This past week the Pew Research Center released an analysis that shows that local broadcast TV continues to be a “most-turned-to” source for news and information for consumers.  Given the overall popularity of broadcast TV this is not surprising, but what’s most interesting is that local TV stations are adjusting to a dynamically changing market by airing newscasts in nontraditional time slots – 4:30 am and 7:00 pm – to get viewers to tune in. And, it’s working.

In their analysis, Pew found that in 2014 more than 11.1 million American’s watched their local news at 7:00 pm, representing an 11 percent increase from the year before. Overall viewership for broadcast TV newscasts at 4:30 am was also up six percent last year.

What makes local broadcast TV so important to Americans? For an important part of the answer, one only has to look to the recent on-the-ground emergency lifeline reporting local broadcasters provided to viewers as a powerful tornado ripped through Cameron, IL and severe flooding overwhelmed communities along the Arkansas-Missouri border.  It is this kind of commitment to local communities that makes TV broadcasters the most trusted and reliable source for news and emergency information in America.

In addition to the lifeline emergency reporting by local TV stations, it’s clear that primetime network programming shows and live sports only add to broadcast TV’s appeal among consumers.

In today’s fast-paced, broadband and broadcast world, it’s clear that emerging opportunities for U.S. consumers to access local broadcast TV content, including popular primetime network shows, live sporting events, and local news and weather updates, on multiple digital platforms are major contributing factors to consumers’ insatiable appetite for video consumption everywhere, all the time.  But that certainly does not mean that traditional television viewing is going away anytime soon.

Recent data shows that Broadcast TV content is still king, with 77 percent (or tens of millions) of U.S. consumers regularly watching scheduled broadcast TV programming and nightly newscasts. Moreover, 75 percent of consumers watch streamed on-demand video, including broadcast TV shows, several times a week.  The continuing emergence of over-the-top services will only increase the amount of time consumers are watching broadcast TV content because of its convenience and easy-to-use capabilities that afford consumers cross-platform access to the content of their choice.

Ultimately, consumers’ sheer access to free, local broadcast TV, and its lifeline to emergency information and America’s most-watched programming, creates a positive disruptive competitive force in the marketplace that industry must account for in their delivery of video services to customers on all digital platforms.  Simply put, video services are much more appealing to consumers when they include access to broadcast TV content.

It’s clear that federal policymakers and lawmakers must factor in consumers’ undeniable preference for broadcast TV on multiple platforms when reshaping the future regulatory regime for the delivery of video services in America.

What’s the best path forward to ensure that consumers have access to broadcast TV in a 21st Century broadband and broadcast world?  It may be one of the single most important questions the federal government must address in the coming months.

Kenny is director of public affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and others advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC

Read More

On Friday, July 3, TVfreedom, Antennas Direct, the National Association of Broadcasters, KTSF-TV and KRON-TV joined forces to distribute over 300 antennas for free to residents in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The people receiving the antennas were excited to gain immediate access to up to 70 local broadcast TV channels in the San Francisco Bay Area at no charge to them, including digital broadcast streams in their native language. The giveaway, timed with last week’s 2015 OCA National Convention in San Francisco, represents the latest stop in the Coalition’s nationwide “TV Liberation Tour,” which began in Washington, DC in 2014 and will include multiple tour stops in cities across America in 2015.

With skyrocketing monthly prices preventing many low-income residents from subscribing to cable or satellite TV, the digital broadcast TV antenna is a way to help ensure that they can stay connected to their communities, enjoy popular network entertainment programming, access local news coverage and programming, and receive real-time emergency alerts and warnings when disaster strikes. The digital television transition created the opportunity for local TV stations to send multiple broadcast streams to viewers, including diverse programming tailored to niche audiences in languages other than English. This has made a tremendous difference in the lives of Asian and Pacific Island Americans in San Francisco’s Chinatown and other communities throughout the U.S. who value broadcast localism to help them stay informed.

– See KRON-TV coverage the San Francisco tour stop here.

– See KPOP-TV coverage of the San Francisco tour stop here.

– See pre-event, in-studio interview with NAB’s Dennis Wharton and Antennas Direct Richard Schneider here.
(Complements of KRON-TV)

Read More

Washington, DC – TVFreedom.org and Antennas Direct will give away over 300 indoor digital broadcast TV antennas in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Friday, July 3, 2015 at 9:00 AM. The giveaway will be held in conjunction with this week’s 2015 OCA National Convention. This is the latest stop in the TVfreedom.org/Antennas Direct joint TV Liberation Tour that was launched last year and will include several new, yet-to-be-announced, tour stops in 2015.

The event will feature a tour bus with big picture screen HD TV’s, information on the local broadcast TV channels available to San Franciscans and other promotional giveaway items such as t-shirts and discount coupons to purchase additional antennas online.

The ClearStream Eclipse TV antennas, once installed, will enable viewers to watch dozens of local broadcast TV channels in the San Francisco Bay area for free. This will ensure their access to local news and programming, public safety information and most-watched primetime network programming.

WHERE: Clayton Hotel, 667 Clay Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94111 (on the street outside the hotel)

WHEN: Friday, July 3, 2015, 9:00 AM (one antenna per household | first come, first serve)

Event Media Availability:

• Richard Schneider, President and Owner of Antennas Direct
• Dennis Wharton, Executive Vice President, Communications, National Association of Broadcasters
• Ken Lee, National Chief Executive Officer and National Past President, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocate

Media Contacts:

Robert C. Kenny                                           Jeremy Nulik

Director of Public Affairs                                   Director of Public Affairs

rkenny@tvfreedom.org                                      jeremy@kolbeco.net

(202) 412-0976                                                    (314) 288-8089

@RkennyTVfreedom                                           @jeremynulik

 

Read More

TVfreedom.org member ZGS Communications, one of the leading minority broadcasters and the largest independent broadcast TV affiliate of the Telemundo network, has filed public comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to highlight the fact that, for years, DirecTV has systematically denied the Hispanic community access to its local stations (letter filed as part of the proceeding on the proposed AT&T/DirecTV merger (MB Docket No. 14-90)).  By withholding carriage to ZGS stations, DirecTV is denying local TV service to millions of Latino subscribers in major television markets.

ZGS is requesting that the FCC look closely at this issue and encourage more flexibility on DirecTV’s part and, if necessary, take affirmative steps to facilitate further talks between ZGS and DirecTV regarding this outstanding matter.  

Ronald Gordon, CEO, ZGS Communications, said, “It’s only fair and right that DirecTV offer the Latino community the same level of commitment and service that it offers to all of its other subscribers.  Therefore, the commission should broker a mutually-acceptable settlement between DirecTV and DirecTV’s successor (AT&T) and ZGS, contemplating retransmission of ZGS’ (local broadcast TV) stations in every market prior to federal approval of the proposed merger.

“AT&T ought to take cognizance of the needs and interests of the Latino community it will serve and the significance of the local programming our stations offer should the merger be approved.”

You may review the full letter here.

 

 

Read More

Cherry Picking Local-into-Local TV Service is Discriminatory

DirecTV recently launched a new satellite that enables the pay-TV giant to deliver expanded 4K digital TV services to its customers who can afford to pay for premium service. Yet, DirecTV has never made good on a promise it made to the Federal Communications Commission in 2003 as part of a previous merger approval.

Today, DirecTV inexplicably denies tens of thousands of its subscribers access to local broadcast TV service in the following 11 local markets operating across 10 states: Alpena, MI; Bowling Green, KY; Casper and Riverton, WY; Cheyenne, WY and Scottsbluff; NE; Glendive, MT; Grand Junction and Montrose, CO; Helena, MT; North Platte, NE; Ottumwa, IA and Kirksville, MO; Presque Isle, ME; and Victoria, TX.

In addition to sitting on massive profits and facing no technological barriers preventing it from addressing this glaring service gap, DirectTV simply failed to invest in the infrastructure needed to deliver local into local TV service to rural customers in these local TV markets.

As a result, it could be argued that DirecTV’s behavior is a form of redlining.

Why would DirecTV cherry pick only markets in urban America to deliver local into local TV service? Why deny access to emergency alerts and warnings, local news and political debate coverage to rural America?

Interestingly, its competitor, Dish Network, made the necessary investments years ago and, today, delivers local-into-local broadcast TV service to all of its customers in every local TV market in the country.

For decades, local TV stations have served as a primary source of entertainment, local news and lifesaving weather alerts in communities large and small.  Nowhere has that been more evident than in the nation’s heartland, where broadcasters serve as first-informers in times of disaster.  Often, it’s the local TV station that is the only reliable and trusted source for news and information when cellphone networks crash and Internet service proves unreliable.

As FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said in April, “From a historical perspective, over-the-air broadcasting has contributed immeasurably to providing our uniquely diverse society with a sense of community, with a sense of shared experience.”  The Chairman went on to acknowledge the major contributions that broadcasters make each day serving as first informers, putting themselves in harm’s way to provide viewers with an invaluable and vital “information lifeline” during emergencies.

DirecTV customers in Cheyenne and Scottsbluff want to receive local news and programming from their local TV stations, not from another station whose distant broadcast signal is imported by the company into local markets from hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away.

Investment in rural America matters.  Surely the tens of thousands of DirecTV customers impacted by this situation would embrace the company’s investment in localism.  Such a commitment would ultimately expand their customers’ access to the trusted and reliable broadcast TV reporting that local stations deliver to viewers year round.

It’s time for DirecTV to end this discriminatory practice and make good on this broken promise.

The pay-TV giant needs to make good on its promise of 12 years ago to federal regulators and not allow it to fall victim to its anticipated merger with AT&T in the coming weeks.

It will certainly be disheartening if a promise made by DirecTV to secure an earlier merger is dismissed by the FCC as part of its approval of the company’s new merger with AT&T.  What would that say about DirecTV’s view of Rural America?

Kenny is director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and other independent organizations advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

Read More

The work of broadcasters creates a viable lifeline to emergency information for Americans

By Robert C. Kenny | June 10, 2015

If you have taken a look at the national news over the past few weeks, you likely saw some disturbing images from Texas and Oklahoma, where record rainfall created extreme flooding that resulted in loss of life and devastation to communities large and small.

But if you looked closer at the images you saw on national news networks, you noticed that the footage being shown on CNN and elsewhere came mostly from local news stations in Texas and Oklahoma. While residents in the storm-impacted communities rightfully tried to protect themselves and safeguard their homes and businesses, local broadcasters took to the flooded roads and stormy skies to provide the most up-to-the-minute, relevant information for residents searching for news, road closure information and future forecasts.

It’s times like these, when entire communities count on the reliable and trusted storm coverage of local broadcasters.  The work of broadcasters creates a viable lifeline to emergency information and is critically important to the lifesaving actions of another set of hometown heroes: first responders.

First responders – such as firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical service professionals – often rely on local broadcasters as “first informers,” who are truly the eyes on the ground and in the air for local communities.  No one is better equipped than local news stations to provide this vital information to emergency personnel in times of crisis.

For example, KHOU in Houston deployed its helicopter for a birds-eye view of the flooding, which in turn allowed emergency response personnel to more clearly locate trapped residents and identify the best ways to rescue them.

Local TV stations also serve an important role by providing government and public safety officials with a public megaphone to share real-time updates in emergencies, share guidance and safety precautions and help the public cope with the circumstances as they unfold.

This type of around-the-clock devotion to a community helps save lives, with the commitment of local TV stations to keep viewers informed going well beyond news coverage.  For example, KPRC in Houston not only aired continuous coverage of the floods, but created a phone bank staffed by station personnel.  They answered calls from storm survivors and provided them with invaluable information about Houston’s emergency response activities and available services.

“We had a Red Cross phone bank here at the station,” Mike Guerrieri, the creative services director of the station said.  “So my staff has been involved in that, answering phones, giving out information, talking to the community, that kind of thing.”

During these types of events, Guerrieri says, “It’s not about being the best station or the first station, it’s about letting people know they can count on us to receive the information they need on all platforms.”

It’s this level of community leadership and commitment that makes local broadcasters indispensable when tragedy strikes and it’s the dedicated news coverage of local TV stations that all Americans have come to trust and rely on in the most difficult times.

Kenny is director of public affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and others advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

Read More

The FCC Chairman Recognizing the Critical Role of Local Broadcasting in Our Nation’s Media Landscape

By Robert C. Kenny | April 20, 2015

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s keynote address at the NAB Show in Las Vegas last week explained how broadcasting advances the public interest and represents an “important part of our future.” He acknowledged that local broadcasters are “the most important source of breaking news” and the first place the American public turns to for accurate and timely updates during emergencies.

Traditional TV remains the most widely accessible platform that a majority of the nation’s consumers use to access network and local broadcast TV news and programming. In fact, a recent study illustrates that Americans prefer traditional TV as a means to access video content, led by the highly-popular network primetime shows and sports, as well as local TV content produced by broadcasters.

Today, American consumers generally watch 149 hours per month of broadcast and cable programming on traditional television. This reveals an often overlooked fact, that even in the face of seismic and irreversible changes in video viewership patterns and use resulting from Internet-based video, Americans continue to choose home TV viewing as their most popular way to access video programming. Even millennials, whose abandoning of traditional pay-TV has been well-documented, still watch on average two-and-a-half hours per day of television in the home.

Of course, the video marketplace continues to evolve as we witness a migration to web-based, over-the-top (OTT) services away from pay-TV. Despite this evolution, traditional TV, with its unique and local content is still thriving. The latest data shows that television viewers value their access to network and local broadcast TV, whether over-the-air or through a paid TV subscription (if they can afford it).

Policies governing the video marketplace of the future must both advance and reflect the growing role of internet-based OTT services and consumers’ continuing demand for access to broadcast TV through both traditional in-home means and an ever-expanding broadband world. Most importantly, it is essential that the FCC ensures that technology shifts enhance, but do not undermine, local TV stations in their efforts to serve their communities.

Chairman Wheeler said it best: “The expansion of OTT programming and broadcasting’s place in this new world is a matter of mutual interest (for broadcasters and federal regulators).” The FCC and TV broadcasters should continue to work together to realize the benefits of the “new world” the Chairman speaks of so that a vibrant over-the-air broadcasting industry will be able to fulfill its historic localism mission and continue to provide tremendous value to the American public.

Kenny is director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and other independent organizations advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

Read More

By Robert C. Kenny | March 24, 2015

In communities across America, local TV broadcasters serve as trusted sources for breaking news, hard-hitting political and investigative stories, and emergency information in times of disaster and severe weather.

It’s the deep commitment of local broadcasters to investigating and uncovering societal wrongs and reporting on tragic and disastrous situations that has earned them the trust of millions of U.S. television viewers.

Local TV broadcasters across the country remain committed to delivering timely, accurate and reliable news and information to their viewers as they strive to meet the standard set decades ago by legendary network anchors.  Local broadcast TV stations KUSA Denver, KXAN Austin, and WDSU New Orleans reached that pinnacle this year as recipients of the prestigious Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television for their compelling storytelling and accuracy in reporting.  Their award-winning broadcasts ranged from spot on election coverage to exposing local political corruption, among other powerfully revealing news stories.

Make no mistake: broadcast television remains at the heart of journalism’s largest public square for informing viewers and continues to make immeasurable contributions to our nation’s strong democratic way of life.

In assessing the news reporting value of Broadcast TV in today’s society, independent studies show that it remains an important part of most Americans’ daily video consumption.  On a daily basis, broadcast TV news continues to trump the largest cable networks in evening news viewership by a significant margin.

At present, nearly 60 million Americans primarily rely on free, over-the-air broadcast TV and more than 100 million paid television subscribers nationwide value access to local broadcast TV through their pay-TV service.

For those that have both pay-TV subscriptions and web-based, video-on-demand services, Horowitz Research reveals that the overwhelming majority of multi-platform viewers “are not ready to give up easy access to broadcast programming,” even with the growing emergence of several over-the-top (OTT) streaming services in the marketplace.

OTT services offer options to all consumers and cater to personal choice, but there are strong early indications in the marketplace that these stand-alone offerings are not going to simply replace Americans traditional television viewing habits.

Moreover, the latest data on millennial (consumers ages 18 to 34 years) viewing habits shows that nearly 30 percent of their viewing time is spent watching live TV and 17 percent streaming video, including broadcast TV content, over their mobile smart devices.  Thus, this generation appears to use the broadband Internet as another video platform to watch their favorite broadcast content.  If done right, OTT offerings will help expand consumers’ ability to access local news programming online.

Consumers clearly value broadcast TV in America irrespective of the technology or viewing platforms used to access it.  Why? Because local and network TV broadcasters are reliable and trusted sources of political and investigative news reporting for viewers on what today remains journalism’s largest public square: television.

For the sake of our democracy and the preferences of U.S. consumers, it’s something Washington’s lawmakers and policymakers cannot simply dismiss or take for granted: the power, reach and influence of broadcast TV news.

In closing, it is only fitting to invoke the signature trademark of Cronkite, who, each night, signed off for CBS Evening News viewers with a simple, but remarkably powerful phrase, “And, that’s the way it is.”

Kenny is director of public affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and others advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

Read More

By Robert C. Kenny | March 4, 2015

In September 2014 TVfreedom.org publicly questioned the American Cable Association (ACA) in a letter about how many of its member cable companies have failed to fully transition to digital technology.  The questions were presented in the context of potential barriers ACA member cable systems might face if they were to implement a cumbersome and relatively expensive à la carte service on their paid television systems exclusively for local broadcast TV channels.

As of this date, we are still awaiting ACA’s response.

Without ACA’s assistance, we understand that hundreds of small cable systems across the U.S. have yet to fully upgrade to digital.

Even as the Federal Communications Commission wrestles with the core questions related to the IP technology transitions across a myriad of communications industries, its own report reveals that more than 200 small cable systems – those with 5,000 to 20,000 subscribers – remain stuck on outdated analog technology to deliver service to their customers.  Furthermore, approximately 400 mid-size and large cable systems, with more than 20,000 subscribers, have yet to migrate to all-digital technology and continue to rely on a hybrid mix of digital and analog technologies.

It’s ironic that the same cable companies who make wildly outlandish claims that broadcasting is “yesterday’s technology” continue to deliver inferior analog service to their viewers years after America’s TV broadcasters completed the full digital television transition across the country.

As members of the American Television Alliance – the Washington pay-TV lobbying machine – ACA’s members have been among the biggest cheerleaders for a 2014 proposal known as “Local Choice” that would’ve drastically changed how broadcast TV is delivered on America’s paid television systems had it become law.  Despite skepticism for the proposal in various Washington circles, ACA continues to seek Congressional help to advance legislation that would permit them to create broadcast-TV-only à la carte channel lineups on pay-TV systems.

While lobbying for the Local Choice proposals in Congress, back home the bulk of ACA’s member cable systems have failed to modernize and offer their subscribers the upgraded 21st Century all-digital technologies necessary to support advanced paid television service.

Oddly, in failing to upgrade their own systems, ACA members face certain financial, technical and operational barriers to implementing the broadcast-only à la carte channel lineups for subscribers they say are so desperately needed.

ACA should set its rhetoric aside and instead provide Washington with some straight talk, especially since its members are in town this week for their organization’s 2015 Annual Policy Summit.

Bottom line: broadcast channel viewers and ACA subscribers deserve specific answers on why ACA member cable companies have been slow to transition to 21st Century digital technology.

Kenny is director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and other independent organizations advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC.

Read More

Is winter over yet? This season has produced some of the most widespread, disruptive weather that the United States has seen in many years.  Bouts of frigidly cold temperatures, snow, ice, slush and everything in between has blanketed the country from top to bottom. In fact, at one point in February, snow was on the ground in all 48 contiguous states.

As this unprecedented wintry weather continues to hit millions of Americans this season, one thing remains abundantly clear: when inclement weather strikes, Americans turn to local broadcasters for storm updates, school closures and potentially life-saving information that only they can provide on a daily basis.

Local broadcast TV stations are just that: local. The value of having a news team on the ground in local communities cannot be overstated when it comes to winter weather. National news sources can and do provide important news and updates relevant to all Americans, but there is no substitute for local reporters and meteorologists who can devote their entire newscast to updating area residents on forecasts, road conditions and school and event cancellations.

In November 2014, Western New York was hit by a crippling lake-effect snow blitz that dropped 7 feet of snow on Buffalo residents in less than one week.  The unprecedented series of deadly snow storms recorded a snowfall rate of six inches per hour, paralyzing communities and causing a 132-mile stretch of the NYS thruway to be shut down for days.

FCC Commissioner and Buffalo native, Michael O’Rielly, praised the dedication and commitment of local broadcasters during their relentless and continuous winter storm coverage last November, saying, “They kept powering through the storm, committing umpteen hours of airtime, and bringing in teams from other parts of the country, making sure they had troops to get out the information.  I was very impressed also with their use of social media — not only were people listening and watching their broadcasts, they were also getting their information out as fast as they could on different media as best they could.”

This winter’s been unkind to New Englanders as well. Boston was continuously hammered by winter storms, ultimately recording more than 100 inches of snow this season. During this inundation of snow, Bostonians turned to local broadcasters to receive updates on what was coming next, and how the city planned to help shovel and remove the unprecedented amount of snow from roads and sidewalks. As the city ground to a halt, local television stations were able to alert area residents to the most important and vital information that would help individuals and families navigate through a city paralyzed by unprecedented snow accumulations.

For example, when Boston Mayor Marty Walsh took steps to shut down the city’s main public transportation arteries – MBTA’s “T” commuter rail and bus routes – local broadcasters were able to inform city residents of cancellations or long delays that could severely impact a worker’s commute, or a suburbanite’s planned route into or out of the city.

As much of the nation watched national news reports on the snowstorms walloping the New England region, Boston’s on-the-ground broadcasters continued to diligently report the news in ways that made life in a frozen city a bit more tolerable. Yet, Buffalo and Boston weren’t the only U.S. regions facing severe winter weather.

Local broadcast TV weathercasters continued their relentless coverage this past weekend with a massive winter storm blanketing roadways in the Midwest and throughout the eastern seaboard – from North Carolina to Massachusetts – with a deadly wintry mix of ice, sleet and snow.

Many southern states that are normally spared from Jack Frost’s fury have been forced to face snow and ice storms in cities and towns that have limited infrastructure for dealing with perilous wintry conditions. As schools close their doors due to winter storms from Louisiana to Virginia, local broadcasters have worked overtime to provide viewers with up-to-the-minute information on closings and delays, and helped to provide information for drivers who may have never driven on icy roads before.

With yet another winter storm sweeping across the US now and expected to hit Chicago, Cincinnati and Boston this week, television viewers in storm-impacted regions can take some comfort in the fact that their local TV stations will provide continuous storm coverage to keep them informed on dangerous travel conditions, school closings and other storm-related developments impacting them.

It is for all of these reasons that we appreciate Congress’ ongoing support of local TV broadcasters, and our elected officials’ awareness of the importance of locally-tailored news. Members of Congress have continued to show support for the vital information and severe weather updates broadcasters provide to their communities.  It is also the reason why Congress originally put laws and regulations in place so that America’s television viewers had access to the lifeline reporting that local TV stations provide– and for this, we are thankful.

Any legislative changes to the rules governing the U.S. video marketplace must take into consideration the irreplaceable lifeline reporting that local TV stations provide to all Americans.  Where would we be without it?

Kenny is director of Public Affairs for TVfreedom.org, a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network TV affiliate associations and other independent organizations advocating for preserving the retransmission consent regime. He is a former press secretary at the FCC

Read More