Get ready, viewers: The local television landscape could soon be turned upside down by the federal government.
The FCC's upcoming auction of public airwaves will result in faster speeds on mobile devices to, for example, stream video on the go. But it could come at a cost for over-the-air viewers who watch TV for free with antennas, as some of their favorite channels could go dark.
Some local stations that carry popular shows, such as “Everybody Loves Raymond” on My Michiana Channel 69, could be in jeopardy. Cable and satellite subscribers could also lose some channels.
And in a market crowded with four network affiliates that cover local news, the auction could trigger at least one to shut down and have its programming rights sold to a rival. A station in the spotlight is ABC 57 because it is a low-power station — unlike its full-power news competitors — meaning it could be involuntarily knocked off the air by the FCC.
If one or more local affiliates go away, that will likely trigger a scramble among the surviving stations to pick up their programming — to keep, for example, ABC shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "Grey's Anatomy" on local airwaves.
Experts say airwaves — also known as spectrum — in the South Bend market are in higher demand by the FCC than in other regions. That's because the region is surrounded by major markets: Chicago, Indianapolis and Detroit.
Experts say three local low-power stations owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting — ABC 57, The CW 25 and My Michiana Channel 69 — weren't eligible for the auction and could be forced off the air by the FCC. The stations belong to a low-power class that isn't legally protected by the FCC.
Those stations also are not eligible for any funding to move to a different channel. So even if channels became available for them to move to — and there's no guarantee there will be — they'd likely have to spend millions of dollars on broadcasting equipment.
Jack Goodman, a communications attorney in Washington, D.C., who represents TV stations nationwide, predicts that ABC 57, The CW 25 and My Michiana Channel 69 will leave the market altogether. And in that scenario, a handful of digital sub-channels offered by the three stations would also be lost: MeTV Michiana, Movies!, This TV, Decades and Telemundo.
“The three stations will disappear, but no one knows what will happen to the programming,” Goodman said.
If the stations go off the air, experts say, their rights to network programming would likely be available for other stations to snap up. Stations that go off the air probably won't continue to operate only on cable because every two out of 10 viewers would no longer be able to see over-the-air programming.
The more likely scenario, though, is that WNDU and WSBT will wait to see if other local stations exit the market. The powerhouses could then become even bigger by snapping up rights to carry ABC and FOX programming on their sub-channels. Such network agreements would also determine how local news would be covered under different brands by those stations.
“There are a number of examples across the country of shared news services," Burdick said. "In some cases, newsrooms might not be separate and could just have different anchors.”
Despite the potential shake-up, over-the-air viewers shouldn't panic. They could lose some channels, but they are expected to continue to get programming offered by the main networks: CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX. At some point, they'll need to re-scan their antennas to pick up channels on different frequencies.
As for cable and satellite viewers, it's possible they could also lose some channels, but no one is expecting a dramatic change in service.
