State DTV Contour Maps Available

[dallas_axelrod]

The folks at the Digital Transition Coalition have recently updated the www.iwantmyhdtv.com website and included digital contour maps for all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Finally, we can see the reach of the broadcaster's digital signals.

THE MAPS ARE AWESOME!!! It's now clear that there are lots of areas around the country where consumers cannot receive digital service over the air. The justification for a digital white area is strong.

CHECK IT OUT!

[dallas_axelrod]

They put out a press release:
http://www.digitaltransitioncoalition.com/digital/media/pr092004.pdf

Below is the first 2 of 4 pages

*****

For Immediate Release Contact: Adam Bromberg
September 20, 2004 (703) 683-5004 x102

Consumers in 39 Million U.S. Households Cannot Receive Complete Network Digital Service

First-Ever Digital Maps Illustrate and Quantify Even Greater Need for Speeding up the Digital Transition

Washington, DC – The Digital Transition Coalition (DTC) said that, contrary to the claims of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the DTV transition has a long distance to traverse before it becomes a reality. Tens of millions of Americans are still unable to receive one or more of their local network stations in digital mode. The coalition released state-by-state maps, using Federal Communications Commission data, which clearly illustrate the current (as of July 2004) coverage of digital signals across the nation. The maps were filed with the FCC as part of the coalition’s response to a filing by the NAB.

The coalition hired Primus Geographics to demonstrate the true extent of the digital transition in America today. It has been clear to most observers that the transition is lagging and the maps prove that, according to the coalition.

“This analysis paints a stark picture of the digital transition in this country,” said George Landrith of Frontiers of Freedom, a member of the Digital Transition Coalition. “It illustrates once and for all that the transition to digital television is behind schedule and continues to exclude millions of Americans – especially those in rural areas. And this is happening despite the fact that the nation’s broadcasters were supposed to be broadcasting their DTV service at full power by 2002,” he said.

“While technology is improving and more offerings are available, the reality is tens of millions of Americans are still being denied digital service because the local broadcasters have been dragging their feet. The key to speeding up the transition is to provide incentives for local broadcasters to make digital signals available and to give other services the ability to offer those signals if the local broadcasters won’t.”

“One area where Congress can make a real difference right away is by approving the digital white area provisions contained in the Senate Commerce Committee’s satellite legislation,” added Mr. Landrith. “If local broadcasters fail to provide a network digital signal, then satellite providers should be allowed to do so. This provision will be the much needed catalyst for achieving the goal of returning the analog spectrum to the public and providing choices to consumers across the country.”

The NAB, together with the Association for Maximum Service Television, Inc., submitted its filing to the FCC’s Media Bureau in a proceeding where the Bureau is examining the effects of the digital transition on Over the Air Broadcast Television viewers. In its filing, the NAB claimed that “[b]roadcasters have met the challenge of the conversion to DTV [digital television],” and that “[t]he transmission side of the DTV equation has been built.” The DTC’s maps, along with its written response, call into question these claims.

-more-

Digital Transition Coalition – page 2

The DTC analysis found that, nationwide:

 36.1% of households (over 39 million) cannot receive digital service from at least one of the network broadcasters. More specifically:
o 19.0% of households (over 20 million) are receiving digital service from only 3 digital network broadcasters
o 5.8% of households (over 6 million) are receiving digital service from only 2 digital network broadcasters
o 6.2% of households (over 6 million) are receiving digital service from only 1 digital network broadcaster
o 5.1% of households (over 5 million) cannot receive digital service from any network broadcaster at all

Excerpts of the letter follow:

“The Coalition’s members have a direct interest in the immediate availability of network digital television service in high definition to all consumers nationwide, and the broadcasters’ timely return of their ‘analog’ spectrum. Upon completion of the transition, part of the analog spectrum would be redeployed to the nation’s first responders to improve homeland security. The rest would be auctioned off, raising tens of billions of dollars, to make available new advanced services, or to promote unlicensed uses. For this reason, the Coalition has been closely monitoring the progress of the DTV transition.

“In their comments, the National Association of Broadcasters (“NAB”) and the Association for Maximum Service Television (“MSTV”) have claimed that “[b]roadcasters have met the challenge of the conversion to DTV [digital television]” and that “[t]he transmission side of the DTV equation has been built,” citing the NAB’s own statistics on the number of full power DTV stations, the number of markets covered, and the percentage of households in markets that have a certain number of DTV stations. See NAB/MSTV Comments at 7 (filed Aug. 11, 2004).”

“The Commission should evaluate these claims in light of the more granular, state-by-state DTV coverage maps that Primus Geographics has generated on behalf of the DTC using publicly available FCC information on DTV broadcast stations and OET guidelines for DTV coverage profiles. Primus has used the point-to-point Longley-Rice version of the methodology to determine the Grade B contours of the digital signals of every network station, and then mapped these contours over the 2003 projected Census data.

“The maps and accompanying data depict a very different picture than the optimistic one reflected in the NAB filing. They make clear that as many as 36% of American consumers – over 39 million households – and many regions of the United States remain unserved by the digital television signal of one or more of their local network stations.”

“The proportion of unserved households is even more alarming in the most sparsely populated states – typically states with a disproportionate number of rural households. In the 10 states with the fewest households, a full 74.2% of these households are unserved by at least one of their local network stations. These maps and data thus illustrate graphically the distance that still needs to be traversed to achieve the goals of the DTV transition.”

In an effort to inform the public about the status of digital television, the DTC will make all these maps available on its website – www.iwantmyhdtv.com. The website was created as a resource for consumers and policy makers to learn about the issues surrounding the digital television transition.

Primus Geographics provides geospatial technology solutions that help organizations leverage business location intelligence. Through their extensive service and consulting experience, they help companies leverage spatial information, enabling them to make the most successful business decisions possible.

The Digitial Transition Coalition (DTC) is comprised of consumer organizations, taxpayer groups, technology providers, and other interested parties dedicated to expediting the transition to a digital future. The DTC wants to maximize the use of spectrum to allow opitmal innovation and utilization to meet growing consumer demand. For more information please visit www.digitaltransitioncoalition.org.

For more information, please contact Adam Bromberg at (703) 683-5004 Ext. 102
###

[jdspencer]

The maps don't have enough resolution. It looks like my area can receive Fox and NBC. It ain't so. We need maps that show signal strengths based on local terrain.

[beasst37799]

according to the map i should be getting all four channels but i only get 2 and im well within the ny dma right on the border of monmouth/ocean county in nj is my antenna defective or something

[SimpleSimon]

Remember, these maps are projections, not actual. I looked at mine (mountain Colorado) and saw many places where the signal simply will not reach even though the map says it will.

Still, it's a BIG step in the right direction.

[beasst37799]

very true and im sure its a power issue cause i can recieve both ny and phili stations grade a analog

[dallas_axelrod]

The website says the maps were created using the same methodology that the law requires for determining whether a household is served for analog television. This means it is a predictive model. The broadcasters would prefer the use of the analog predictive model rather than an updated model. The model, first created in the 1950s, was never intended to determine whether a consumer can receive a clear picture using an over the air antenna. It was originally used to determine the contours of a broadcasters' signal to ensure that a new broadcaster's signal would not overlap. Therefore a household that can receive a signal according to the predictive model, may not actually be receiving a watchable signal. It's application to digital is unknown. So you can conclude that these numbers are rather conservative, and likely more people than those in the maps are unserved.

Do other people agree?

[kenglish]

The Utah maps are wrong. Nothing at all for NBC. And the national map has CBS and NBC reversed.

[SouthernSky]

I've tried to get the signals map for three days. I know its busy but every time I click the Louisiana map, I get a "You do not have permission to view this page" error. Can someone else try Louisiana and see if its just me? Thanks!

[gor88]

I see the same message. There is a problem with the Louisiana image file on their server. You should contact them and let them know the La map is unavailable.

[jfraz]

Every time I click on it I get the same message as you are getting. I think something is wrong.

[SouthernSky]

Thanks for trying. I was pretty sure it wasn't me and I did write them the first day the site went online but never heard back. I appreciate it.

[Richard King]

I don't believe the contours that I just downloaded for Florida. NBC and CBS are impossible to get here in Indian River County, even in analog, yet the charts show that all networks are available.

[dallas_axelrod]

Thanks for trying. I was pretty sure it wasn't me and I did write them the first day the site went online but never heard back. I appreciate it.

I just checked... the Louisiana map is now available.

[syphix]

Yep, those maps are off: here in western Minnesota, it shows that I should be getting CBS & ABC, yet I don't get ANY of the networks in digital - the local repeaters are analog only.

[kenglish]

They've fixed the CBS/NBC National map problem. Utah still shows no NBC, though!