Delaying DTV deadline compounds complexity of transition
Jan 15, 2009 8:28 AM, By Phil Kurz
A move by Congress to delay the DTV transition date at the eleventh hour leaves broadcasters who are following their original plan to power down analog service while final digital transmission infrastructure is put in place in the precarious position of reducing their over-the-air coverage for an extended period of time. (Image: Dielectric Communications)
“Honest to God, it’s going to kill us,” said a chief engineer from a major group-owned station who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We’re going down to about 60 percent power operating on a half transmitter. I can’t do that for the next four months going through two ratings books,” he said.
Perhaps the most obvious financial hit stations will take if the deadline is postponed is related to power bills. For years, broadcasters have operated simulcast analog and digital service as viewers have been given the opportunity to acquire new DTVs. Dual service means two power bills, which can run more than $10,000 per month in the case of high-power UHF stations and several thousand dollars monthly for VHF channels. Many looked upon Feb. 17 as an opportunity to shed much of this financial burden.
“Nobody has budgeted for these power bills beyond Feb. 17,” said Davis. “I was on the phone today with another engineer who’s looking at $45,000 in added power bills. You have some stations that are financially strapped, and in a depression with advertising off 40 to 50 percent. They will be asked to absorb this unbudgeted expense.”
Delay brings with it other consequences. Some analog equipment currently in use has been sold to parties out of the country with delivery deadlines based on it going out of service in the United States in February. Other analog transmitters keeping stations on-air have been nursed along to extend their life in anticipation of being pulled from service on Feb. 17. A delay will make this life-support act tougher as replacement parts dwindle.
A few stations may even run the risk of tower failures. “A limited number of stations has accepted the risk that their towers would be overloaded with DTV and analog antennas for a few weeks or months,” said Mckay. Postponing the deadline pushes back when crews can remove those analog antennas. “They were willing to accept that risk for a limited time. Now that the deadline may be extended, these structures could be exposed to early spring ice storms, a culprit that has brought down towers in the past,” he said.
But there’s an even bigger problem, according to Andy Suk, vice president of operations and engineering for Cordillera Communications. “I think the No. 1 impact is going to be consumer confusion,” he said. “We’ve almost brought that to a new level of science.”
Together broadcasters have spent nearly a billion dollars in free air time promoting the Feb. 17 date, according to David Johnson, director of technology for Belo-owned WFAA-TV in Dallas. This makes the prospect of changing the deadline all the more frustrating.
What has some broadcasters on edge is not knowing whether the date will be delay, and if so, how long. “The key thing is we need certainty as to whether the date will stick or move,” said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV). “That is the No. 1 issue for broadcasters. The worst thing is if this floats around in Washington, D.C., for a couple weeks.”
Still, there is an understanding among broadcasters of why the Obama Administration has asked for the delay. “I have greatest respect for the incoming administration and their concerns, but I am on the street living with my engineering folks,” said Hill. “We have to figure out how to make this work.”
A delay may be fraught with countless ramifications, but at the end of day it’s protecting the viewer that should be of greatest concern, said Johnson. “If this is really a train wreck and a delay can help prevent it, we are for it,” he said.
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