From: frank.kennedy@u2u.lonestar.org (Frank Kennedy) 
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite
Subject: FCC Docket          12/15
Date: 4 Jan 93 22:32:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: USER-TO-USER PCBoard (214)492-6565 (USR DS v32bis)
Reply-To: frank.kennedy@u2u.lonestar.org (Frank Kennedy) 

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           and 1950s, when the Commission was presented  with  a  choice

           between different color TV technologies. seeking  to  capture the

           field, CBS submitted a petition which was  initially  rejected by

           the Commission in 1947.

                The FCC 1947 Annual Report stated:

                While recognizing the advances that have  been  made  in
              color television development, the  Commission  concluded that
              further experimentation is needed ... Also a decision must be
              made on standards.  Otherwise, the public  could  not purchase
              receivers with any assurance that they would  be  able  to
              receive programs from all television stations, or that
              their sets would not become useless if  the  existing station
              should change any of the fundamentals. (Thirteenth Annual
              Report of the Federal  Communications  Commission,  Fiscal
              Year End June 30, 1947).

                However, after World War II, intense politicking  by  CBS led

            the Commission to endorse its technology, which  then  failed in

           the marketplace.  Subsequently, perhaps remembering  the wisdom

           of its earlier decision, the Commission backed RCA's NTSC color

           television system, which was compatible with the  black  and white

           television sets available at that time.12


           C. Politicking Could Lead the Commission Astray

                CSC urges the FCC not to repeat its earlier mistake.

           Although digital signal technology is just around  the  corner, it

           still remains for a particular technology to be  accepted.  Most

           of the technologies that companies now  contemplate introducing

           would






           12. See Inglis, Andrew F., Behind the Tube: A History of
           Broadcasting Technology and Business, p. 266-268,
           London: Butterworth (1990).
          bring obsolescence to consumer equipment, as they would not be

          compatible with the NTSC standard.

               Only the programmers would benefit by the replacement of the

          NTSC standard with a Digital Video Standard.  Programmers estimate

          that by transmitting their programming via digital video

          compression they could save some three-quarters of a  million

          dollars on a monthly basis.  Yet, this new standard would  not

          result in cost savings for the end user.  Rather, the

          implementation of the new standard is more likely to escalate

          consumer costs for equipment and multiply the price of  programs

          delivered to the home.


          D. CSC's Recommendations in the Area of Digital Technology

               In an effort to suggest a compromise that is satisfactory to

          both consumers and the big media owners, CSC offers the following

          suggestions; these involve both the most effective use of

          available frequencies, as well as reliance upon compatible

          consumer technology:

               Programmers seeking to move to a digital standard claim that

          they would save three-quarters of a million dollars through  the
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