CTA's Shapiro Blasts Mandatory ATSC 3.0 Tuner Push
Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro blasted broadcasters late Thursday for saying CTA members opposing ATSC 3.0 have a conflict of interest because they own streaming channels (see 2507150072).
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“Irony alert: the very broadcasters crying 'conflict' are the ones lobbying the government to mandate a technology that could directly enrich them,” Shapiro said in posts on LinkedIn and X. “CTA supports innovation -- not mandates. We’ve always opposed government forcing tech into products. But this is the NAB playbook: if consumers aren’t choosing your tech organically, demand the government make them.” Shapiro linked the push for a tuner mandate to NAB efforts to pass laws requiring FM chips in phones and AM radio in cars. “Instead of building demand, broadcasters want to force manufacturers to spend millions of dollars each year to bake it in -- whether or not broadcasters actually ever transmit anything compelling or even try to invest in marketing using their free spectrum.”
If broadcasters want ATSC 3.0 to succeed, “they should stop wasting money on expensive lobbying campaigns for mandates and start creating content and services consumers value,” Shapiro said. NAB didn’t comment.
The latest clash in the lobbying about the mandate involves encryption concerns (see 2507180047).