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FCC 95-315 Federal Communications Commission Record 10 FCC Red No. 20 L. Must Carry and Retransmission Consent 79 Before the V. THIRD NOTICE OF INQUIRY 86 Federal Communications Commission VI. CONCLUSION 88 Washington, D.C. 20554 ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 89 MM Docket No. 87-268 I. INTRODUCTION 1. With this Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rule In the Matter of Making and Third Notice of Inquiry ("Notice"), we con tinue the process of moving toward the next era of broad cast television: digital broadcast television. In previous Advanced Television Systems orders in this Advanced Television ("ATV") 1 proceeding, and Their Impact Upon the our focus was on fostering the development of High Defini Existing Television Broadcast tion Television ("HDTV").2 With that focus we made a Service series of decisions regarding, among other things, the na ture of the ATV service, eligibility for ATV transition channels, and the transition period. Technological evolu FOURTH FURTHER NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE tion now obliges us to revisit some of those decisions and MAKING AND THIRD NOTICE OF INQUIRY consider new information, which we do in this document. We tentatively conclude that many of our previous de Adopted: July 28, 1995; Released: August 9, 1995 cisions -- such as our decisions that initial eligibility for ATV transition channels should be limited to existing Comment Date: October 18, 1995 broadcasters - remain sound, even under the changed cir cumstances. We believe that a few decisions, however, re Reply Comment Date: December 4, 1995 quire renewed consideration, such as our requirement that broadcasters must ultimately use the transition channel By the Commission: Chairman Hundt, Commissioners primarily for HDTV. In this document, we ask for com Quello, Barrett, Ness, and Chong issuing separate state ment on these and other issues. Our overarching goal is to ments. ensure that the introduction of digital television fully serves the public interest. TABLE OF CONTENTS Topic Paragraph I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY II. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 2 A. Summary A. Summary 2 2. Ever since the late 1920©s when experimental station B. Technological Developments 12 permits were first issued, television broadcasting has had III. ISSUES 20 significant impact on American society. Free, over-the-air, universal broadcast television has served the public well. It A. Spectrum Issues 20 has made accessible to virtually every American a range of B. Definition of Service 22 programming, from news of international importance to C. Eligibility Issues 25 events of local significance, as well as, of course, many hours of entertainment. D. Public Interest Obligations 33 3. The broadcast television service has seen a number of E. Transition 37 significant developments in the past half-century, including 1. Simulcast Requirement 37 the allocation of UHF channels and the introduction of color broadcasting. When we began this proceeding in 2. Licensing of ATV and NTSC Stations 44 1987, we believed that we were on the cusp of another F. Transition Period 48 similar development, the introduction of a major technical improvement in picture quality over the current NTSC3 G. Recovery of Spectrum 55 television system -- High Definition Television. But the H. Length of Application/Construction Period 61 genius of the engineers who have labored to produce the I. Small Markets 66 technical advances and system developments of the past few years. has opened the door to an even more dramatic J. Noncommercial Stations 70 change in the nature of the broadcast television service: the K. All-Channel Receiver Issues 77 introduction of a dynamic and flexible digital broadcast television technology. 1 Advanced Television ("ATV") refers to any television tech vertical and horizontal resolution of NTSC, which is a picture nology that provides improved audio and video quality or en quality approaching 35 millimeter film, and has sound quality hances the current NTSC television system. Memorandum approaching that of a compact disc. Opinion and Order/Third Report and Order/Third Further Notice 3 "NTSC" is the current, analog television system, named for of Proposed Rule Making in MM Docket No. 87-268, 7 FCC Red the National Television System Committee, an industry group 6924, 6925 n.l (1992). ("Third Report/Further Notice"). that developed the monochrome television standard in 1 High Definition Television offers approximately twice the 1940-1941 and the color television standard in 1950-1953. 10540 10 FCC Red No. 20 Federal Communications Commission Record FCC 95-315 4. Digital encoding and transmission technology has ensuring that the spectrum - both ATV channels and evolved and matured to the point where we are confident recovered channels will be used in a manner that best that it would not only permit the broadcast of a digital serves the public interest. High Definition Television signal over a 6 MHz channel, 7. As we explain more fully below, recent developments but that it would also allow for an array of additional do not change our view that the public interest is best alternative uses. The current state of the art, which reflects served by affording incumbent broadcasters the means to advances in digital technology and, in particular, use of provide digital advanced television. Permitting broadcasters digital compression technology and a packetized transport to transition to digital will ensure recovery of spectrum, to scheme, allows for multiple streams, or "multicasting," of which we remain fully committed. Accordingly, temporary Standard Definition Television ("SDTV")4 programming at grant of an additional 6 MHz channel for digital broadcast a quality at least comparable to, and possibly better than, ing will be explicitly conditioned on, among other things, the current analog signal. It allows for the broadcast of return of one of the channels at the end of the transition literally dozens of CD-quality audio signals. It allows for period. We invite comment on whether we should require the rapid delivery of huge amounts of data; an entire that broadcasters also change their channels at the end of edition of the local daily newspaper could be sent, for the transition period, so that the spectrum that will ulti example, in less than two seconds. It allows broadcasters to mately be recovered can be aggregated into contiguous send, simultaneously, video, voice and data. In addition, it blocks, thereby increasing its potential value for new, as yet allows broadcasters to provide a range of services dynam undefined, uses. ically, that is, it allows them to switch easily and quickly 8. While recent developments do not change our view from one type of service to another. For example, a broad that existing broadcasters should be provided temporary caster could transmit a news program consisting of four use of an additional 6 MHz channel to permit a transition separate, simultaneous SDTV program streams for local to digital technology without immediate loss of service to news, national news, weather and sports; then transmit an the NTSC-viewing public, they do change our view about HDTV commercial with embedded data about the product: what, if any, restrictions should apply to use of the second then transmit a motion picture in an HDTV format si channel. Therefore, in this Notice, we ask what limits multaneously with unrelated data. should be placed on use of the ATV channel. 5. The broadcast industry, including equipment manufac 9. Broadcasters are now subject to a number of public turers, has been at the forefront of developing digital interest requirements, including the obligation to air issue- technology for television. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) responsive programming, children©s educational and in is already transmitting with digital technologies, with formational programming, and to provide access to SDTV-type quality. Other service providers are actively candidates for federal office. These public interest require exploring the introduction of digital transmission technol ments were developed for the analog world, in which each ogies. These events, coupled with the technological devel broadcast licensee could do no more than send one signal opments described above, have given rise to greater over its single channel. Digital technology allows each confidence in the practical feasibility of dynamic transmis broadcast licensee to send several streams of video pro sion of multiple streams of information and changed the gramming simultaneously, as well as a mix of video and equation that yielded the decisions contained in our 1992 non-video services. The technology also raises the possibil order. Revisiting our earlier decisions is consistent with ity that a broadcaster can send a mix of subscription and our statutory responsibility to "encourage the provision of non-subscription services. In this Notice, we ask for com new technologies and services to the public," 47 U.S.C. § ment on how the conversion to digital broadcasting should 157, as well as with our general statutory obligation to affect broadcasters© public interest obligations. promote the public interest, since these developments have the potential to provide profound benefits to the American 10. With consumer interests in mind, the Notice revisits public. Accordingly, we issue this Notice to explore how to the issue of simulcasting, as it must if broadcasters will be ensure that the introduction of digital broadcast television permitted to multicast. We ask whether we should impose furthers the public interest in all respects. a modified simulcast requirement, under which an ATV licensee would be required to simulcast the programming 6. In deciding what rules should govern the transition to presented on the NTSC channel (with the exception of digital television, we recognize our obligation to manage commercials and promotions) on a program service of the the spectrum efficiently and in the public interest and to ATV channel. Further, we revisit the issue of the transition take account of the legitimate interests of all those with a period. In setting transition rules, we must balance the stake in that transition.