• Multichannel News, Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:30 AM

Under a plan proposed by a tiny Ohio cable operator, millions of American households would get free cable service while local TV stations would get guaranteed cable distribution rights of analog- and expanded digital-TV-channel lineups. The seven-year digital-TV-transition scheme is the idea of Massillon Cable TV, and was rolled out last week in talks with the Federal Communications Commission officials.

The idea is designed to ease the impact of a mandated shutdown of analog broadcast TV in early 2009 on the estimated 20 million households that rely exclusively on free, over-the-air TV. With just 45,000 subscribers, Massillon grabs the spotlight on the bitterly divisive issue. House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, has said a badly done transition would have political backlash even though Uncle Sam has set aside $1.5 billion in consumer subsidies.

Under the Massillon plan, local TV stations would have to agree that in exchange for cable's commitments, they would not seek negotiated cable carriage of their content for the first seven years after analog-TV signals go away. "This proposal is designed to benefit consumers -- the public interest," says Bob Gessner, the company's president. "Broadcasters and [pay TV providers] both have benefits and costs, but consumers are the primary beneficiary."

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