[SBE] Another Aspect of the Future of Broadcasting

[Gary]

This thread is extremely important to NOT CENSOR if it is a civil and 
polite post. Remember folks; these get archived and can be Googled 
later, many years later, so be nice.
This whole issue of talking about taking away spectrum from TV 
broadcasters (and yes radio is headed there too my friends) is 
dangerous. It is very dangerous. Whether it is a conspiracy or not I do 
not know but I do not see this current Administration & FCC acting in a 
way that says I can trust them. They have said what they intended to do 
with health care and they are doing it despite the fact that 73% of the 
citizens of this country do not want it done their way.....

Look, we know that most delivery of TV is via cable or fiber. But 
believe it or not many households have OTA receivers that are battery 
operated. The new HDTV handheld devices are everywhere...I saw one for 
sale at CVS drug stores for $119.00. People rely on OTA because unless 
the TV station's tower falls down or they have a catastrophic loss of 
power there will be some signal on the air directing people in an 
emergency. Cable and fiber will not be functioning and if it is 
functioning after a disaster, the battery backups along the poles and 
by-ways are usually designed for 24 to 48 hours. Ask yourself; how long 
did Katrina last? Consider this factoid; a licensed low power FM in the 
area, built by an amateur radio operator, Brice Phillips, call sign 
KB5MPW, who built the damn RF plant HIS way was one of only four 
stations on the air in the aftermath dispensing critical emergency 
guidance to anyone with a battery operated receiver. If you want to 
know the story Bill Moyers of PBS did a story on his heroic effort and 
how his station stayed on the air 
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08242007/profile3.html).

Another consideration is this; if you allow Internet only delivery of 
TV then you run the risk of Government control of the content because 
they control the gates. Right now, OTA TV and radio provide content and 
delivery the content. Except for the FCC rules about naughty words and 
pictures, the free flow of thought is delivered without the 
gatekeepers. If you think the Government will not get into the gate 
keeping business then just think back to the fuss about reviving The 
Fairness Doctrine. Love him or hate him, Rush Limabugh wrote a letter 
to President Obama about this issue 
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123508978035028163.html). He asked the 
question" "Is it your intention to censor talk radio through a variety 
of contrivances, such as "local content," "diversity of ownership," and 
"public interest" rules -- all of which are designed to appeal to 
populist sentiments but, as you know, are the death knell of talk radio 
and the AM band?". The revival of The Fairness Doctrine was all about 
gate keeping. Placing everything on cable or fiber enables the ultimate 
in gate keeping.

And finally, is no one concerned about delivery the best signal 
possible to the viewer? OTA TV is the best you can get short of being 
at the station. OTA analog radio is the best short of being at the 
station. TV stations use modulation systems that cost thousands of 
times more than the head end modulators use by cable and fiber 
companies and there is no bit reduction. As a radio guy I am saddened 
that in this digital age the audio artifacts I hear on the HD-1 
channels and on my satellite receiver are horrible...Some songs are 
just do not get reproduced correctly due to the original artifacts in 
the original master tapes.This causes the encoder to wander all over 
the place; the result? wishy washy audio with no bass and warbling high 
ends.

Thank you very much for posting this. I want my OTA TV and radio to 
continue and I want the broadcasters to be in the delivery business. It 
is important for reasons of freedom of speech and quality.