CEA’s SHAPIRO ACCUSES BROADCASTERS OF NOT PROMOTING HDTV
LAS VEGAS -- Speaking from audience in NAB DTV session here Sun., CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro accused industry of not aggressively pushing the conversion to digital, charging “broadcasters themselves” hadn’t promoted TV to consumers. Two broadcasters on panel rejected the claim. Samuel Matheny of WRAL-TV Raleigh -- on of the first stations to go digital -- said his company might be an exception, but it was promoting the transition heavily. Michael DeClue of Clear Channel said his company was committed to digital transmissions “100% of the time” and it would be “utterly foolish [for broadcasters] to not promote what is going to be our future lifeblood.” Responded Shapiro: “Would you tell that to the NAB?”
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Matheny said WRAL-TV is delivering video-on-demand to viewers and “we see a direct benefit from that.” The station has paid for the cost of doing datacasting “a hundred times over” and now is making money. “The flexibility of business opportunities is there,” he said. DeClue said Clear Channel was finding it “harder and harder than ever” to make money on datacasting. “The critical development we're looking for” is compatible DTV receivers, he said. Pat Griffis of Microsoft said “there’s not much money early on” for broadcasters, with consumers using digital signals in “a happening fashion” by using different technologies. Rick Ducey of SpectraRep said “we're looking at new opportunities” for broadcasters to take advantage of digital. Change “is not easy, but it’s happening,” he said.
Lakish Hatalkar, Procter & Gamble emerging media strategist, said his company was searching for ways to reach “targeted markets” using digital. However, he said there was no “critical mass” of consumers for such targeted markets that he was aware of. Asked to assess the digital opportunities for industry beyond over-the-air broadcasting, panelists generally agreed with DeClue, who said: “I think it’s basically unlimited.”
Attorney Richard Wiley said the panel’s topic was a sign that the transition to DTV was “moving along.” “We're talking about business and revenue opportunities, rather than regulatory issues,” he said. One particular revenue opportunity has raised some questions from members of Congress, he said. While DTV technology has the potential to be used for Internet access, “datacasting” and PC applications, he said, some members are concerned such usage could provide compatibility problems with HDTV since these applications could burden the larger bandwidth needed for HDTV. However, Wiley said he didn’t believe such compatibility concerns were significant. He said members wanted HDTV to be deployed so the public would see the benefits of the technology. He said an FCC decision on how programming-related data should be treated would provide certainty to the market. -- Tack Nail, Terry Lane
NAB Notebook…
The House Commerce Committee is staying out of the fight at the FCC over attempts by the TV networks to get the 35% station ownership cap repealed, over the strong opposition of their affiliates and the NAB, said Kenneth Johnson, chief spokesman for Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.). He said the Committee expected “as a minimum” the Commission would repeal duopoly and cross-ownership rules and that broadcasters still would have mandatory public interest obligations in the digital era. Asked whether digital ever would be the principal transmission message, Sanford Bernstein analyst Thomas Wolzien responded: “The answer is yes, within our lifetime.” Bear Sterns analyst Victor Miller was critical of retailers selling DTV sets despite a lack of knowledge about the product, saying they had “no clue, no clue of the [digital] processes.” As for broadcasters’ opportunities with digital, FCC Chief of Staff Marsha MacBride said “I think they're very good.”