US Cable Support > Comcast Cable TV > Say goodbye to ClearQAM

reply to telcodad

Re: Say goodbye to ClearQAM

An article today on the Broadcasting & Cable site on the NAB asking to FCC to extend the "Viewability Rule":

NAB Supports Extending Cable Carriage Mandate
Supports FCC's proposal that it modify the waiver so that it would not apply to any smaller cable system that offers HD versions of other channels
Broadcasting & Cable - March 12, 2012
»www.broadcastingcable.com/articl···date.php

"Not surprisingly, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) wants the FCC to retain its cable analog carriage mandate for another three years. NAB also supports small cable operators' bid to retain their waiver of the HD carriage mandate for another three years.

"The Viewability Rule has worked well to minimize the disruption of the digital transition to cable subscribers with analog receivers," NAB said, "Since there remain millions of analog receivers served by cable systems, the Commission should extend the Viewability Rule to ensure compliance with the Communications Act's command that must carry signals be provided to and viewable by all subscribers to a cable system."

The commission last month asked whether it should extend the mandate that cable operators deliver all TV stations' digital signals in analog format to analog customers or, alternatively, make sure all its customers have the equipment to view a digital signal.

It may be in the form of a question, but the FCC signaled in its rulemaking proposal that it was pretty sure of the answer. "The available market evidence seems to indicate that the viewability requirements remain important to consumers.""

Well this is no surprise, but the NCTA begs to differ with the NAB, and says it's time to end the dual carriage mandate:

NCTA: Time To Ditch Dual Carriage
Cable Organization Argues MSOs Should No Longer Have to Carry Analog, Digital Versions of TV Stations
Multichannel News - March 13, 2012
»www.multichannel.com/article/481···iage.php

"The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is ready for the Federal Communications Commission to stop requiring cable operators to carry TV stations in both analog and digital versions, arguing the dual carriage mandate has is consumer unfriendly, unwieldy, no longer justifiable in a fiercely competitive marketplace, and unconstitutional.

The FCC last month suggested that the three-year requirement that cable operators distribute must-carry stations in both formats as part of the 2009 DTV transition should be extended another three years. While cable operators belonging to NCTA voluntarily agreed to the initial three-year carriage, even saying they would do so whether or not there was a mandate, they are ready to free up that bandwidth for the demands of an HD-filled, over-the-top delivered world. Cable ops are also required to deliver must-carry stations in HD if that is how they are delivered over-the-air.

The FCC voted in September 2007 to mandate dual-carriage for three years beyond the DTV switchover date of Feb. 17, 2009 . The FCC last month asked for comment on whether to extend the mandate, clarifying that when the DTV date was moved to June 12, so was the three-year end date, which gives the FCC until June 12 of this year to extend the requirement or let it sunset.

In comments to the FCC, NCTA argued that it needs the bandwidth being taken up by continued analog and digital carriage of must-carry stations for more consumer-friendly uses like over-the-top video. It points out that the monopoly tag the Supreme Court put on cable in upholding must carry narrowly (5-4) in the Turner decision no longer applies, and even if it did, a dual-carriage mandate would not hold up even under intermediate First Amendment scrutiny today, when cable no longer has the "bottleneck" control over access to customers.

"Today, vibrant competition from direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") and telephone company multichannel services has eliminated any such bottleneck control. And, in any event, unlike a signal that is not carried at all, a signal carried in digital format is fully viewable to those cable customers who subscribe to digital services," NCTA said. "Meanwhile, other customers can view such signals simply by obtaining and attaching readily available equipment."

NCTA believes the rule requiring operators to carry analog channels is of little or no value to analog customers while taking up valuable digital real estate.

"The rule interferes with the editorial discretion of operators in determining how best to meet the programming needs and demand of all their customers," said NCTA.

It is an argument cable operators have made, so far unsuccessfully, in fighting the overall must-carry regime, while providing a bandwidth burden that can no longer be seen as negligible."

Looks like Boxee is still in there fighting to keep Clear QAM:

Big Media Tussles With Tiny Boxee Over the Future of TV
Bloomberg - April 4, 2012
»www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-0···-tv.html

Some excerpts:

"Boxee Inc., a New York startup that makes software for showing Internet video on televisions, is heading to Washington to challenge some of the biggest names in the media industry.

The company is fighting a proposed Federal Communications Commission rule backed by Comcast Corp., News Corp. and Walt Disney Co. that would let cable operators encrypt the TV transmissions that are delivered to U.S. homes. That means anyone trying to watch cable TV on a Boxee device would only see static, even if they were paying for a cable subscription.

Boxee, which has previously feuded with Hollywood-backed Hulu LLC, wants to be able to replace traditional cable boxes with its own software and hardware, rather than equipment endorsed by Comcast and other cable providers. At stake is whether media companies can restrict their customers from a wider range of options -- a battle that the technology industry needs to fight in Washington, Boxee says.

“Definitely startups, but tech in general, don’t focus on D.C. as much,” said Avner Ronen, chief executive officer of Boxee, which has 45 employees. “We’re not speaking D.C.-speak or FCC-speak, for good or for worse.”

Ronen has an uphill battle ahead. In the October proposal, which was put forth before Boxee voiced its opposition, the FCC wrote that the change “will not substantially affect compatibility between cable service and consumer electronics equipment for most subscribers.” That’s not true, Ronen said, and he’s working to convince the FCC of that. Neil Grace, a spokesman for the agency, said the FCC hasn’t reached a decision on whether to pass the rule.

Sena Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia-based Comcast, declined to comment beyond public FCC filings. In those statements, Comcast has encouraged regulators to pass the rule and said Boxee’s concerns were “without merit.” "
:
"[Nick] Miller, Ronen and Melissa Marks, Boxee’s only lawyer, took a train to Washington to meet with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Feb. 1. Ronen maintained the startup aura by wearing a Boxee hoodie rather than a suit.

“We’ve put on our lobbying hats,” Miller said. “There’s no attempt by the regulatory groups to actually talk to us.” "
:
"The media industry complains that technology companies fight against their anti-piracy measures without offering alternatives or adopting industry-approved standards.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, a cable-industry trade group, wants Boxee to use a different protocol called CableCARD to access live programming. The organization described Boxee as a competitor to cable operators that’s trying to prevent them from “modernizing their networks.” Boxee says CableCARD would significantly increase the cost of its hardware because the system requires the company to install a card in its boxes and pay service fees.

The Consumer Electronics Association, meanwhile, opposes the FCC’s cable encryption proposal.

“The FCC should not act piecemeal,” Julie Kearney, a spokeswoman for the electronics trade group, said in an e-mail. Cable companies should adopt a system “based on open standards, that will promote competition and will give consumers new choices -- other than simply accepting another cable box.”

The AllVid Tech Company Alliance, a group that includes Google Inc. and Sony Corp., also opposes the proposal. An executive on Google’s legal team in Washington told Boxee that Google hasn’t gotten involved directly because it’s not a pressing issue for the company’s business, said Miller, the intern. Google didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Boxee only has about $50,000 to spend on lobbying, Ronen said. Compare that with the combined $30.6 million spent by Comcast, News Corp. and Disney last year, according to the OpenSecrets.org site of the Center for Responsive Politics, though that includes lobbying on a wide range of issues.

“It’s a lot of money,” Ronen said."

reply to Jtmo
$8? that is the price of a full cable box. So why pay the same and get less?

reply to telcodad
An article on the Multichannel News site yesterday about some small cable companies complaining about the cost of the boxes they must provide free per the FCC's proposed conditions:

ACA Seeks FCC Help to Encrypt Basic
Survey Indicates Half Couldn't Afford to Encrypt Under Agency's Proposals
Multichannel News - April 9, 2012
»www.multichannel.com/article/482···asic.php

An excerpt:

"[The] ACA has argued in earlier filings that among the problems are the cost of boxes to smaller operators, who must provide free boxes to some households per FCC conditions.

The FCC last October proposed allowing cable ops to encrypt digital basic. It originally adopted the rule prohibiting cable operators from scrambling their digital basic tiers so viewers with cable-ready sets would not have to buy or rent a set-top, but has granted waivers, most notably to Cablevision in New York. Given that cable operators are moving to digital and citing the environmental-friendliness on cutting down on truck rolls by allowing activation and de-activation remotely, as well as making it easier to prevent theft of service, the FCC has proposed to allow encryption, but under certain conditions.

The FCC back in October conceded there was an issue with consumers with basic-only digital who accessed it without set-tops, or second or third sets without digital boxes that would now need new equipment to unscramble a signal. It proposed adopting the conditions it put on the waiver it gave Cablevision to encrypt its basic service in New York.

Those conditions include requiring cable operators to offer "current basic-only subscribers up to two set-top boxes or CableCARDs without charge for up to two years, (b) digital subscribers who have an additional television set currently receiving basic-only service one set-top box or CableCARD without charge for one year, and (c) current qualified low-income basic-only subscribers up to two set-top boxes or CableCARDs without charge for five years." But it also asked whether this was adequate of whether the Cablevision time frames are appropriate."

With this agreement between Boxee and Comcast now, it looks like we're one step closer to having the digital basic tier of channels being encrypted and no more Clear QAM ones:

Comcast, Boxee Hammer Out Crypto Deal
By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News - June 28, 2012
»www.multichannel.com/article/486···Deal.php

The letter from Comcast to the FCC on the agreement can be found here: »apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?···21979205

quote:

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The initial solution described by Comcast and Boxee involves the development of an HD transport adapter with an Ethernet connector, dubbed an "E-DTA," to let a third-party device access basic tier channels directly through an Ethernet input and to change channels remotely in the E-DTA via a DLNA protocol.

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quote:

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A long-term solution involves the creation of a licensing path for integrating the DTA technology into third-party devices. Such a device could access encrypted basic tier channels without the need for a cable operator-supplied DTA or set-top box, according to Comcast and Boxee.

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Or better yet, AllVid or RVU, which this 'adapter' should really be doing instead of some custom one-off for Comcast. Of course that would mean that *gasp* the cableCos would agree to an open access set of standards over IP. Perish the thought.

reply to dishrich

said by dishrich:

quote:

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The initial solution described by Comcast and Boxee involves the development of an HD transport adapter with an Ethernet connector, dubbed an "E-DTA," to let a third-party device access basic tier channels directly through an Ethernet input and to change channels remotely in the E-DTA via a DLNA protocol.

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Uh-huh...but yet an HD-DTA from CC still hasn't seen the light of day yet...

reply to GTFan

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reply to Joe12345678

well do you want to have to rent a AllVid or other gateway at $7-$20+ /mo for something that has say a cost of $100-$250.

reply to telcodad
Well, according to an item in today's Light Reading Cable news round-up, a small cable company in Oregon, BendBroadband, has become the first one to start rolling out HD-DTAs - maybe this will help spur Comcast into doing the same:

Cable's Cheap HD Video Era Gets Rolling
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - July 23, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable