FCC May Act Soon on CEA’s DTV Tuner Petition
The CE industry’s petition to move up the deadline for all TV sets with 25"-36” screen sizes to have DTV tuners began circulating on the FCC’s 8th floor, several sources told us. In Nov., CEA and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC), in a joint petition, asked the Commission that the July 2006 date by which all such receivers must have DTV tuners be moved up to March 2006 and that the July 2005 date by which 1/2 the sets must be ATSC-capable be eliminated (CD Nov 10 p8). The FCC didn’t seek comment on the petition before circulation.
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Broadcasters oppose delaying when tuners should be implemented, which they see happening if the July 2005 deadline is eliminated. “It’s counter intuitive. You're just flooding the market with more analog sets that won’t work in 4-5 years,” one broadcast official said. Eliminating the July 2005 deadline would affect the crucial holiday selling season, he said, because most consumers purchase those size sets during Christmas time and before the Super Bowl. MSTV wouldn’t comment, but the issue will be addressed at its board meeting on Mon., said MSTV Pres. David Donovan. NAB officials couldn’t be reached for comment.
CE’s recent experience with the first 50% metric that took effect in July 2004 on 36” and larger TVs caused some to conclude that the 50% requirement itself is antithetical to the goal of increasing demand for broadcast TV receivers that incorporate DTV tuners.
The CE industry argued that the 50% requirement would slow consumer migration to TVs with built-in DTV tuners because consumers would choose a lower-priced product with otherwise similar features, except for the DTV tuner. The consumer cost of the DTV tuners by July 2005 would also be higher, CE said. The March 2006 deadline was the earliest feasible for manufacturers to meet and to drive down price, the group said.
The CE industry should be placing labels on those analog sets, informing the consumer that the sets won’t work in 4-5 years, after the DTV transition is complete, a source said, but CEA has said it doesn’t want to place labels on sets. CEA couldn’t be reached for comment.