If you read the last post[1], I mentioned that I had noticed that WKYT[2] had taken down their weather subchannel, leaving in it's place a note stating something to the effect that they got caught by an FCC SNAFU, and wouldn't be putting it back up until they got things ironed out. Out of curiosity, I searched a bit and found a forum where someone had said it was most likely due to the Children's Television Act (CTA). So, this morning, I set out to search the FCC, to find the dirt on the CTA and how it effects digital television broadcasts (DTV). From what I took from the FCC said on DTV, stations broadcasting subchannels, or multiple "streams", must comply with the prior rules of three hours per week for the regular broadcast, with an additional half-hour of children's educational/informational (E/I) programming for every twenty four hours broadcast on any other stream. I did not, however, see where the FCC mandates that the additional E/I content be aired on the stream in question. From what I read, the FCC is encouraging the stations to experiment with the new capabilities of multicasting, and that the stations can even dedicate one stream to E/I programming to fulfill the CTA requirements. (My interpretation could very well be wrong.) However, should my interpretation be correct, it may be possible for WKYT to add more content to either the primary broadcast (the CBS affiliate programming) or the second stream (the CW programming). Personally, I would like to see WKYT attempt to adopt a fourth subchannel, and dedicate it to E/I programming. I did find an interesting bit in what the FCC said in regard to certain exceptions to the rules. A station can rebroadcast the main signal over another stream either simultaneously or time-shifted without the need of broadcasting additional E/I content. This is logical, since the "rebroadcast" would already contain the initial requirements. So, a station could broadcast the main programming on a secondary stream, have it shifted to such a point where children's programming was knocked out of the required block, and the station would not be in violation of the rules. I don't see where any station would want to do so, but it could be done. ...and I have no idea why I find any of this interesting, nor do I really think anyone else does. So why did I write any of this in the first place? ...and, should you want to see if I'm completely wrong in my understanding of the rules, here's what I read: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-221A1.doc[3] or view it in scribd form! http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/212[4] Tags: #fcc, #technology, #television, #Weather
1: http://kg4vma.livejournal.com/215970.html
4: http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/212
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