Local TV stations
win wider play

Local television stations must be carried by satellite television providers, according to a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission.

In Hawaii, DISH Network already offers local stations' programming as part of its service. DirecTV has notified one station, KITV, that it will soon start carrying Hawaii's local stations. The ruling, issued Tuesday, makes carrying local stations a permanent requirement of satellite broadcasters in Hawaii and Alaska.

A new law requires satellite providers to carry TV stations' analog signals by Dec. 8 and their digital signals, where applicable, by June 8, 2007.

Hundreds, if not thousands of TV stations across the country are converting to digital broadcasting.

Satellite companies had fought the must-carry rule, claiming that retransmission of TV stations' signals would take up too much bandwidth. Stations now can broadcast not only their primary programming on one channel, but broadcast other programming on additional channels, or multicast, which digital transmission makes possible.

Mike Rosenberg, president and general manager of KITV-TV in Honolulu, called the ruling gratifying.

KITV was the first television station in the country to convert to digital broadcasting, but it has not yet jumped on the multicasting bandwagon, as have nearly 600 stations on the mainland. "We're examining multicast choices," Rosenberg said. KITV is owned by New York-based Hearst-Argyle Television Inc.

Meanwhile, KHNL-TV and sister-station KFVE-TV may be the first in Hawaii to multicast, coming this fall.

NBC affiliate KHNL will introduce NBC Weather Plus as part of its digital service, while KHNL's second channel will carry a new music station, "The Tube."

"It's all music all the time. Twenty-four hours of music videos and concert footage and it will include music from the last 40 years," said John Fink, vice president and general manager of KHNL and KFVE.