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FCC puts the cattle-prod to DTV process

The FCC has taken several steps toward bringing the conversion to digital television to a conclusion. All of them are aimed squarely at broadcasters. First and foremost are steps to finalize the eventual dial position of each licensee's digital station as broadcasters turn in their analog licenses. A remaining sticking point is a huge one: No mention of cable carriage requirements yet.

Here, direct from the FCC, is the scoop:

* Commencing an open channel election process in November 2004 that will provide certainty to the marketplace and ultimately result in a Final DTV Table of Allotments;

* Establishing firm deadlines for digital stations to increase their power levels to serve additional viewers or lose interference protection to the un-served areas;

* Requiring broadcasters to include PSIP information in their digital broadcast signals, thus promoting closed captioning, v-chip, channel numbering, and other functionality;

* Eliminating, for now, the simulcasting requirement to permit the transmission of additional innovative programming on broadcast digital channels;

* Providing clarity regarding the interference protection for broadcasters in TV channels 51-69;

* Clarifying our digital closed captioning rules in order to ensure that those services are consistently and effectively delivered;

* Mandating that, after an 18-month transition period, all digital television receivers contain v-chip functionality that will permit the current TV ratings system to be modified; and

* Committing to opening a fast-track proceeding on distributed transmission technology while agreeing to consider individual deployments on a case-by-case basis in the interim.

Tomorrow, we'll look in more detail at the channel election process. On Monday, we'll look at the full-power compliance plan.