Economics of the Digital TV Transition
December 12, 2008

Columbia University

3022 Broadway (enter at 116th St)
Uris
Hall, Room 326


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The
United States' analog television broadcasting will virtually cease on February
17, 2009. Without access to cable television, satellite TV, or a digital
television set the public will not be able to receive the television signal to
which it is accustomed.



Consumers with older TV sets must obtain a digital converter box or purchase a
digital television to continue receiving a broadcast signal. The U.S.
government is providing a subsidy to reduce the cost of these converter boxes.

  • What are the business, regulatory, and policy issues
    related to one of the greatest changes in video since the introduction of
    television?
  • Will the digital signal have the reach of the current
    over-the-air analog signal?
  • What are the effects on consumers? How will rural
    consumers be affected?
  • What are the business implications for broadband
    providers?
  • How will the nature of commercial TV be changed, in
    terms of business models and content models?
  • What are the implications for media firms? For
    advertisers?
  • What are the international coordination and standards
    issues?

Agenda

9:45am - Welcome & Overview

  • Eli
    Noam    , Director, CITI, Professor of Finance and Economics,
    Columbia Business School - [Presentation] - [Audio]

10:00am - Introduction 

  • Introduction
    & Overview     -
    Paul Rappoport, Temple University     - [Audio]
  • What
    are the issues? -
    Darcy Gerbarg, CineGrid, Inc.; CITI     - [Audio]


10:30am - Who Will Not Receive Over-the-Air Service?

  • Transmission Solutions for the Upcoming Transition to Digital Broadcast - Saul Shapiro, President, Metropolitan TV Association - [Presentation] - [Audio]
  • Digital Cliff Effects and Mapping of Troubled Reception Areas - Stu Lipoff, Independent Consultant - [Presentation] - [Audio]
  • What We Have Learned from
    the DTV Trial in Wilmington, NC - Alan Miles, Vice President, Equity Research, Barclays Capital - [Presentation]     - [Audio]
  • Easing the pain: The Coupon Program - Milton
    Brown    , Deputy Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (    NTIA) - [Presentation] - [Audio]
  • Moderator:  Robert Atkinson, Director of Policy Research, CITI


12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch - Hepburn Lounge

1:00pm - 1:45pm: Keynote

  • Monica Desai, Chief, Media Bureau, Federal
    Communications Commission     - [Audio]


1:45pm - Opportunity in Chaos?

  • What about the viewers: Are consumers prepared? - John Carey, Professor, Communications and Media Management, Fordham University - [Audio]
  • The Coupon Program - Scott Wallsten, Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute - [Presentation] - [Audio]
  • DTV Transition on Consumers
    and Consumer Choice - Barry E. Goodstadt, Independent Consultant     - [Presentation] - [Audio]
  • Moderator: 
    David Waterman, Indiana University



3:05pm - Break




3:25pm - Impact of
DTV Transition on the Business of Delivering Entertainment

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  • The
    Economics of Digital Transition on the Entertainment Industry     -
    David Waterman, Indiana University     - [Audio]
  • What Disruptions Should We Anticipate in February, 2009? - David D. Oxenford, Partner, Davis White Tremaine, LLP, Washington, D.C. Office - [Audio]
  • Regulating
    the Transition from Analog to Digital Television Broadcasting in North
    America: A Comparison of the Canadian, US, and Mexican Experiences -
    Joshua Block, New York Law School     - [Paper] - [Audio]
  • Policy Issues with the Digital Transition - Willard D.
    Rowland    , President and CEO, KBDI-Channel 12, Denver, Colorado     - [Summary] - [Audio]
  • Moderator: James Alleman,

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    Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado 


4:45pm - Summary Comments

  • James Alleman,

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    Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado - [Audio]


5:00pm - Reception - Calder Lounge

    Registration



    To register for the event, http://www.ersvp.com/r/dtransition, or for more information, please email CITI's
    Assistant Director, John Heywood, at jwh2121@columbia.edu.

     

    Conference Organized by James Alleman, Darcy Gerbarg