Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554

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1 Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC In the Matter of ) ) International Comparison and Consumer ) GN Docket No Survey Requirements in the Broadband ) Data Improvement Act ) ) A National Broadband Plan for Our Future ) GN Docket No ) Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of ) GN Docket No Advanced Telecommunications Capability ) To All Americans in a Reasonable and ) Timely Fashion, and Possible Steps to ) Accelerate Such Deployment Pursuant to ) Section 706 of the Telecommunications ) Act of 1996, as Amended by the Broadband ) Data Improvement Act ) To: Secretary, Federal Communications Commission Attention: The Commission COMMENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM IN RESPONSE TO NBP PUBLIC NOTICE # 26 The University of Houston System provides these comments in response to the Commission s Public Notice 1 seeking comment in the referenced dockets on spectrum for broadband. We are the licensee of noncommercial educational television station KUHT(TV), DTV Channel 8 (and Major Channel 8), Houston, Texas. Through HoustonPBS, we serve to empower, engage and enrich the lives of the people of Southeast Texas. To further those goals, we provide a varied schedule including national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) programming, award-winning locally produced programming, college courses, and 1 Data Sought on Uses of Spectrum - NBP Public Notice #26, GN Docket Nos , 09-51, , Public Notice, DA (rel. December 2, 2009) (the Public Notice ).

2 other carefully selected content. HoustonPBS was America s first public television station, and was one of the founding stations of PBS in In the Public Notice, with a mind toward finding additional spectrum to allocate for wireless broadband purposes, the Commission seeks specific data on the use of spectrum currently licensed to broadcast television stations. Among other things, the FCC is attempting to account for the value that the country puts on free, over-the-air television. As reflected in the information we provide below, we urge the Commission to find that our use of our licensed television broadcast channel is exceptionally efficient and productive, and brings great value to our community. The cost to us and to our community resulting from the loss or curtailment of our over-the-air transmission service would be enormous and unacceptable. Comments KUHT-TV currently broadcasts three (3) streams of noncommercial educational television programming: Channel 8.1 is our primary public television service, available in HD; Channel SD 8.2 ( KUHT2 ) consists primarily of additional public TV content which cannot be made available through our primary channel; and Channel 8.3 broadcasts Vme, a Spanish-language public television service. HoustonPBS currently uses it maximum station throughput at all times. As a result, we do not have available capacity to share our allocated spectrum with other broadcasters or users. If compelled to do so, we would be forced to eliminate one or more of our present SD programming services. Notably, KUHT s Houston market includes a substantial number of viewers who rely on over-the-air television service. As of October 26, 2009, over 380,000 television -2-

3 households (approximately 18%) in our market continue to receive TV service only by over-the-air means. This marks a decrease of only 1 to 2% from the number of broadcastonly households in the market as of the end of June, 2009 and the nationwide DTV transition. Among the local Hispanic population, 37.8% of households remain broadcastonly and are completely reliant on over-the-air signals. Moreover, 87% of the TV households in the Houston market are multi-set households, including many cable or DBS homes which also rely on over-the-air service to utilize additional TV sets. In addition, KUHT s public support is disproportionately skewed towards over-theair viewers in comparison to the market s overall demographics. As a public television station, KUHT is supported primarily through viewer contributions, with additional funds obtained via grants, special events and sponsorships. A full 30% of KUHT s member population consists of over-the-air viewers, who in turn donate 30% of the station s membership revenue. The loss of over-the-air spectrum would also negatively impact KUHT s ability to maintain its current noncommercial public TV services for local viewers due to severe limitations and costs involved with alternative means of delivery. HoustonPBS is presently served by 130 cable systems (including many smaller operators), two satellite providers, and two telco providers. The large majority of those cable systems, plus both satellite providers and one of the telcos, carry only KUHT s primary signal. Many of the smaller operators simply do not have enough capacity to carry our secondary broadcast signals and their additional content. Loss of over-the-air service would not only affect local residents due to the removal of programming choices, but could also prevent many regular HoustonPBS viewers from -3-

4 receiving service at all. As represented by the station s membership, HoustonPBS viewers include a large number of elderly viewers: about 60% of KUHT s members are 60 years old or older, and another 22% are between the ages of 50 and 59. Many of these older viewers continue to reply on over-the-air TV signals, and either do not want, or cannot receive, cable or satellite services due to costs, logistical practicalities, or other obstacles. Over-the-air broadcast spectrum is also vitally important as the means by which HoustonPBS provides its signal to cable systems and subscribers. As noted, approximately 130 cable systems in the Houston market carry KUHT, most of which pick up the station s off-air signal at their headends. As a result, we have identified at least 371,579 cable subscribers that rely on over-the-air fed signals, and who would lose HoustonPBS due to the removal of our over-the-air signal. Moreover, due the unavailability of subscriber data for other systems, that figure does not even factor in additional cable systems (both inside and outside the market), or the satellite providers, who also depend on the over-the-air receipt of the KUHT signal to reach current viewers. The costs to remedy this situation in the wake of potential broadcast spectrum loss would be staggering for a public TV station such as KUHT. At an estimated average of $3,000 in per month in fiber charges, multiplied by 130 head ends currently using overthe-air signals, HoustonPBS calculates that at least $390,000 per month (if not more) would be necessary to provide new, on-going signal feeds to cable systems that currently pick up the over-the-air broadcasts. Such recurring costs would be in addition to substantial expenditures required for the initial fiber installations. Moreover, regardless of costs, some cable systems in more isolated rural areas would still be unable to carry KUHT -4-

5 because there are simply no options in those locations for providing fiber lines to their facilities. These financial costs would be particularly difficult and painful in the wake of the DTV transition. To date, HoustonPBS has spent $5 million to $7 million on its new DTV facilities and the conversion process, all of which came from the public in the form of individual, institutional or public contributions. A full $1 million of those costs would be rendered useless if our over-the-air signal were to end. Not only would it be difficult to fund additional costs to compensate for lost broadcast signals, it would be impossible to justify the recent expenditures of huge sums of public funding on digital broadcast equipment if changes were to render it obsolete due to lost spectrum. In sum, HoustonPBS makes extraordinarily efficient and productive use of its entire current channel capacity (through one HD and two SD streams) to provide a variety of quality educational and cultural programming, including both English and Spanishlanguage programming, for its local community. Our market s viewers, and especially our minority populations, rely heavily on over-the-air receipt of television programming, as do HoustonPBS s substantial number of elderly viewers. Cable, satellite, and telco providers often cannot provide access for all of our broadcast programming streams, and countless cable systems and subscribers also rely directly on receipt of over-the-air broadcast signals to ultimately access our programming. On the heels of massive expenditures for the DTV transition and new broadcast facilities, it is unfathomable to consider the additional costs that would be necessary adapt to the loss of spectrum and to attempt to salvage existing services. -5-

6 Conclusion Based on the foregoing reasons, we urge the Commission to find that our use of our television broadcast channel efficient and productive, and abundantly serves the public interest. Our over-the-air transmission capabilities must be protected in any effort that the Commission might undertake to allocate more spectrum for wireless broadband systems. Respectfully submitted, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM HoustonPBS 4343 Elgin St. Houston, TX (713) December 21, 2009 By: /s/_john Hesse John Hesse General Manger, HoustonPBS Of counsel: Todd D. Gray Barry S. Persh Dow Lohnes PLLC 1200 New Hampshire Ave. NW Suite 800 Washington, DC