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Home , Belo, KENS, KHOU, KVUE, Northwest Cable News, WFAA

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION , D.C. 20554

In the Matter of ) ) Spectrum for Broadband ) GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-137 ) A National Broadband Plan for Our Future ) GN Docket No. 09-51

COMMENTS—NBP PUBLIC NOTICE #26 CORP.

Guy H. Kerr Executive Vice President/Law and Government Russell F. Coleman Senior Vice President/General Counsel BELO CORP. 400 South Record Street , 75202 (214) 977-6606

December 21, 2009

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QUESTION C WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FREE, OVER-THE- AIR IN PARTICULAR WITH RESPECT TO PUBLIC AWARENESS OF EMERGENCY INFORMATION, LOCAL NEWS, POLITICAL DISCOURSE, AND EDUCATION?...... 2 QUESTION A4/A5: HOW DO TELEVISION BROADCASTERS USE THE CAPABILITIES OF TODAY? HOW DO BROADCASTERS PLAN TO USE LICENSED SPECTRUM IN THE FUTURE? ...... 8

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Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of ) ) Spectrum for Broadband ) GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-137 ) A National Broadband Plan for Our Future ) GN Docket No. 09-51

COMMENTS—NBP PUBLIC NOTICE #26 BELO CORP.

Introduction and Summary

Belo Corp. (“Belo” or “the Company”) hereby submits its Comments in response to the FCC’s Public Notice released on December 2, 2009 in the above-referenced proceedings seeking data on the use of spectrum currently licensed to broadcast television stations.1 Belo appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the critically important questions under consideration in this proceeding about the ways in which television broadcasters serve the public interest as well as their current use of, and future plans for, their licensed spectrum. As described herein, Belo’s television stations have a long history of journalistic excellence and provide crucial services to their home communities every day in the form of free local news, sports, and weather reports, up-to-the-minute emergency information, extensive coverage of local elections and politics, and

1 Belo is one of the nation’s largest pure-play, publicly-traded television companies. It owns and operates 20 television stations, reaching more than 14 percent of U.S. television households in 15 markets. Belo stations consistently deliver distinguished journalism for which they have received significant industry recognition including nine Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton Awards; nine George Foster ; and 19 national Edward R. Murrow Awards, all since 2000, and in each case more than any other commercial station group in the nation. Additionally, the Company has created regional cable news channels in Texas and the Northwest increasing its impact in those regions.

community awareness that otherwise would not be available to millions of consumers.

Like many other broadcasters across the country in this early stage following the national transition to digital television, Belo already is putting its digital capacity to use in a variety of ways that further these important objectives, and the Company is developing additional innovative uses for this spectrum. In examining the record in this proceeding,

Belo urges the FCC to consider the extensive public interest benefits that television broadcasters have provided for more than half a century, the enormous investment that broadcasters and consumers have made to upgrade to digital service, and the real potential that broadcasters have to further improve their program offerings and public service in the digital era.

Question C: What are the benefits of free, over-the-air television broadcasting in particular with respect to public awareness of emergency information, local news, political discourse, and education?

Throughout the transition to digital television and thereafter, the Commission repeatedly has recognized the vital importance of broadcast television. As the agency stated at the outset of the digital transition:

As the next generation of television—digital television— moves from the drawing board into American homes, we reaffirm . . . our intention to preserve and promote universal, free, over-the-air television. Broadcast television has become an important part of the fabric of our society by making available to every American a vast array of programming, including news, public affairs, educational, and entertainment programming.2

Now that broadcasters and the public have successfully made the transition to digital service, the Commission continues to recognize the unique public interest benefits

2 Advanced Television Systems and Their Impact Upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service, Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Third Notice of Inquiry, 10 FCC Rcd 10540, 10543, ¶ 22 (1995).

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provided by over-the-air broadcasting. FCC Chairman Genachowski recently remarked,

for example, that “broadcast television remains a unique medium, the exclusive source of

video programming relied upon by millions of households, and a very significant source

for millions of others.”3 In testifying before Congress in September, Commissioner

Michael Copps similarly stated that “[w]e rely on our broadcast media for so much of the

news we must have, for emergency and public safety information, for public affairs

programming essential to our civic dialogue, and for programming that supports the

health and welfare of our children and reflects the social and cultural diversity that

comprises the great tapestry that is America.”4

Broadcasting since the 1950s, Belo takes great pride in serving its local

communities in ways that fulfill each of these fundamental objectives. As Belo has

demonstrated to the Commission on many occasions, locally-oriented journalism and

community service are at the core of Belo’s business.5 Provided below are a few illustrative examples of how Belo serves its communities on a daily basis with emergency information, local news and information, and election and political coverage.

3 Statement of Julius Genachowski, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Hearing on “Rethinking the Children’s Television Act for a Digital Media Age,” July 22, 2009, available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-292170A1.pdf.

4 Testimony of FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission,” 2009 FCC Lexis 4925 (September 17, 2009). See also FCC News Release, 30 Days and Counting to DTV Transition: FCC Concentrates on Preparing Consumers for June 12 Deadline, 2009 FCC LEXIS 2205 (May 13, 2009) (“Television is a primary source for news, weather and public safety information for many Americans so the FCC is working overtime to reach those remaining viewers who still have not taken the necessary action to continue to receive television programming after June 12.”).

5 See, e.g., Comments of Belo Corp., MB Docket No. 04-233 (April 28, 2008).

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Local News: Like many television broadcasters across the country, Belo is highly

focused on serving its local communities with high quality local news and information.

Broadcasters are often the best positioned among their many competitors to provide

superior coverage of breaking stories, local issues, and community activities. Because these objectives are at the heart of the Company’s business model, Belo consistently has

invested in the resources necessary to provide extensive local news, public affairs, and

community-oriented coverage with the aim of developing its stations into durable news

and information franchises. Of Belo’s 20 full-power stations, 15 produce original local

newscasts, and most of these stations regularly offer 30 hours or more per week of local

news programming on their primary channels alone.

While there are many examples of Belo’s dedication to superior local news

programming, the outstanding coverage provided by station KHOU-TV is

particularly noteworthy. Each weekday, KHOU produces and airs “Great Day Houston,”

an hour-long local news/talk program which provides extensive local coverage and often

serves as an outlet for various local public service and non-profit groups. The station also

is highly committed to investigative reporting. To note just one example, KHOU

recently produced a series of 10 reports about the effect of the government’s current

healthcare reform proposals on Houstonians. The in-depth reports, which focused on the

uninsured, small businesses, self-employed individuals, emergency rooms, and insurance

companies, among other highly important topics, aired each weekday over a two-week

period last August. KHOU also recently expanded its extensive news schedule through

the addition of a 4:30 a.m. newscast in September in order to better serve viewers who

are commuters, shift workers, or early risers with important and overnight

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developments. The station’s high journalistic standards and commitment to local service have earned it dozens of journalism awards in recent years. In 2009 alone, KHOU was honored with one national and six regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, 12 regional

Emmy Awards, and one award from the National Academy of Television Arts and

Sciences.

Belo’s Dallas-Fort Worth station, WFAA-TV, also has earned many awards over the years for its journalism and community service, but this year it was the recipient of a particularly notable honor. In January 2009, the station received an Alfred I. duPont-

Columbia University Gold Baton Award, the highest honor given, for its “continuing commitment to outstanding investigative reporting.”

Emergency Information: Local television broadcasters have a unique ability and mission to provide free coverage to viewers during natural disasters and other local emergencies that, in many cases, otherwise would not be available. The extensive coverage of provided by Belo station WWL-TV, News Orleans,

Louisiana, in 2005 provides a quintessential example of the unmatched efforts that broadcasters make to serve their communities in times of crisis. Through advance planning for disaster coverage and cooperative efforts with other local broadcasters,

WWL was able to overcome the tremendous physical and logistical challenges presented by Hurricane Katrina to serve as the only local television news outlet to remain on-the-air throughout the various stages of this devastating storm.

WWL’s continuous coverage of Katrina’s approach began three days before the storm made landfall, making viewers aware of the threat and critical evacuation and safety plans. Via a partnership developed as part of its disaster coverage plan, WWL

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stayed on the air throughout the crisis, broadcasting from temporary studios at Louisiana

State University in Baton Rouge, LA, as well as from its own transmitter facility and later, the facilities of Louisiana . In the immediate aftermath of the storm, when cell phones and other communications devices were severely limited, WWL was the main source of information regarding what was happening, how those in need could get help, and what others could do to assist in the relief effort. Local government officials relied heavily on WWL to communicate information to the public that they could not convey themselves. During this period, WWL’s signal was carried throughout all of Louisiana and Mississippi on a network of digital channels, public television stations, and cable channels, with several radio stations simulcasting the audio portion of

WWL’s feed and Echostar retransmitting its signal to communities in Texas that were assisting in the evacuation efforts. In addition, the station’s Web site was used to stream the broadcasts live and experienced unprecedented use. The station’s around-the-clock coverage continued for 15 straight days before it resumed airing CBS network programming between regularly-scheduled newscasts. In recognition of these extraordinary efforts, WWL became the first station ever to win the prestigious triple crown of news journalism for coverage of the same event—a duPont-Columbia award, a national Edward R. Murrow award, and a Peabody award.

Other examples of Belo’s extraordinary commitment to keeping its communities informed during local emergencies include Houston station KHOU’s 60 hours of continuous, commercial-free coverage of Hurricane Rita in 2005 as well as the same station’s 91 hours of uninterrupted coverage of in 2008.

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Political Discourse: Belo stations consistently devote extensive time and

resources to local and regional political coverage. In 1996, Belo pioneered “It’s Your

Time,” a program that offers state and federal candidates free airtime on Belo stations

during each election season. As of the end of 2008, Belo had provided free airtime to

more than 840 candidates in seven consecutive election cycles since the program’s inception. Further, in each election cycle since 2000, Belo’s news-producing stations have committed to enhance local voter education by providing at least one hour of political coverage each week starting six weeks before the elections. During the 2008

election season, for example, Belo’s 15 news-producing television stations collectively

broadcast more than 210 hours of political coverage. Belo television stations also have been active participants in many recent elections by sponsoring and airing primary and general election debates for both local and national races.6 Most recently, Belo’s Dallas-

Fort Worth station has offered, with others, to produce and air an upcoming debate between several Texas gubernatorial candidates before the March 2010 primary elections.

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6 By way of example, Belo stations hosted the following 2008 debates: (1) a live debate between Louisiana U. S. Senate candidates, Democratic incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu and Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy, hosted by WWL and a consortium of Louisiana television stations; (2) a one-hour gubernatorial debate between incumbent Washington Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi, hosted by Belo stations KING-TV, /Tacoma and KREM-TV, Spokane, Washington, and ; and (3) a U.S. Senatorial debate between House Speaker Jeff Merkley and U.S. Senator Gordon Smith hosted by KGW-TV, Portland, Washington.

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Question A4/A5: How do television broadcasters use the capabilities of digital television today? How do broadcasters plan to use licensed spectrum in the future?

Belo’s dedication to each of the public interest missions described above is further reflected in the use of its digital capacity. Belo was an early, voluntary adopter of DTV and, like other television broadcasters across the country, Belo has spent millions of dollars over the last 12 years in order to upgrade its stations to digital service per the mandates of Congress and the FCC. The transition to digital service has enabled all Belo stations to provide their markets with greatly improved service in the form of HD programming. Perhaps more importantly, the digital transition has given Belo the ability to expand its offerings in the form of multicasting and other enhanced offerings, allowing its stations to broadcast hyper-local programming that was not feasible in the analog, single-channel world.

As demonstrated by the examples below, Belo already is using its digital capacity for a wide range of purposes that further its core mission of serving the needs and interests of its local communities. Belo submits that, in evaluating the current use of digital broadcast spectrum, it is important for the Commission to keep in mind that only a few months have passed since the nationwide transition to digital service and, accordingly, many broadcasters still are in the planning stages with respect to the use of their licensed spectrum. For example, Belo stations intend to launch eight additional multicast channels in 2010. Moreover, of the 14 multicast channels that Belo currently is broadcasting, nine have existed for less than one year. Belo and many other broadcasters also intend to provide , a service that Belo believes shows great promise as a consumer service but it remains in the relatively early stages of development.

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Local News: Several Belo stations are providing extensive local news

programming on some of their multicast channels, making the stations’ local news

offerings far more accessible to viewers. For example, Belo station KTVB, Boise, ,

has dedicated its multicast capacity almost exclusively to the provision of local news,

information, and public affairs. One of its two multicast channels typically provides at

least 16 hours of local news each weekday and more than 25 hours of local news on the

weekends. The station’s second multicast channel airs Northwest Cable News

(“NWCN”), a regional cable news network owned and operated by Belo, thus bringing local and regional news and information to over-the-air viewers on a 24-hour basis.

Similarly, station KHOU in Houston provides viewers with roughly 11 hours of local news and public affairs programming each weekday and approximately 17 hours of such programming on the weekend via one of its multicast channels. WFAA in Dallas-Fort

Worth offers approximately seven hours of local and regional news each weekday and an additional one to two hours on the weekends on a multicast basis.

Emergency Information: Multicast channels provide broadcasters with the means to significantly increase the reach of their emergency information coverage. For example, the extensive and critical coverage that Belo station WWL provided of

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (as explained in detail above) also was aired by a network of multicast channels across the country, some of which were operated by Belo and some of which were operated by other broadcasters. In 2008, broadcasters across the country also made use of their multicast capacity to bring viewers coverage of Hurricane Ike originated by Belo’s KHOU. These broadcasts provided temporary hurricane refugees and others affected by the storms with essential information about their hometowns. In

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addition, Belo routinely uses its multicast channels to provide its communities with emergency weather reports as well as other emergency information, including Amber

Alerts, school closings, and time-sensitive environmental or health situations.

Community Events and Local Programming: The digital transition has provided broadcasters with an opportunity to provide viewers with extensive coverage of community events and hyper-local content that may not have been practical to offer in the analog universe, in which stations were required to address the needs and interests of broad-based communities with a single channel. By way of example, Belo station

WFAA has multicast student performances at the Dallas Independent School District’s

Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts, a local magnet school. The station also multicasts an annual Christmas children’s parade held in as well as Dallas’ annual “Turkey Trot” race held on Thanksgiving Day, in which thousands participate. In addition to covering local events throughout the year, station KHOU multicasts “Houston Zooperstars Challenge,” a locally produced children’s series set at the Houston Zoo, for 3½ hours each Sunday morning.

Political Debates: In addition, Belo is using its digital capacity to supplement its extensive coverage of local and regional elections. Belo stations often rebroadcast political debates on their multicast channels. Station WFAA recently offered, for example, to multicast a debate between Texas gubernatorial candidates early next year.

Moreover, in the event of a scheduling conflict between a debate being carried on a station’s primary channel and regularly scheduled programming on that channel, the station often will carry at least a portion of the debate on a multicast channel, thereby

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allowing the station to simultaneously offer full debate coverage and provide regularly

scheduled programming.

Spanish Language Programming: Because many of Belo’s local communities

have significant Hispanic populations, Belo is using its stations’ multicast capacity to

better serve these populations. Belo currently is offering Estrella TV, a Spanish-language

network launched in September 2009, on a multicast basis in four of its markets: San

Antonio, Texas (KENS-TV); Austin, Texas (KVUE-TV); Tucson, (KTTU-TV);

and Portland, Oregon (KGW-TV). Estrella offers original Spanish language

programming, including musical-variety, comedy, scripted drama, talk and game shows,

as well as a daily national newscast and a show.7

Local Sports: Belo further has initiated the use of digital capacity to increase its

provision of local and regional sports programming. For example, Belo station WHAS-

TV, Louisville, Kentucky, recently announced a partnership with Wazoo Sports, Inc., a

regional sports network that delivers original Kentucky sports programming 24 hours a

day, seven days a week. The network, which will launch this year on one of WHAS-

TV’s multicast channels, plans to produce as many as 300 live high school and college

sports events over the coming year.

7 As the U.S. Government Accountability Office has concluded, a disproportionately large number of Spanish language speakers residing in the U.S. rely exclusively on over-the-air television for video service. See Digital Broadcast Television Transition Estimated Cost of Supporting Set-Top Boxes to Help Advance the DTV Transition, GAO-05-258T,at 4, Feb. 17, 2005 (“Additionally, non-white and Hispanic households are more likely to rely on over-the-air television than are white and non-Hispanic households.”), available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05258t.pdf. This is the case in several of Belo’s markets. For example, Nielsen Company estimates that, while 17.9% of total households in the Houston Designated Market Area (where Belo owns and operates station KHOU) rely on over-the-air television, 37.8% of the Hispanic households in the Houston DMA are dependent on over-the-air service.

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Mobile TV: Belo sees great potential in the marketplace for mobile digital

television and has been heavily involved in developing this new service. Belo is a

member of the Advanced Television Service Committee (“ATSC”), an international, non-

profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television. Belo also is

actively involved in the Open Mobile Video Coalition (“OMVC”), an alliance of U.S.

commercial and public broadcasters formed to accelerate the development and rollout of

mobile DTV products and services. In an effort to further OMVC’s objectives, Belo

station KONG in Everett, Washington is serving as one of two OMVC primary model stations providing consumer electronics manufacturers an opportunity to test receivers and consumer devices with a real-world over-the-air signal. By offering this invaluable data collection and testing environment free of charge, KONG is providing an important service to the broadcast industry as well as the consumer electronics community. Austin station KVUE similarly will begin to serve as an OMVC model station in January 2010 and thereby will allow Dell Corporation, which is headquartered in Austin, and other local retailers to experiment with sets and devices that receive KVUE’s mobile DTV

signal. Belo’s Charlotte, North Carolina station, WCNC-TV, also serves as a mobile

DTV test station.

Mobile TV has the potential to expand many of the public interest benefits

associated with fixed-base digital television. Via mobile TV, broadcasters will be able to

make important information as well as entertainment programming far more accessible to

consumers, who will be able to tune in from virtually any location. In emergency situations when other forms of communication may be limited or simply not available

(e.g., as happened during Hurricane Katrina), mobile DTV devices could provide vital

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and useful information to the public on a real-time basis. Mobile DTV also has the

potential to offer a critical public service when Web sites of other local media become

overloaded from significant and sudden increases in page views and cannot perform with

the same effectiveness, quality, and consistency of normal operations.

Conclusion

Belo appreciates the opportunity to provide the FCC with this information about a

few of the many ways in which its stations serve their local communities in today’s digital marketplace and urges the agency to keep the critically important public interest benefits provided by Belo and many other broadcasters squarely in mind as it considers a

National Broadband Plan.

Respectfully submitted,

BELO Corp.

By: /s/ / Guy H. Kerr Executive Vice President/Law and Government Russell F. Coleman Senior Vice President/General Counsel BELO CORP. 400 South Record Street Dallas, Texas 75202 (214) 977-6606

December 21, 2009

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