CEA’s Shapiro Says Low-Power Broadcasters May Imperil DTV Transition
Low-power broadcasters will imperil the digital transition if they succeed in getting the NTIA to change rules for DTV converter boxes (CD Feb 12 p2), CEA President Gary Shapiro told a Media Institute lunch Thursday in Washington. If the Community Broadcasters Association gets the FCC to decide that devices that don’t pass along analog signals are illegal, it “means a delay in the transition,” Shapiro said. “It would obliterate a multi-billion dollar investment by manufacturers” to produce dozens of models of boxes, some of which have the so-called passthrough features, said Shapiro: “We're asking the FCC to ignore the CBA’s petition.”
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The low-power TV group petitioned the FCC Dec. 7 for a declaratory ruling that boxes lacking analog passthrough violate the All-Channel Receiver Act and commission rules. The complaint prompted FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to convene several meetings of executives from consumer electronics retailing and manufacturing, broadcasting and cable to find a solution to avoid an agency rulemaking. CBA officials are making the rounds on the FCC’s top floor and on Capitol Hill to argue against such a solution. They slammed Shapiro’s remarks.
“A voluntary, negotiated agreement to resolve the situation is unrealistic in light of the intransigent stance of the Consumer Electronics Association on labeling [boxes lacking passthrough], NTIA’s focus on its coupon distribution effort and the NAB’s lack of enthusiasm,” said a CBA handout to commission and Hill officials: “The commission has consistently required all TV receivers and TV interface devices to be able to receive all channels. A court would look askance at an inconsistent decision now.” The group has said all DTV converter boxes must have analog and digital tuners, something consumer electronics officials have said would drive prices up from about $50 now to $150. NTIA has certified 45 converter boxes as eligible for the $40 coupons it recently began mailing to consumers, including four passthrough devices, said an agency spokesman. Several more boxes will be certified soon, one of which will pass along analog signals of low-power broadcasters, he said.
Shapiro described CBA’s proposal to redesign all boxes as “technologically, economically and practically impossible.” Besides delaying the transition, such boxes would have features consumers don’t want or need, added Shapiro. “This is an affront to industry and government efforts to prevent widespread and unnecessary alarm,” he said. “We are on the road to success, but we will always face some bumps. The latest bump is from a group I had never even heard of until a few months ago… Having been silent on the DTV transition for years, and somehow avoiding the DTV transition deadline, instead of rushing to provide DTV service they are now trying to change the rules for the transition.”
The low-power group’s efforts are “just a power play to get must-carry, a ploy to prop up a failing business model,” said Shapiro. All other commissioners have balked at a rulemaking notice from Martin that would require the 7,000- plus U.S. low power stations to switch to digital in 2012 and pave the way for some to demand cable carriage (CD Feb 27 p4). Low-power stations can start digital broadcasts now -- without an FCC rulemaking -- instead of interfering with a well-functioning DTV coupon program, Shapiro said. CBA “overlooked the fact” that passthrough boxes will be widely sold for the “less than 1 percent of Americans served by low- power and translator stations,” he said.
CBA officials contend that figure was inaccurate, but said they can’t provide one of their own because Nielsen TV ratings figures don’t take many low-power stations into account. “I think the Hispanic population in particular might take exception to his remark,” said attorney Peter Tannenwald, representing CBA. Many Hispanics rely on such stations, he said. In the Washington, D.C., area, the stations include Telemundo affiliate WZDC and WMDO, affiliated with Telefutura.
The transition won’t be hurt if CBA gets NTSC and ATSC tuners in all converter boxes, said President Ron Bruno. “It’s quite the opposite,” he said in an interview. “If something doesn’t happen, we're in for a giant train wreck.” Shapiro’s comments Thursday and at other recent events that brief loss of TV service to a small percentage of Americans who may still be unaware of the transition Feb. 18, 2009, won’t be a major problem are an affront to consumers, said Greg Herman, CBA’s vice president for technology. “I would assume that not one of those electronic manufacturers would want to be associated with the concept that they do not care if people can watch TV,” said Herman. “We're getting a bit discouraged with that kind of diatribe from him. I just wish he'd stand up and tell the American people ‘I don’t care if it works as long as I get to sell it and as long as you buy it.'”