POWELL URGES CABLE OPERATORS TO BECOME HDTV MISSIONARIES
NEW ORLEANS -- FCC Chmn. Powell told NCTA convention- goers that govt. wasn’t forcing DTV upon public, and consumers would want it as soon as viewers got taste of its better quality picture and sound, as well as new and varied offerings. “Consumers don’t know yet,” he said. “Part of what you have to do in your business as an entrepreneur is show them the way.” Powell has been encouraging broadcasters, cable and satellite operators, as well as consumer electronics industry, to embrace his voluntary DTV transition plan. “I think in the digital world, the interactive world, you and everyone else have to be missionary about it.” He drew parallel with early stages of e-mail and how, at first, not many had it and said they didn’t need it, but later found they couldn’t live without it. “Now if you don’t have it, you're just a Luddite,” Powell said. He joked that HDTV sets -- even with their hefty price tag -- had become sign of machismo among men. “Every man in this room knows the TV envy thing,” he said with a broad smile: “Sixty-two inches, huh?”
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Asked by representative of Starz-Encore whether consumers really wanted HDTV or whether DTV would suffice, Powell said cable industry shouldn’t be looking to lowest common denominator. “I do believe that what looks like enough or adequacy today changes very quickly,” he said.
Powell said it was important for FCC to address lingering questions about media ownership. He said Commission shouldn’t do its analysis in “stovepipes,” looking at broadcast, cable, satellite and program creators in different pipes as if they were exclusive from each other. Powell also said that he lately had been wrestling over questions about meaning of diversity and viewpoint in context of ownership. “I keep trying to struggle to get that narrowed down to its essence, if the rules are really about something we can show,” he said. He said media were both more copious and varied than they ever had been in their history and that those questions could really be about political viewpoints that affected voting or political ideology. In that case, he said, perhaps rules shouldn’t necessarily apply to everything, such as dramas or comedies.
Asked about state of competition in telecom sector, Powell said he thought perhaps wireless had become “hypercompetitive” but he personally believed media environment was very competitive in terms of carriage, ratings and overall viewership, albeit concentrated. “I think there are things to watch there [in the industry], but I would certainly describe it as a healthy market environment by and large,” he said.
At panel discussion later with other FCC commissioners and NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory, Victory said her agency probably would outline spectrum policy in June, when Senate Commerce Committee was expected to hold hearing on spectrum management. She also said FCC was considering proceeding on rights-of-way for telecom providers and possibly providing some parameters to states and municipalities.
FCC Comr. Copps took opportunity to discuss his campaign against indecency on TV, saying he hoped cable industry would commit to voluntary code of conduct, particularly in so- called “family hour.” He said he often heard complaint from broadcasters that they wanted to be cooperative but feel obligated to compete with cable, which tends to offer more programming on cutting edge of language and sexual content. However, he lauded cable operators for their efforts on equal opportunity.
FCC Comr. Martin told moderator he was wary of idea of imposing universal service fund fees on broadband providers, saying technology still was too new and he feared that doing so might “decrease market demand and provide a disincentive for deployment.”
All said they saw Powell’s DTV transition plan as positive first step. Each panelist was asked whether he or she was cable subscribers and had HDTV sets. Victory has satellite service and is shopping for set with her husband. Martin said he had digital cable but was waiting for price on sets to come down. Copps has cable and DSL and, like Martin, was waiting for set prices to drop. Abernathy said she had no multichannel video service in her house and was getting DSL. She said her husband was researching HDTV sets and suspected her family would have one within year.