It was all supposed to be cut and dried. US analogue transmissions are mandated by the FCC to cease on the night of Feb 17 2009. But now they won’t. The powerful National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) lobby group is asking for an extension.
The FCC rules apply to all major network transmissions (although some low-power and local signals are exempt for the moment). However, stations can switch off ahead of Feb 17 if they wish. Now in an Aug 11 letter to the FCC the NAB is proposing an enforced period which has the result of providing a limited extension of the analogue transmissions that feed cable TV systems.
The anxiety is one of legal actions between broadcasters and cable operators. Every year there are a number of spats between networks, or station owners, and the local cable retransmission provider. There are already rules in place which forbid a broadcaster from pulling its signals during the all-important “sweeps” week, when networks pull out all the stops to win maximum ratings. What NAB is proposing is that these similar “quiet period” rules apply during the analogue switch off period.
Complicating the issue is that the usual Spring “sweeps” period, normally held mostly in February, has for 2009 been shifted to March 5-April 1 so that “sweeps” would not be impacted by analogue switch off.
NAB has won support from most of the networks and major station owners to promise to keep sending out their analogue signals to cable and satellite operators from Feb 4 through Mar 4. However, this means that the so-called “quiet period” (the retransmission consent rules), which always applies during the “sweeps” periods, would now likely run from Feb 4 through April 1.
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