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Digital Television Transition Joint Broadcaster/Cable Information Exchange

Digital Television Transition Joint Broadcaster/Cable Information Exchange. May 27, 2008. Agenda. Overview of the transition Information that cable providers need from broadcasters - discussion Information that broadcasters need from cable providers - discussion

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Digital Television Transition Joint Broadcaster/Cable Information Exchange

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  1. Digital Television TransitionJoint Broadcaster/Cable Information Exchange May 27, 2008

  2. Agenda • Overview of the transition • Information that cable providers need from broadcasters - discussion • Information that broadcasters need from cable providers - discussion • Lunch – box lunches provided courtesy of Time-Warner • Breakout meetings

  3. D-Day: February 17th, 2009 • Last day of analog broadcasting – Tuesday, 2/17/09 • Full-power analog transmitters all over the US will go dark for the last time at midnight • Low-power stations and translators can continue to broadcast in analog for the time being • Analog televisions not connected to cable or DBS, or connected to a digital converter box, will lose all reception from full-power stations 266 Days and counting…

  4. How Viewers Get TV • Greenville Market – 74% Cable (Cable World 2001) • Columbia Market – 61% Cable (Cable World 2001) • Charleston Market – 69% Cable (Cable World 2001) • National Average Cable Penetration – 58% (NCTA 2007) • DBS Penetration – Approximately 15% • Over the air – Estimated 15% to 25% of households • Most homes, even with cable or DBS, also have at least one over-the-air TV

  5. The Day After: Cable Carriage • On the 18th, digital “Must Carry” rules take effect for all full-power stations who were entitled to must-carry before • Cable providers will down-convert each local broadcaster’s “primary” program service, convert it to analog and place it on their lower tier (for at least 3 years). • Cable providers will also carry local station’s “primary” service on their digital tier (in HD if transmitted in HD), and hopefully multicast SD services as well. • PTV has agreements with NCTA and other cable associations to carry up to four programming services from one PTV station in each market.

  6. The Day After: Cable Carriage • It is absolutely critical that broadcasters and cable providers exchange information ASAP to ensure a smooth transition • This is not a broadcaster’s concern only…cable operators’ phones will ring as well as broadcasters’ phones on the 18th if we don’t all get it right • Cable engineers and broadcast engineers need to be in close contact now more than ever • This is a good opportunity to form relationships that will be advantageous to both industries for years to come

  7. Suggested Timeline from NCTA • June 15, 2008 – Start internal transition planning and begin contacting broadcasters for coordination and planning. • August 1, 2008 – Coordination with broadcasters completed. Equipment needs and negotiations with vendors begun. • August 30, 2008 – Equipment orders placed. • December 1, 2008 – Equipment installed and tested • January 1, 2009 – Final planning and coordination with broadcasters completed

  8. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (1) • Administrative Information • Station call letters • Community of license • Licensee name • Network affiliation • Station address information • General Manager contact info • Engineering contact info • Chief Engineer (Office and cell) • Transmitter Engineer (Office and cell) • Master Control / Operations • Location of transmitter (coordinates)

  9. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (2) • Transition Plan • Date / time of termination of analog operations • Midnight @ 2/17 or other? • Stations can terminate up to 30 days early with public notification (FCC approval not required) • Stations can terminate after November 16, 2008 with FCC approval and public notification • Any plans for test periods prior to transition date? • Wilmington test – noon on September 8th • Be aware there may be a technical need to reduce or terminate current digital transmissions before the transition date, or that operations may commence early on post-transition digital channel

  10. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (3) • Delivery to Cable Head End • Delivery method after transition date • Off-Air • Transmitter location, ERP, antenna height, antenna pattern • Any changes from current? • Backup transmitter? Location? • Fiber • Does fiber exist currently? If not, when planned? • Type of transport – ASI, SDI, Gig-E, RF, ? • Other… • Microwave, translator, ?

  11. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (4) • Delivery to Cable Head End • Are there any changes planned in the current analog or digital delivery method BEFORE the transition date? • Are there any changes planned in the current digital delivery method AFTER the transition date? • If delivery is off-air, any signal level or antenna pattern changes planned? • Move side mounted digital antennas to top of tower, etc. • Can stay on temporary side-mounted antenna for up to 6 months if 85% of assigned coverage area is served, 3-4 months if not. • Can the digital signal be used for the primary cable feed early? • Newer digital transmitters may be more reliable • May mitigate interference problems

  12. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (5) • Channels • What will final digital channel be? • Staying on current DTV channel (1178 stations – 60%) • Moving back to analog channel (517 stations – 27%) • Moving to a new channel (117 stations – 6%) • Flash-cut (7% - mostly low-power & translators) • If changing from current digital channel, when will that occur? • Stations can stay on an in-core temporary digital channel for up to one year (2/17/2010) • If signal delivery is off-air, how will the signal level and antenna pattern be changed by the channel change?

  13. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (6) • Digital Content and Formats • What will the service lineup be after transition date? • Is it different from current? If so, date of change? • Will the lineup change during the day? How? • Which service will be considered the “Primary”? • What mode – SD or HD? 1080i, 720p, 480i? Aspect Ratio? • If HD, will you provide an SD version for the lower tier? How? • What format for down-conversion? • Letterbox • Center cut • AFD • Multicast services • What mode – SD or HD? 1080i, 720p, 480i? Aspect Ratio?

  14. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (7) • Technical Details • PID’s and/or PSI’s for each service component • Video, primary audio, secondary audio, etc. • Dolby Digital audio • What mode for each service – 2.0 or 5.1? • Dialnorm value for each service • SAP / DVS – how to map • Closed captioning

  15. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (8) • EAS • Does station have the ability to originate local EAS alerts or do all alerts come from a central location? • If needed would station sign a non-interrupt agreement?

  16. What Cable Needs From Broadcasters (9) • Discussion…other ideas…

  17. What Broadcasters Need From Cable (1) • Administrative Information • Name of MSO and corporate contact info for person responsible for transition • Local cable operator contact info • Local engineering contact info

  18. What Broadcasters Need From Cable (2) • Technical Information for Off-Air pickup • Locations of head end and receive sites • Type of antenna and height used for off-air reception • Is antenna dedicated or shared to receive other stations? • Areas served by each head end and receive site • Contact info for each head end and receive site

  19. What Broadcasters Need From Cable (3) • Technical Details • Channel placement – lower tier, digital tier • Can you enable PID-locking on your receiver? • Bandwidth – How is it handled? • Is the bandwidth of HD reduced? • Are the multiplexes from broadcasters mixed in a stat-mux pool or kept independent? • PSIP / EPG • Is the broadcaster’s EPG passed through to the cable EPG? • How are new rules for dynamic EPG to be handled? How often is EPG updated? • Reconstruction of VBI data on analog tier? • Closed captioning • XDS data including “V-Chip”

  20. What Broadcasters Need From Cable (4) • Discussion…other ideas…

  21. Information Resources • Station Transition Details • FCC Form 387 (DTV Transition Status Report) • Required to have been filed by all stations by February 19, 2008 • http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta-sear.htm • Enter call sign and select “Submit Station Search” • BDTRCT indicates commercial stations • BDTRET indicates non-commercial stations • FCC Table of Allotments • Master List of all stations required to make the transition • Appendix B, DTV Table of Allotments Information to FCC 08-72, Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration of the 7th Report and Order and 8th Report and Order, released March 21, 2008. • http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-72A2.xls

  22. Time –Warner Stations WACH – Columbia WHHI – Hilton Head WLTX – Columbia WJWJ - Beaufort WIS – Columbia WCBD - Charleston WOLO – Columbia WCSC - Charleston WRLK – Columbia WTAT - Charleston WZRB – Columbia WITV - Charleston WNXG – Columbia WCIV - Charleston WBTW – Florence WMMP - Charleston WWMB – Florence WRJA - Sumter WJPM – Florence WKTC - Sumter WPDE – Florence WTGS - Hardeeville WFXB – Myrtle Beach WGSI – Murrels Inlet WHMC – Conway WMYT – Rock Hill

  23. Charter Stations WSPA – Spartanburg WRET – Spartanburg WYCW – Asheville WLOS - Asheville WYFF – Greenville WHNS – Greenville WNTV – Greenville WGGS – Greenville WMYA – Anderson WRLK – Columbia WIS – Columbia WOLO – Columbia WLTX – Columbia

  24. Questions / Comments / Discussion

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