Paul Gluckman

We were awaiting FCC comment at our Thurs. deadline whether the Commission had yet gotten OMB approval of its order requiring retailers to post analog cutoff warnings at the point of sale near legacy products still being sold (CD April 26 Special Bulletin p2). The Commission requested emergency OMB approval of the order, asking that a decision be handed down by May 18 (today). The order takes effect May 25, assuming OMB has approved it by then. Under the normal OMB review schedule, “the rule may not take effect until October or November, by which time many more analog-only televisions will have been sold to unaware consumers,” the Commission wrote OMB May 7, asking for expedited approval.

Every consumer who wants to buy a coupon-eligible DTV converter box under NTIA’s program “will have access to a range of retail options,” CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro assured NAB Pres. David Rehr in a reply letter Tues. A day earlier, Rehr had written CEA and the CE Retailers Coalition, saying it’s “critical” to the DTV transition’s success that converter boxes be for sale in all stores by Jan. 1 (CD May 15 p9). Shapiro wrote back to say at least 3 CEA member companies -- LG, Samsung and Thomson -- have announced they will produce coupon-eligible boxes. “And the nation’s consumer electronics retailers will ensure that all Americans have ready access -- via retail stores, online, and telephone -- to these devices,” Shapiro said. He cautioned Rehr that “certain boutique, custom installation and high-end stores may choose not to sell the coupon-eligible boxes.” Still, he told Rehr to “rest assured any American who wants to purchase a coupon-eligible box will have a wide variety of convenient retail sources from which to choose.” Though NTIA’s coupon program won’t launch to consumers until 2008, “we will continue to promote the upcoming availability of converter boxes and would welcome the initiation of broadcaster support for the CEA programs promoting free, over-the-air broadcasting,” Shapiro said.

It’s “critical to our collective success” that retailers stock DTV converter boxes in all stores by Jan. 1, 2008, NAB Pres. David Rehr said in a letter Mon. to CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro and Marc Pearl, exec. dir., CE Retailers Coalition (CERC). If boxes aren’t produced and on store shelves by then, “significant consumer confusion will result and could negatively impact the overall success of the transition,” Rehr said. He asked for CEA and CERC suggestions on how broadcasters can help make the Jan. 1, 2008, “deadline work for your companies and America’s consumers.” But CE makers and retailers face no such formal deadline for delivering DTV converter boxes to store shelves. The date’s only legal significance is that it’s when NTIA must be ready to begin accepting consumers’ requests for DTV box coupons. Participation in NTIA’s coupon program is voluntary for CE makers and retailers. LG and Thomson have promised to ship coupon-eligible converter boxes (CECBs) by Jan. 2008. Retailers aren’t required to seek participation in the program until March 31, 2008. They can apply certification starting next month. CEA’s Shapiro wasn’t available for comment. But CERC’s Pearl said his group’s members “have taken an active interest in the NTIA CECB program and CERC has worked with NTIA to educate other retailers about the program.” Meanwhile, House Commerce Committee Chmn. Dingell (D-Mich.) has begun polling constituents about their readiness for the 2009 analog cutoff. “Legislation passed by the Majority in the previous Congress could force you to buy new equipment for your television or it will no longer work,” Dingell said in a question posted on his website. “Do you know if your television will work after the change from analog technology to digital?"

Evidence that CE makers and retailers have failed to adopt the CE industry’s July 2006 voluntary TV labeling program “on a widespread basis” persuaded the FCC last week to order mandatory analog-cutoff labeling at the point of sale on analog-only TVs, VCRs and DVD recorders, the Commission said in the text of its order released Thurs. The FCC has solid jurisdictional authority to impose the rules, the order said. The rules advance the Commission’s “statutory mandates and serve the public interest,” it said. They're also “consistent with prior exercises of the Commission’s authority,” including the DTV tuner mandate on which the new point-of-sale rules are based, it said. The FCC also has “numerous other labeling and disclosure requirements designed to further its statutory objectives and to protect consumers,” it said. Examples it cites are adopting technical, labeling and encoding rules to permit TV sets to be built with plug & play functionality for one-way digital cable services. Another involved labeling requirements for hearing-aid-compatible cellphones sold through a service provider’s stores. But rarely if ever has the Commission imposed disclosure rules on CE retailers. Still, a court challenge to the analog-only labeling rule seems improbable.

The FCC should reject temporary waivers of the DTV tuner mandate sought by 2 companies that want to continue making bathroom mirrors with analog-only TVs built in (CD April 2 p8), several commenters told the Commission. Kohler wants until Jan. 1 to build DTV tuners into a line of bathroom mirrors with optional integrated TV receivers. Electric Mirror makes mirrors with built-in TVs for use by hotels with closed-circuit video systems. It seeks a 6-month waiver. But neither Kohler nor Electric Mirror meets “the significant burden of proof need to justify granting a waiver,” Philips said. LG and MSTV-NAB also filed oppositions. “The fact that both petitioners waited until the eve of the March 1, 2007, deadline before seeking administrative relief suggests that [it’s the] petitioners rather than the DTV transition that should suffer any adverse consequences of questionable planning,” Philips said. LG said that “given the fact that the DTV tuner requirement has been known to manufacturers and their suppliers for almost 5 years, the companies’ excuses are unconvincing.” Any waivers to Kohler and Electric Mirror would “undermine the federally mandated digital transition,” MSTV-NAB said.

The regulatory approval process for the Sirius-XM merger “is moving forward in line with our expectation,” Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin told analysts in a Q1 earnings call Tues. Sirius and XM “remain confident” the FCC and DoJ “will carefully weigh the merits of the transaction” and the merger will close this year, Karmazin said.

The FCC order requiring retailers to post analog-cutoff warnings near analog-only TVs for sale (CED April 26 p1) also applies to VCRs and DVD recorders with analog-only tuners, a Media Bureau spokeswoman confirmed Mon. And, contrary to assumptions that the Commission labeling requirement is a short-term measure, our survey of major brick & mortar and online retailers found the order could have legs. Of the merchants polled by our affiliate Consumer Electronics Daily, only Best Buy said it expects sell out of analog-only sets soon.

Retailers have until May 25 to post analog-cutoff warnings near analog TVs for sale, under an FCC order approved Wed. in an extraordinary evening meeting (CD April 26 Special Bulletin). We're told the order will take effect once it clears an expedited OMB review. The CE Retailers Coalition (CERC) reaction to the deadline is unknown but the group vows to comply with the mandate. The CERC “has appreciated the opportunity to work with the FCC on a standard text” for consumer alerts in recent weeks, as well as on “an appropriate period of compliance,” Exec. Dir. Marc Pearl said in a written statement.

Retailers will be required to post analog-cutoff warnings at point of sale near legacy analog TVs still being sold, under an FCC order approved late Wed. A vote on the order came at 7:24 p.m. ET, soon after the Commission convened an unprecedented evening meeting that had been delayed from a 10:30 a.m. so commissioners could debate behind closed doors about rules for auctioning 700 MHz spectrum.

CE lawyer Seth Greenstein’s allegations that Motorola HD set-tops leased by RCN lack IEEE-1394 interfaces (CD April 23 p5) “are flat-out wrong, and must be summarily dismissed,” RCN told the FCC in an ex parte rebuttal filing. Greenstein’s effort “to use his personal customer experience to advocate the interests of his clients at the Commission simply grasps at straws,” RCN said. And nowhere in his letter to the FCC did Greenstein mention the DCT-700 set-top for which RCN is seeking a CableCARD waiver, the cable operator said.