FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said a pilot channel-sharing program...

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said a pilot channel-sharing program in Los Angeles (CD Feb 11 p18) could show broadcasters that the technique can let them participate in the incentive auction and remain in the broadcast business, he wrote in a blog post on the agency’s website Tuesday (http://fcc.us/NCPP2M). “Channel sharing can allow broadcasters to bolster their balance sheets, reduce capital expenses, and continue their traditional business.” Wheeler said he recently toured public TV station KLCS, sharing channels with Spanish-language KJLA. On the tour, Wheeler said he saw KLCS multicasting one HD stream and seven standard-definition streams of programming, and the station will test broadcasting two HD streams over the same channel as part of the pilot program. “If the pilot works as engineers expect it will, this could be a game changer for the concept of channel sharing,” Wheeler said. Though discussion of the incentive auction has focused on broadcasters who “may find it attractive to simply sell their spectrum and exit the business,” sharing is a viable option as well, he said. “This pilot is not intended to prove that all broadcasters can get by with half the spectrum they're currently using,” said Association of Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler in a news release responding to Wheeler (http://bit.ly/MLwawC). Instead, the pilot program is designed to show “that all kinds of good things can happen -- for broadcasters and for the public -- with advances in compression technology and innovative business arrangements that permit the sharing of significant costs between stations,” Butler said. Most public TV stations won’t participate in the auction, but might still take advantage of channel-sharing technology, Butler said. For the “relatively few stations” with “economic circumstances” warranting an exploration of channel sharing, “this pilot will demonstrate the possibilities and limitations of such a strategy,” Butler said. The advances demonstrated in the pilot “will depend on brand new cutting-edge technology whose widespread adoption will require a substantial new capital investment in the public television system,” said Butler. The FCC granted approvals for the sharing pilot within a week of its submission, Wheeler wrote. “The speed of our decision demonstrates the importance of this pilot and the Commission’s commitment to work with broadcasters to ensure a successful incentive auction."