The FCC’s National Broadband Plan has been officially released.

The key part of the plan for local TV is “Recommendation 5.8.5″ which is included below. The idea is to reallocate spectrum away from local television to other wireless services.

Regardless of the outcome of this policy recommendation, this will add some urgency to the debate over the best use of broadcast television spectrum. Now that this spectrum is fully utilized for digital television and with the new DTV Mobile standard making its way into the market, the potential value of this spectrum has increased.

Consider just three value added factors:

1. TV broadcasters can directly target the fast growing wireless mobile video market.

2. Cable faces a diminishing market with 30% of homes now served by Alternative Distribution Systems (ADS) according to Nielsen. This increases the value of broadcast television’s ubiquitous multiplatform reach across over-the-air, cable, telco and other ADS platforms.

3. Another fast growing market is the Over The Top (OTT) video market which provides both linear and on-demand streaming video services such as those offered by Hulu, Netflix and TV.com. Method Research observes what they call, “Cable’s Lost Generation” referring to a segment of the 18-25 year demo which does not subscribe to cable but instead gets their video from OTT and are delighted to find access to main channel and multicast channels with preferred content for free from local over-the-air (OTA) signals. OTT + OTA is becoming a preferred video package that local television broadcasters may not even have thought about promoting.

For the record, here’s the relevant FCC recommendation from the National Broadband Plan:

Recommendation 5.8.5: The FCC should initiate a rule-making proceeding to reallocate 120 megahertz from the broadcast television (TV) bands, including:

* Update rules on TV service areas and distance separations and revise the Table of Allotments to ensure the most efficient allotment of six-megahertz channel assignments as a starting point.
* Establish a licensing framework to permit two or more stations to share a six-megahertz channel.
* Determine rules for auctions of broadcast spectrum reclaimed through repacking and voluntary channel sharing.
* Explore alternatives—including changes in broadcast technical architecture, an overlay license auction or more extensive channel sharing—in the event the preceding recommendations do not yield a significant amount of spectrum.
* Take additional measures to increase efficiency of spectrum use in the broadcast TV bands.

The spectrum occupied by broadcast television stations has excellent propagation characteristics that make it well-suited to the provision of mobile broadband services, in both urban and rural areas. Enabling the reallocation of a portion of this spectrum to broadband use in a way that would not harm consumers overall has the potential to create new economic growth and investment opportunities with limited potential impact on broadcast business models. Consumers would retain access to free, over-the-air television. Reallocation would focus primarily on major markets where the broadcast TV bands are most congested and the need for additional spectrum for broadband use will be greatest.83 Moreover, the FCC should study and develop policies to ensure that its longstanding goals of competition, diversity and localism are achieved. Changes to the TV broadcast spectrum need to be carefully considered to weigh the impact on consumers, the public interest and the various services that share this spectrum, including low-power TV, wireless microphones and prospective TV white space devices. While the FCC has performed initial analyses to consider the viability of various options, further work will be required and all options must be examined through rulemaking.

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