Hill denizens come down on Ferree side of multicast

Twelve Republican members of Congress, three in the Senate and nine in the House of Representatives, have fired off a letter to Michael Powell urging him to require cable carriage of the full 6 MHz of bandwidth currently used for a station's analog signal, whether the station is broadcasting in high-def or multicasting. And adding to the din was a pair of Democrats who were pushing for, at the very least, a delayed decision.

The Republican's proposal precisely echoes the point outgoing FCC Media Bureau Chief Ken Ferree made last year when explaining his plan for completing the DTV transition. Ferree essentially speculated that bandwidth is bandwidth, and that if broadcasters were entitled to 6 MHz, the powers that be would probably side with their request to use it for either the high-def or multicast purpose.

A huge monkey wrench was thrown into Ferree's speculation when word got out that Michael Powell was attempting to line up 8th Floor support behind the cable industry position that it was responsible only for one primary program stream from each station.

"Requiring the carriage of broadcaster's 6 MHz of spectrum (which is the current requirement in analog television) will maintain the delicate regulatory balance that makes it possible for small and independent broadcasters to be part of the multi-media and consolidated broadcast landscape of today's television industry," the group wrote. "Specifically, small, independent, religious, family-friendly and minority broadcasters that provide community focused news, entertainment and information to local communities across the nation will be irreparably harmed without a multicast must-carry mandate."

Five members of the Florida delegation and three from South Carolina signed the letter. From the Senate were Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Trent Lott (R-MS) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). House members included Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), J. Gresham Barrett (R-SC), Mark Foley (R-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Tom Osborne (R-NE), Clay Shaw (R-FL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Henry Bonilla (R-TX).

Not to be outdone, G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Diane Watson (D-CA) wrote a letter to other members of Congress entitled "This is not the time for the FCC to vote on digital multicast must carry." They say the issue should not be isolated from other parts of the DTV transition. They're interested in the possibilities broadcasters would have, should multiple program streams be opened. "Specifically," they wrote, "we believe such added capacity could encourage the broadcasters to develop more diverse, community-oriented programming and especially benefit traditionally under-served communities." Butterfield and Watson are soliciting signatures for a letter of their own, which will also be headed to Powell's desk.