In an effort to promote over-the-air DTV sets and LIN TV’s broadcast stations, the company formed a co-marketing arrangement with Bernie’s stores in Providence, R.I. in what one industry executive called an unusual marketing plan. Under the partnership, Bernie’s customers pay $219 and receive a discounted ATSC-equipped Samsung set and an indoor antenna. LIN TV Chmn. Gary Chapman said the deal will last through the Super Bowl. Broadcasters have been criticized for not marketing over-the-air DTV with large retailers. CBS TV Exec. VP Marty Franks said he has been working with major retailers 6 years on a co-marketing deal. “But I haven’t been able to get a single one to sign up.” LIN TV is negotiating similar arrangements with retailers in other markets, Chapman said, but wouldn’t provide details. Bernie’s is absorbing the costs of the discounted sets and displaying DTV in 3 Providence stores in exchange for promotions on LIN’s 2 stations in the market -- WNAC-TV (Fox) and WPRI-TV (CBS). The stations’ websites also provide links about how to obtain HD sets. LIN TV and Bernie’s also are promoting DTV over free TV. - - TP
CEA is “out of touch with the realities of the technical challenges of DTV reception as well as 2 of its largest members,” said NAB Pres. Eddie Fritts in response to CEA’s criticisms of NAB/MSTV’s program for a prototype of DTV converter boxes (CD Oct 13 p11). NAB hired CEA members LG Electronics and Thomson to develop the prototype, but CEA said NAB/MSTV’s plan would be costly and contain features most consumers don’t need or want. Fritts said NAB was “proud” to stand with CEA members in their effort to ensure consumers receive affordable and reliable access to local TV stations both during and after the DTV transition. Meanwhile, Thomson, which with LG bid successfully in the NAB/MSTV converter-box program, bristled at CEA’s criticism. Its video compression technology “is a key ingredient in the ATSC standard and we have been working since the beginning of the digital TV transition to develop and offer products to suit a wide variety of customer requirements,” the firm said. Vp David Arland said his company was “honored to be selected by MSTV and NAB to work on their project and believe that the market for digital-to-analog set-top boxes will require a selection of options for consumers.” Some consumers will opt for a “simple” DTV converter, as broadcasters envision, and others “will need more feature- rich devices that both decode and output high-definition TV,” Arland said. “We will be ready for the needs of our customers, whether they are network operators, retailers, consumers, or Congress itself.”
ATSC veterans LG and Thomson were tapped Wed. to develop prototype set-top converters for terrestrial DTV reception on legacy analog TVs. In announcing selection of the respective Zenith and RCA parents, the MSTV and NAB cited the CE firms’ role in developing the ATSC standard and their experience in building low-cost set tops. The LG/Thomson prototypes will be reference designs for other makers, to ensure the 70 million analog TVs in 21 million residences relying on terrestrial broadcast “will continue to receive free over-the-air TV service when all-digital broadcasting begins,” MSTV and NAB said. Selection of LG and Thomson came after evaluation of more than a dozen proposals by CE and chip makers worldwide in response to a June 20 quotation request by MSTV and NAB, the groups said. The effort, jointly funded by MSTV and NAB with assistance from LG and Thomson, “comports with Congressional efforts to subsidize quality converter boxes that provide an alternative for consumers that want to keep their current analog equipment,” MSTV Pres. David Donovan said. Neither a schedule for prototype delivery nor a per-unit was announced, but $50 is an attainable target, industry consensus maintains.
The Advanced TV Systems Committee (ATSC) approved the Advanced Common Application Platform (ACAP) standard. ACAP offers technical details to content creators, broadcasters, cable operators and consumer electronics makers developing interoperable services and products. ACAP harmonizes the ATSC digital TV application software environment DASE standard with CableLabs OCAP specifications. “This is important for content creators and consumer electronics manufacturers because an ubiquitous standard is necessary for consumer acceptance of enhanced and interactive services,” ATSC Pres. Mark Richer said.
“Contrary to what you may have heard otherwise,” the role of U.S. companies in the development and production of DTV products “is quite significant,” CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro told the Senate Commerce Committee in a letter Fri.
MSTV picked AGC Systems to manage MSTV/NAB’s digital converter box project. AGC will oversee development, evaluation and production of a complete digital-to-analog converter box that will allow analog receivers to play digital broadcast signals, MSTV said. Last week, MSTV and NAB, saying they had funds to help develop a prototype DTV converter box, began soliciting proposals from the consumer electronics industry and others (CD June 17 p6). AGC was tapped because of AGC principal Aldo Cugnini’s role in developing ATSC HDTV systems, knowledge of the CE industry and strong technical skills, MSTV said.
CEA and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) unholstered their big guns last week in meetings with FCC Chmn. Martin and others to press their petition to scrap the July 1 deadline by which 50% of 25-36” TV sets must have ATSC tuning, it was disclosed in an ex parte filing.
The FCC will likely start strict enforcement of its DTV tuner requirement after dismissing the CE industry’s petition to eliminate the July 1, 2005, deadline for DTV tuners in 50% of new 25-36” sets (CD June 3 p7), several industry sources said. But it’s unclear how the FCC will force manufacturers to meet the deadline. “Conceivably they can use their field agents that are all over the country. This is going to be tough enforcement,” a broadcaster said.
The FCC will decide at its June 9 agenda meeting whether to grant a CE industry petition to eliminate the July 1, 2005, DTV tuner mandate deadline on 50% of 25"-36” sets, officials said. The CE industry also wants to advance by 4 months, to March 1, 2006, a deadline by which all such sets must have ATSC tuning. Broadcasters oppose scrapping the 50% deadline, urging the FCC to advance CE’s March 2006 deadline to Nov. or Dec. 2005 to take advantage of TV sales during the holiday and Super Bowl selling season. July 1, 2007, is the deadline by which all TV sets and CE devices with TV tuners must include DTV functionality. Draft legislation would accelerate that deadline by a year. With much talk about moving forward with the DTV transition, it’s unclear whether the FCC would grant the CE industry petition, a Commission source said. The 2nd media item on FCC’s agenda is a notice of proposed ruling making on how to streamline obtaining radio licenses. The FCC also will act on 2 wireless items: (1) Petitions seeking reconsideration of the Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) order (CD May 23 p3), the Commission said. Petitions were filed by CTIA, Verizon Wireless, Research in Motion, Rural Telecom Group (RTG) and several TDMA carriers. (2) A declaratory ruling and an NPRM to carry out provisions of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act and to update competitive bidding rules and procedures. The Act, signed by President Bush in Dec. as part of a wider HR-5419 legislation, created the spectrum relocation trust fund, which guarantees that advanced wireless services auction revenue can be used to move govt. users off the 1710-1755 MHz part of the band.
Given public objections by House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.), the MPAA is unlikely to push to include a broadcast flag component in DTV legislation establishing a 2008 hard date, an MPAA spokesman told us Mon.