The May 23rd front page article in the Washington Post entitled "Digital TV Transition Not as Easy as Advertised" was a useful information piece for the public related to over-the-air (OTA) DTV reception difficulties. Sadly, we are almost 10 years into the DTV transition and OTA service reception is only one of the numerous unresolved issues and is only now surfacing in the public arena. The fact is no one is in charge!

The FCC still rejects the Hill's contention that a DTV transition Czar is needed to oversee the transition. Certainly the negative impact of the FCC's decision not to establish such a function is no more evident than the total lack of public discourse on the DTV OTA service.  Billions has been spent by the broadcasters and now by the public on a service that clearly has a very limited life span. 

If the FCC doesn't see the need for such a function certainly the broadcasters should have years ago.  They have invested a reported $12bn in an entirely new service, which while they are all but a  part, they are a critical part and the success of the transition to digital is critical to their very survival. The lack of an industry-wide coordinated implementation plan is the broadcasters fault above all others. A few years ago the NAB voiced the view that the broadcasters "were doing their part" in the transition. The fact is the broadcasters have not understood, even today, a mere nine months before the switch-off of the analog service, that all aspects of the new service are critical to their business and must be closely coordinated through a transition management office established for that purpose.

The percentage of TV homes that rely solely on the OTA service, the major concern of the broadcasters as broadcasters, is declining every year and the decline is projected to accelerate through the balance of the transition period. Currently it is close to 10%! 

The erosion of OTA-only TV homes needs not only to be stemmed but in fact reversed. To achieve this, the broadcasters must adopt a uniform Internet TV strategy. That is what FreeDTVPlusTM is all about.  In the more detailed sense, FreeDTVPlusTM would address a whole series of issues that are all inter-related. Many of these issues should stimulate open and frank discussions among the broadcasters and within the broadcast TV industry and they include:

• Loss of OTA viewers leading to loss of the OTA service
• High cost to broadcasters of providing the OTA service
• CE retailer support in the manufacture and sale of DTV broadcast-specific consumer products 
• Consumer awareness of the analog turn-off
• HDTV v DTV services
• Cable carriage
• Integration of Internet TV
• Emergence of a mobile TV service
• Role of the broadcasters, the NAB and the major TV networks (now global media enterprises)
• Role of the Feds
• Increasing spectrum demands of non-broadcasters

Recent editions of the TV industry weekly magazine B&C support the contention that the OTA service's days are numbered.  CBS' Les Moonves observed in November 2004 "I remember when the magazine was called Broadcasting, then it was Broadcasting and Cable, now it is B&C. I just hope that ten years from now it is not called C." The magazine is predominantly devoted to cable matters today! 

The sad state of the broadcasters' DTV transition is further confirmed by Congress having just become aware of the impact of the transition on some low-power TV stations and translators. Though they are not subject to the 2009 analog cut-off date these OTA service providers are nevertheless going to be negatively impacted by it.  Congress has appropriated $65M to help them establish a DTV broadcasting capability by the 2009 transition date. More money for what is more and more looking like a lost cause.

Surely the need for FreeDTVPlusTM can be seen as a most critical one!