[SBE] The Future of Broadcasting

[a9xw at cs.com]

As I recall it was CBS that testified that we needed the vacant channels for future HDTV. I suggest we return that argument with we need the additional channels for future digital TV and allow stations to use additional channels for additional programming including mobile/portable/data services not able to fit in our current 6 Mhz allocations. We could move to MPEG 4  for better pix and more HD channels per RF channel, Going back to my universal tuner/decoder proposal, we could move digital FM radio onto  TV channels as PSIP audio only MPEG and eliminate the monopoly on HD radio. Provide leased data bits for wide area fire/police that now use low towers, hundreds of frequencies allocated to each village, town, city, county and that settels the wide area emergency coordination issue that the FG is using to allocate spectrum away from broadcasting. You don't need a lot of bandwidth for voice or data carriage, ask the telco's how many voice channels they now mux into a T1 bandwidth with time/frequency sharing/compression. I can shove another 3-6 meg of spectrum through my transmitter, 6 for ATSC and 3 for other stuff on both sides or one side. Something to replace the vestigial sideband. guard band we used to have. There are no technology barrier to transmit 12-20 or more Mhz wide signals. Not to mention all those null packets to be replaced with opportunistic data. 

Henry 






-----Original Message-----
From: Gary <gbrefini at aol.com>
To: sbe at sbe.org
Sent: Wed, Mar 17, 2010 10:32 am
Subject: [SBE] The Future of Broadcasting


The danger in thinking that we just need to wire everyone up is that when you do then the bureaucrats can control who can see what. Just look at how China and Iran control what their population can see. However, broadcast it into the air and they cant regulate it. The lesson we learn from say The Voice of America is that we can get the truth to people without any local Government's permission. Ditto terrestrial broadcasts here in the US. There is an underlying push to get certain broadcasters to "knuckle under". Ask Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity what they think about this current cast of characters in Washington and Talk Radio. If they (the bureaucrats) had their way they would force stations to program 'Air America" type programming even though it does not sell. Even though people rejected it. Sound like the current health care mess? "You betcha" as Sarah would say. 
 
And it makes no sense, unless you see it as a means for bureaucrats to control what people see on their TVs, when the FCC says broadcasters should get out of the delivery business and just create content. What was the transition to digital all about in the first place?...I am beginning to think it was a clever way to have broadcasters give up 108 MHz of spectrum by letting people think that HDTV is the future. That was Step 1...The "final solution" was then, in less than a year mind you my friends, to start floating the idea that we really do not need over the air TV at all. Nope, we can handle it via cable and fiber...Doesn't that make you wonder? It does me and it makes me wonder what these bureaucrats are up to. The old line; If it ain't broke don't fix it is very appropriate here with respect to the future of broadcasting. 
 
Dr. Gary Brefini 
Member SBE 
 
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