The Community Broadcasters Association (CBA) was a trade organization representing

low-power broadcasting Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...

interests, including LPTV and

Class A television The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television (LPTV) stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" (analog) or "-CD" (digital), although very many analog -C ...

stations, in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. It ceased operations in 2009.

History

Key issues addressed by the CBA included the provision of interference protection for small broadcasters (for which it successfully petitioned the FCC for creation of the "Class A" designation in 1998) and the need for

analog passthrough Analog passthrough is a feature found on some digital-to-analog television converter boxes. Boxes without analog passthrough only allow digital TV ( ATSC standard) to be viewed on older, analog-only (NTSC standard) TVs. Those with analog passthro ...

coupon-eligible converter box A coupon-eligible converter box (CECB) was a digital television adapter that met eligibility specifications for subsidy "coupons" from the United States government. The subsidy program was enacted to provide terrestrial television viewers with ...

es (it had unsuccessfully pursued legal action claiming that the absence of this feature, needed to avoid blocking signals from low-power and foreign stations not converting to digital in 2009, violates the

All-Channel Receiver Act The All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962 (ACRA) (), commonly known as the All-Channels Act, was passed by the United States Congress in 1961, to allow the Federal Communications Commission to require that all television set manufacturers must include ...

of 1961). CBA's

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

seeking an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

to halt the sale and distribution of DTV

converter box A digital television adapter (DTA), commonly known as a converter box or decoder box, is a television tuner that receives a digital television (DTV) transmission, and converts the digital signal into an analog signal that can be received and disp ...

es lacking analog tuners and

was filed in March 2008 but denied without comment in the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

in May 2008. The

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

and

NTIA The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' eco ...

urged manufacturers to include analog pass-through voluntarily in all converter boxes, and some of the newest generation of models now offer the feature. Due to the large number of

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

s on full-service stations, which often confusingly claimed that "all TV is going digital" on February 17, 2009, the CBA established websites such as KeepUsOn.com to notify consumers of the continued post-transition operation of analogue LPTV, with information on how to find and install converters which offered analogue pass-through capability. The CBA also advocated that existing Class A stations be permitted to upgrade to

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

status, obtaining the same

must-carry In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system. North America Canada Under current CRTC regulations, the lowest tier of service on ...

access to

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

that was available to full-power broadcasters, and (like full-power broadcasters) opposed expansion of the

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

band into the frequency range currently occupied by TV

channels Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

5 and 6. Amy Brown was the executive director of the Community Broadcasters Association when it closed.Community Broadcasters Association closes doors; some LPTV stations look to cellular alternative
The corresponding advocacy role for U.S. full-service television stations is filled by the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Community Broadcasters Association
(no longer active) Television organizations in the United States Broadcast law Defunct organizations based in the United States Organizations disestablished in 2009

History

See also

References

External links