Archives: See Preservation and Metadata.

Audio-on-demand receivers: You can put Robert Siegel in your pocket and listen while you do step aerobics. Major public radio programs can be downloaded and put on a little portable audio player. Pubradio shows were among the first audio offerings of two competing high-tech companies that offered audio-on-demand services through the Internet.

Cable carriage: see Current Briefing on Spectrum and access issues

Closed captioning: As 1993, all new TV sets had to be capable of receiving captions for the hearing-impaired. In 1997 the FCC proposed to phase in mandatory closed captioning of all TV programs. Boston's WGBH, the station that introduced open captioning to TV many years ago, is also working to make movie theaters more accessible to deaf and blind patrons by providing closed captioning for deaf patrons of movie houses, as well as descriptive video for the blind.

DBS: See Satellite TV

Descriptive Video Service (DVS) for the visually impaired: Video description — an audio service that helps blind people "watch" television — has been around for years and can still be found on only a few public TV series, but the FCC in July 2000 ordered large commercial TV stations and cable and satellite systems to begin carrying descriptions. [FCC press release]. Advocates for the visually impaired meanwhile note that the Internet has great merits and demerits as a medium to deliver radio reading services.

Digital asset management: See Metadata

Digital TV broadcasting: See the Current Briefing on the outlook for digital and high-definition TV. Switching over to digital ATV/HDTV will be hard enough for all broadcasters, but has special consequences for public TV. Briefing includes links to information about the new digital channels proposed by the FCC. Public broadcasting has asked the federal government for some 45 percent of the cost of its digital transition costs — some $700 million. Several public TV stations meanwhile volunteered to experiment with the new system on-air, and public TV engineers are closely monitoring the plans of equipment manufacturers to make sure the equipment fits public TV's expected needs. The FCC gave the go-ahead for DTV in April 1997 after years of planning.

Digital radio broadcasting — terrestrial: NPR has taken the lead in adding a second channel to plans for digital radio broadcasting. Squeezing in the extra channel "works great," said an NPR exec after tests in 2004. Public radio stations were among the sites of 1999 field tests for the two major systems competing for selection as the national standard for digital radio broadcasting. Two years earlier, in 1997, on-band digital radio technology seemed fraught with problems.

Digital radio broadcasting — satellite: The April 1997 auction of two satellite licenses (for more than $80 million each) marked the beginning of a strange race between sky-borne and earth-bound broadcasters. Two new direct-to-listener satellite radio broadcasters will begin operation in the next two years. Both major public radio networks said in June 1999 they'll create new channels for CD Radio, one of the two satellite radio broadcasters. NPR's board cleared the way for the new channels in 1998 by adopting a "strategic framework."

Digital editing in radio: NPR's union technicians approved a new contract with the network in 2002 that will phase out their exclusive jurisdiction over audio mixing work at the network. Defenders of the previous work rule say it maintained NPR's sound quality, but it's succumbing to the spread of desktop digital editing technology easy enough for even journalists to learn. Late to digital editing, NPR News switched its first program editing to computer workstations in 1998. The network began converting all of its news editing to computer workstations in following months. The changes raised jurisdictional questions in 2000 negotiations with the technicians' union. NPR called its headquarters "the last great analog facility" in radio. Many other public radio stations already have switched to digital workstations for editing, including Minnesota Public Radio, the second largest production house in public radio.

FM reception and interference: A technical glitch plagues some public radio stations as they enter unserved rural areas.

Frequencies—see Spectrum below

High-definition TV (HDTV)--see Current Briefing on digital TV

ITFS — Instructional Television Fixed Service: The ITFS microwave band was so generally underused and underfunded for instructional TV in the 1980s that the FCC let licensees rent out three-quarters of their channels, helping to create the "wireless cable" medium operated by private companies on a combination of their own channels and leased ITFS channels. But wireless cable has largely failed, and by 1999 the brightest hope for the 2 gigaHertz band was for wireless Internet access and other new digital services. Within a few months, MCI WorldCom and Sprint have bought up much of the old wireless cable industry.

Interactive TV — see Briefing on DTV

Interactive TV — Microsoft's Barney robot: For Christmas 1997, Microsoft successfully entered the toy business with an Interactive Barney doll that could be forerunner of smarter and smarter interactive input/output devices with four limbs and a digital pulse.

Interconnection of stations — future: Will public TV's interconnection come back down to earth? For 20 years, PBS sent national programs to local stations by satellite instead of land lines, but by 2000 public TV leaders were beginning to see advantages in moving at least part of the interconnection to a fiber optic network similar to the universities' Internet2. In a commentary, Washington State University pubcaster Dennis Haarsager pictured how such an Internet-like system would work in 2005.

Interconnection of stations — failures: Both main satellites used by public broadcasters failed unexpectedly within two years. First, the satellite used by public TV, AT&T's Telstar 401, unexpectedly expired in January 1997. The main PBS feeds were redirected to another satellite with no break in service. Then in May 1998, public radio's feeds were interrupted briefly when PanAmSat's Galaxy IV spun out of control.

Internet — linking policy: NPR retreated from a 2002 policy that sought to restrict the right of other websites to link to its site. The fine-print policy had prompted much derision from bloggers and other web enthusiasts devoted to the Internet tradition of free and easy linking.

Internet — Online Summit: Public radio's web-conscious staffers joined their public TV counterparts for the first time in 2000's annual Online Summit held by PBS and NPR.

Internet — PBS Online: After three years on the Internet, PBS Online grew into a busy, award-winning web supersite, and a year later was harnessing database technology to "localize" pages with information from local stations. With the onset of web technology, the network (and the rest of the world) had dropped plans to use other online technologies. Also left behind: an alliance with MCI, announced in 1995 but never consummated.

Internet — linking issues and protecting NPR's image: In 2002, the network tried unsuccessfully to gain control over the kinds of websites that link to NPR.org. In a later attempt to protect its image, forcefully persuaded a porn entrepreneur to sever the relationship between public radio and the hold button of her phone system.

Internet — web-only content: An investigative reporter working for the website of the new PBS series Frontline/World made news in 2002 by alerting police to a wanted arms dealer living quietly in Florida. He fled but was nabbed by Interpol.

Internet — streaming audio: See our page about streaming

Internet — "push" technology: PBS and Boston's WGBH are among the public broadcasters experimenting with "push" technologies that entrepreneurs hope will finally provide a financially viable way to publish information on the Internet. PBS and participating stations are carrying the forthcoming WaveTop service, which uses TV signals to bypass the Internet, broadcasting directly into users' home computers.

Low-power FM debate: Disputes over low-power FM were reopened in 2003 with the release of a study that suggests crowding the tiny stations closer to their full-power neighbors. The study, conducted by the MITRE Corp., suggests relaxing protections that NPR and other broadcasters previously defended. In 1991, Congress cut back the likely development of a broad new noncommercial low-power FM, heeding warnings by NPR and other broadcasters that an influx of microstations would interfere with existing broadcasts. NPR petitioned the FCC to make sure it would protect the signals of radio reading services, future digital radio stations, translator stations and others from interference caused by the new stations. LPFM raised the hopes of nonprofits that want to reach the public directly. More than a thousand new, noncommercial, LPFM stations were envisioned when the FCC created LPFM in January 2000. Even without the latest restrictions, limited wattage limits what the stations can accomplish, as discovered by WRTE, an existing Latino low-power station in Chicago.

Low-power FM — the precursor pirate radio movement: Progressive activists are trying to defend the notion of LPFM radio as a haven for local grassroots programming against widespread bids for the channels by churches related to a national satellite service, Calvary Chapel. The demand for LPFM grew out of the pirate radio movement, which was under attack from the FCC. Existing outside the law, pirate radio was the scene of the 1996 murder of broadcaster Michael Taylor in Los Angeles.

Metadata: Frequently asked questions about metadata! Well, actually not really all that frequently asked, so far. But more and more people are asking what the heck is THIS? On behalf of CPB, Mary Jane McKinven explains the information-about-information tags that give digital media much of their power. Technologist Steven Vedro gives a more technical introduction to metadata and digital asset management.

Must-carry laws: see Spectrum and access issues

Preservation: Broadcasters find it difficult to spend money on yesterday's programs when they're making shows for today and tomorrow. But that's what Kentucky ETV and Pacifica Radio have done by digitizing and cataloging their program archives. In a commentary, longtime Connecticut PTV programmer Sharon Blair says it's hard to forgive yourself if you don't preserve past programs. See also Metadata.

Rural service through translators: The translator stations that bring public TV and radio service to many rural valleys are threatened by competition for frequencies, both from digital TV and from religious broadcasters.

Satellite interconnection of stations: see Interconnection

Satellite radio: see Digital radio broadcasting by satellite

Satellite TV--DBS: Now that satellite-to-home broadcasters like DirecTV are beaming local stations into subscribers' homes, public TV stations are campaigning to be included. Karen Everhart Bedford reports on initiatives in negotiation, lobbying and grassroots agitation. In 1996, the Supreme Court upheld a 1992 law giving unspecified noncommercial programmers access to 4 to 7 percent of DBS capacity.

Spectrum access, FCC rules on: The FCC ruled in April 2003 that noncommercial educational broadcasters can still apply for nonreserved TV and radio channels. However, their applications will be dismissed if even a single commercial broadcaster pursues the same channel.

Spectrum access in TV: A Current Briefing: Will there be a public lane on the information superhighway? Some pubcasters and other nonprofits say they'll need the equivalent of "reserved channels" if they are to provide alternatives in future video systems.

Spectrum access in radio — competition with religious broadcasters: Public radio and religious broadcasters have often come into conflict as they competed for reserved noncommercial educational FM and TV channels, which both are allowed to use under FCC rules. A major problem is that the FCC for years did not have a good way of deciding who gets noncommercial frequencies. In October 1998, the FCC proposed using lotteries or point systems to choose between applicants. Then in January 1999, public broadcasters spoke up for a point system that would give applicants points for such characteristics as local control. In 2000, the commission settled on a point system for making the choices. See also Current Briefing on access to the airwaves.

Streaming audio: See our page about streaming

Tower site struggles: Stymied for years, Fordham University's WFUV finally got a new site for its broadcast tower in 2004. The station won an earlier battle for federal aid for tower construction — it had been declared ineligible because it aired a one-hour religious service.

Video on demand: By 2004, cable systems' on-demand services were beginning to offer PBS Kids shows, the NewsHour and a limited array other public TV programs. Netflix, the DVD-rental company, achieved an on-demand service by mail, adding indie films from PBS in a deal with P.O.V.

Web: see Internet, above

Wireless cable: see ITFS above

Y2K scare: By mid-1999, PBS, NPR and a number of stations were well along in their fixes of Y2K computer problems expected to break out in January 2000. But experts advised stations and independent producers to make contingency plans for unforeseen Year 2000 problems.