The FCC Dishes It Out

Direct broadcasts from satellites to home antennas are okayed

First there were rabbit ears and spindly rooftop antennas, then cable and pay TV. Now it is official: small (2 1/2 ft. in diameter), concave dishes mounted directly on homes and costing a couple of hundred dollars could become the newest generation of television receptors. Last week, in a decision likely to have considerable impact on the burgeoning video industry, the Federal Communications Commission voted to give the go-ahead to a new form of space-age television: DBS (direct broadcast satellite). Before too long, by installing rooftop antennas, viewers should be able to tune in TV signals beamed directly from satellites orbiting 22,300 miles above the earth--without dealing with middlemen like network stations or cable systems.

The new medium could start carrying pay TV and advertiser-supported programming over a planned 30 or so channels as early as 1986. It is likely to make its most immediate appeal to rural areas, where ordinary TV reception is poor and program choices are few, and to city dwellers in areas not wired for cable. "Our primary market will be the nonserved and the underserved," predicts a spokesman for Satellite Television Corp., one of nine companies that have lined up to start the new service, hoping for FCC construction permits within 90 days. Admits William Bresnan, chairman of Group W Cable, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric: "They are needed in rural areas we can't reach." Unaffected by the new FCC rules are the large (12 ft.) backyard dishes that can already listen in on a whole variety of satellite signals, including the prime-time offerings of the cable outfits. Most of the new broadcasts will probably be scrambled to prevent unauthorized tapping.

Less than pleased are the three nation al TV networks and their families of local affiliates. The networks have already seen their dominance over the industry eroded by the growth of cable. Now they stand to see it further weakened if the dishes sprout like mushrooms, as their proponents hope they will, in the years to come. Many viewers may prefer the programming and promised high-quality images from a satellite dish to the sometimes fuzzy versions of sitcoms and crime sagas available via their local stations.

Some of the FCC commissioners were uneasy about the new policy, which makes a slice of the broadcast spectrum available without requiring some kind of community service from the broadcasters. But in the end the seven-member body, led by Reagan-appointed Chairman Mark Fowler, acted unanimously in deciding that it was up to the public, not the commission, to determine what kind of shows should be offered. Indeed, while some new satellite broadcasters say they plan to offer the kind of programming generally available on conventional and cable TV, the satellite-to-home connection could also make the living room TV set into an outpost for more exotic video services. Satellite Television, the leader in the field, has plans for stereophonic sound, second-language sound tracks and teletext (printed matter such as news, weather and stock reports).

The FCC's action was clearly intended to allow considerable flexibility to all entrants. Says Fowler: "The order is neither a red flag nor a checkered flag. It is simply a green light to new players. We cannot ensure that the service reaches its full commercial potential. But we have allowed it to enter the video marketplace with the least regulatory encumbrances."

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