FCC Advances Tuner Mandate to March 2007, Not Dec. 2006 As CE Feared

The NAB won on the mandate expansion but lost a lobbying campaign for a Dec. 2006 tuner deadline. They had argued the date would stimulate DTV tuner sales in time for the major TV set buying period before the 2007 Super Bowl. Others like Motorola wanted deadlines as early as Nov. 2006 to maximize DTV tuner sales during that year’s holiday season. NAB said it’s “pleased” with the “even more aggressive timeline for DTV tuner compliance in smaller television sets,” saying it “sends the unmistakable signal to set manufactures that further delays in rolling out DTV receiving equipment are unacceptable.”

The March 2007 deadline -- which covers DVD recorders, VCRs, and other products with built-in NTSC tuners -- gives CE makers only a 16-month window to comply. It’s identical to the deadline in the House DTV bill for ending analog-only set sales to prepare for a Jan. 2009 analog service cutoff. The Senate is expected to include language on ending analog set sales in a coming Commerce Committee DTV policy bill.

The interlude between now and March 2007 is short of the 18 months CE makers traditionally have said they need to develop and commercialize new TV products, but it’s far better for the industry than if the FCC had stuck to its plan of a date in Dec. 2006 or earlier. Mindful that the FCC inevitably would speed the deadline, CE makers lobbied the FCC hard on the theme that March 2007 was the earliest they could comply.

That seemed to clinch the decision on March 2007, judging from remarks at the FCC meeting Thurs. by Alan Stillwell, assoc. chief of the Commission’s Office of Engineering & Technology, who wrote the order. Statements in the record from CE makers and retailers uniformly stressed March 2007 as the earliest deadline they could meet, Stillwell said. “We're concerned that if digital reception capability were required in smaller-sized and other TV receiver products before manufacturers were able to properly complete the product development process, that this could prove disruptive to the market for those products.” An earlier deadline would have brought a rush to market of tunerless monitors or very high-priced integrated sets of dubious quality or workmanship, the industry maintained.

By advancing the final deadline 4 months, Stillwell said, the FCC reaffirmed it’s “essential” DTV receivers reach consumers “as rapidly as possible in order to promote an expeditious completion” of the DTV transition, Stillwell said. In recommending March 2007 over Dec. 2006, the FCC staff said it believes the later deadline nevertheless “would most effectively ensure” that all new TV sets “are able to receive digital signals as quickly as possible,” Stillwell said.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, broadcaster arguments that smaller-screen TVs are crucial for news and information in emergencies presumably influenced the Commission’s decision to include them in the mandate. CE collectively never mounted vehement opposition to the small-screen proposal. Besides its argument that adding DTV tuners to the smallest sets would make them too costly, CE suggested most such products see used to play DVDs in vehicles, not to carry broadcasts.

But Comr. Abernathy seemed to seize on broadcaster claims that small sets not only see much use for over-the- air TV, but most are battery-powered, making them handy in crises. “If you're using a battery-operated set, you probably aren’t going to be able to use a converter box,” Abernathy said.

All the commissioners said the FCC needed to hasten the deadline. Chmn. Martin said he was sensitive to hardships earlier deadlines might cause CE makers, but believed the order struck a “balance” between the practicalities of TV set production and the need to advance the DTV transition.

Similarly, Abernathy said “the certainty and uniformity of tuner deadlines are critical for consumers.” She said that’s because “any of us knows, when we go into the major stores that sell these products, it’s not exactly clear what you're getting. And in fact there’s an incentive sometimes to try and move off the shelves a lot of the analog-only [product]. To the extent that consumers know that’s what they're getting and they're comfortable with buying that -- that’s the market at work. But our job as regulators is to make sure that as soon as possible, consistent with technology, that we can get out there all sets that are capable of receiving digital signals.”

Comr. Copps said each sale of a set with a built-in DTV tuner means “we move one step closer to getting this transition finally done,” and the decision promotes that goal. He said he’s pleased the order also stresses the importance of “providing needed consumer information to buyers before they buy new TV sets.” We're told the order, when published, may discuss improved TV set labeling, but will impose no requirements.

“There is considerable consumer confusion out there,” Copps said. “Buyers looking for a new set have an understandably hard time figuring out exactly what they need to have in that new set now, to prepare for what’s coming over the air during the decade or more that many of them keep their sets. So good consumer education is core to the realm of the DTV transition. It’s going to realize its potential and I believe both industry and government have obligations to make sure that that kind of information is available. We need to do more here.”

Copps said FCC observers would have been surprised if he hadn’t used the Thurs. hearing to “pitch in another time” for FCC action on broadcasters’ DTV public interest obligations. Calling the issue “the biggest of all DTV questions,” Copps said “we won’t have a credible DTV transition” until it’s resolved. Comr. Adelstein agreed DTV broadcasters’ public interest obligations are a “critical” piece of the DTV transition that “we're somewhat neglecting.” He urged that the FCC move forward “expeditiously” on that front.

Adelstein said speeding the deadline “was something we needed to do” because analog sets “are pouring off the production line and people are snapping them up with no idea that in just a few short years they're going to go dark.” Adelstein said: “Even as we speak, Congress is up on the Hill talking about moving this transition forward, and I think it’s entirely appropriate that we act as partners with Congress to move the transition forward as they're trying to set a hard date.”