corn" and opening themselves to govt. criticism or stronger action.
One of key issues is just what is true HDTV. Even 1080i HDTV allows some spectrum to be available for datacasting, and 720p, which some viewers prefer, allows even more. In addition, HDTV that originates from film can be transmitted in as little as 8-12 Mbps, leaving large chunks of spectrum available for datacasting. Even in highest-definition HDTV, significantly larger data streams are possible when video being transmitted has little motion.
"The only real problem would be with live, fast-action sports," FCC official said of datacasting groups' requirements for spectrum. "This would not preclude HDTV, maybe only put constraints on some of its flavors." He also downplayed importance of HDTV itself, saying no one but video engineers can tell difference between 1080i and 480p on consumer-size DTV sets.
Concerns about datacasting groups are being pressed by networks, one official suggested. He said networks are concerned that their affiliates are bypassing them in making their datacasting plans, "taking control of their own broadcast time." Several networks have asked affiliates to delay datacasting decisions pending announcement of network plans (CD April 5 p6).
Several datacasting groups are planning to begin their trials this year, and hundreds of TV stations already have signed up. Geocast, for example, has convinced stations to commit to making 4 Mbps of data capacity available for next 4 years, and has partnered with Thomson to build set-top box to receive data and feed it to PC. Other services, some of which are said to be requiring up to 7 Mbps, are planned by Bcstrs. Digital Coop, led by Granite Bcstg., iBlast, Data Management Inc. Several companies, including DiviCom, Dotcast and Wavepress, are planning to offer datacasting equipment.
Key question, some analysts believe, is demand for broadcast datacasting. Some believe there's little demand for one-way broadcast data service and broadcasters will have difficulty installing set-top receivers that are needed. Much of revenue from datacasting will be profit, since little modification of station is needed, but they predicted revenue itself would be so small as to be almost unnoticeable. One possibility, some officials believe, will be for broadcasters to buy spectrum at auction for return links, or even to use telephone return links. -- Michael Feazel |
