New York, NY--DirecTV does not want the FCC forcing it and other DBS providers to carry broadcasters' multicasting streams.
According to CableFAX, in an FCC filing last week, DirecTV discussed its plans to launch 500 local HD channels next year and another 1,000 in 2007. It noted that launching these signals depends on being able to use compression and carriage of the primary video signal only. DirecTV argued HD carriage actually would decrease bandwidth requirements for cable systems. A 6Mhz over-the-air (OTA) analog channel takes up 6MHz on an analog system. An HD OTA signal uses only 3-4 MHz on a typical digital system. "Thus, digital conversion saves 1/3 to 1/2 the capacity currently required for retransmission of local stations," DirecTV said. But for DBS operations, it said, conversion for HD requires six times as much capacity for local broadcast carriage. "Any HD carriage requirement prior to launch of all four satellites would severely limit DirecTV's ability to serve local markets."
