CBA sees opportunity with mobile DTV; travels to Washington next week to discuss diversity

Next week, the Community Broadcasters Association will meet with eight members of Congress to make the case that Class A and LPTV stations surpass the expectations the government has for broadcasters to promote station ownership by women and minorities.

The association will present a newly released report to members of Congress making the case that Class A and LPTV stations are democratizing the airwaves. Based on the results of a Web-based survey conducted between Nov. 17 and December 16, 2008, the report should open the eyes of lawmakers and regulators, who regularly advocate for new laws and rules to increase ownership of broadcast stations by women and minorities, to a broadcast service that’s often overlooked or minimized.

Greg Herman, CBA vice president of technology reviewed the report, “Diversity Defined” with me April 21voutside the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the NAB Show. Among findings presented in the report:

• 45 percent of Class A and LPTV stations are owned or partially owned by a minority.
• Of stations with minority ownership, 43 percent own more than half; 6 percent own 26 percent to 50 percent; and half own 1 percent to 25 percent.
• In terms of the ethnicity of stations owners, 34 percent are multi/racial other; 25 percent are Caucasian; 24 percent are Hispanic; 10 percent are Black/African American; 3 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander; and 3 percent are Native American.

One of the goals of meetings is to demonstrate to lawmakers that Class A and LPTV stations already are accomplishing the government’s goals for diversity of ownership and that without appropriate legal and regulatory relief on several fronts, the ability of these stations to remain vital and continue fulfilling this diversity goal is threatened.

Specifically, the association is seeking government help to get access to cable carriage; money to aid with the conversion to DTV service; and authorization to begin offering alternate services to conventional television broadcasting.

In addition to the report, Herman also discussed the bright future he sees for Class A and LPTV stations offering mobile DTV service. As we spoke, Herman held in his hand a small prototype receiver playing mobile DTV service being demonstrated at the convention.

In Herman’s view, LPTV and Class A stations will take advantage of recently authorized distributed transmission systems and even cellular type transmission systems in the future to expand coverage. A big boon to Class A and LPTV stations will be leasing portions of their bandwidth to cable networks, such as Fox News, to offer their own multi-channel video service, according to Herman. He also predicts LPTV and Class A stations will take community service to a higher level by offering local governments their own channel for free.

Herman offers his insights into the mobile DTV opportunity in this podcast.