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January 11, 2009

Aloha All,

Some random thoughts to start the new year.

We are days away from the DTV conversion in America and I think the whole thing is a monumental waste. First of all, viewers expecting to see "High Definition" television will most likely continue to see standard definition video (albeit in digital), as most broadcasters have opted to multicast and squeeze-in additional, new channels to program. Remember, even though a digital signal is better quality than an analog signal, it's not necessarily high definition. If we were mandating a conversion to HDTV, I’d feel differently.

Even if a converter box is delivered to every TV home in the country, when analog disappears many viewers will see the end of over-the-air broadcasts in their homes. Digital reception is not as forgiving as analog...you either have a signal...or you don't. Many viewers in fringe areas will see nothing. Furthermore, cable is not available everywhere...and not everyone can afford cable or satellite service.

The major beneficiaries of the digital conversion will be the federal government...which will make money from auctioning off the old analog frequencies, as well as the awardees of those auctioned frequencies, the television set manufacturers, and the television broadcasters...reaping new sources of advertising revenue from their additional channels. And way at the bottom of list will be the American public - recipient of a $40 off coupon to redeem for the privilege of receiving more channels crammed with sitcom reruns.

DTV will do nothing to improve Newton Minow's vast wasteland of TV programming...we'll just be able to see the junk more clearly.

Unfortunately, free over-the-air radio won’t be reaching out to those people that might be left behind when analog TV disappears. Radio, in many regions, has given up its role to inform the local public, while most broadcast TV stations (at least for now) still have local news departments. In many areas of the country, local television, by default, has become the only reliable means to reach citizens during times of emergency. News staffs have become non-existent at the majority of American radio stations. Even though there might be many more radio signals than TV signals in a market, there could be as few as three or four radio companies in control. And many of those companies are likely operating on the cheap.

But, if there’s an emergency, the EAS system will take care of informing the public…even if the station is automated…right?

Let me tell you an Automation/EAS horror story.

At 7:07 AM on Sunday, October 15, 2006 a 6.7 earthquake hit the Big Island of Hawaii. The shock caused power generators on most of the islands, including Oahu (Honolulu), to shut down, leaving most of the state without electricity. Every radio station (over 100) in the state was operating at the time on their automation systems. There were no operators at the stations to switch from automation to live or switch to standby power. In some cases, automatic power switches functioned, but the transmitters aired no audio because the automation systems went down.

And what about the EAS? The system was set to trigger only if a quake hit at a magnitude of 6.9 or greater...then a Tsunami Watch would be generated. Since the quake was only 6.7, the alert was not sent to the stations. People living in coastal areas had no way of knowing whether or not a tsunami had been generated.

I was at my house in the remote area of Hana on the island of Maui when the quake hit. We lost power, but it was restored in less than a half-hour because I lived close to the town's substation, which had an operational emergency generator. Most of the state (nearly 1.2-million people) was without power, but our little town of 700 had electricity, cable and internet.

I got all of my information from TV and the Internet. Radio coverage was worthless, even after some of the stations finally got people to the studios. Most of the few radio stations on the air opted for network coverage or potted up audio from one of the TV stations.

This wouldn't have happened 20 years ago. Stations would have been manned and there would have been enough engineering staff to take care of the technical issues. Broadcast companies, with the assistance of government deregulation, have created this problem.

Some cities are still fortunate to have a 24-hour news outlet, but if I’m caught in a weather emergency in most areas of the country, I'm turning on the TV before I waste time trying to find something on the radio.

And that wouldn't have been the case 20 years ago.

If automation suits you, then just fill up an IPOD and put it on scramble...and get a Weather Radio that will alert you when a storm is coming.

But, don’t think the lack of good, local information on the radio is isolated to remote areas. I have been appalled for some time at the lack of local programming (news and entertainment) available in markets throughout the country. If the drastic cost cutting moves of the past year continue at the same pace, I'd be surprised if 20 years from now there are more than a handful of on-air staff positions left in even the largest markets.

Most radio stations now operate with some form of automation, which is not inherently bad...but the deregulation that has allowed radio stations to be unmanned for hours at a time (nights and weekends, generally) has not been good for the public. The delivery of news and entertainment has suffered.

Now, no one believes that the clock is going to magically be turned back and every on air shift at every radio station will be live...but, I think the FCC should require stations (or clusters) to have at least one competent employee at the studio site during all hours of operation. I doubt that will happen. Unfortunately, just as unlikely is a return to localism and reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine.

Broadcast licensees have become accountable to only their stockholders...and that's not right, because the stockholders don't own the licenses...the licenses are owned by the public and entrusted to those licensees by the government.

But, apparently it has become antiquated to believe that a broadcast license is a public trust and that the beneficiaries of that trust are the listeners.

I think we deserve better.

Mahalo nui loa,

Dale Parsons

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