Draft DTV legislation released late Fri. by the House Commerce Committee would set Dec. 31, 2008 as the analog cutoff date, according to a copy we've obtained. Moreover, we're told the committee has tentative plans for a hearing to be held Thurs. on the bill.
CEA continued to pressure the ATSC to avoid creating standards for standards’ sake, saying standards should be set by consensus, as did not occur in development of the Enhanced VSB (EVSB) standard, the association said. Speaking at a FCBA breakfast, CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro said the ATSC issued a standard networks and manufacturers opposed. Earlier, at the ATSC annual meeting, Shapiro said EVSB, an enhancement to the DTV system’s technical standard, will serve only to strand existing DTV products. Shapiro’s criticism of ATSC is part of his plan to address tough issues in coming weeks, sources said. Those may include CEA pulling out of ATSC, sources said. ATSC couldn’t be reached for comment. Meanwhile, at the FCBA breakfast, Shapiro said he is frustrated with broadcasters not promoting their services: “Broadcasters have done zero to promote free over-the-air broadcasting.” NAB’s push for regulating cable, satellite and consumer electronics is a Washington, D.C., strategy, not a marketplace strategy, Shapiro said. An NAB spokesman called Shapiro’s comments a “total crock” and noted numerous TV ads that promote the industry.
Enormous growth in shipments of DTV sets with integrated ATSC tuning will occur through 2008 if Congress acts this year to set a hard DTV transition deadline, CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro told House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.).
Delaying DTV tuner mandate rules will put off the digital transition, NAB Pres. Eddie Fritts said. Speaking at the ATSC annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Fritts said he couldn’t resist commenting again on CEA’s request to delay DTV tuner mandate. “If we are talking about ending analog TV, it makes no sense for manufacturers to flood the market this Christmas with millions of analog TV sets,” Fritts told attendees, including CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro. CE makers told the FCC earlier this month that accelerating to late 2005 the date when 100% of 25"-36” TV sets must have built-in ATSC tuners isn’t achievable (CD May 4 p2). Fritts suggested that rather than seeking delays in the tuner mandate, manufacturers should label analog sets indicating their imminent obsolescence.
With FCC broadcast flag rules invalidated by a sweeping decision of the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. (CD May 9 p1), the unanswered question at our Mon. deadline was whether the debate would shift to Congress and affect a DTV transition bill to establish a hard deadline for return of the analog spectrum.
Accelerating to late 2005 the date when 100% of 25- 36” TV sets must have built-in ATSC tuners isn’t achievable on such short notice, CE makers told the FCC in reply comments in the Commission’s rulemaking (05-24) on whether the DTV tuner mandate schedule should be revised. But broadcasters, who had urged the earlier compliance date on 100% of the sets if the FCC granted CE’s petition to scrap the July 2006 deadline for 50% of such sets to be ATSC-equipped, shot back that CE makers’ references to their 18-month production cycles as precluding a late 2005 deadline “are a red herring.”
Broadcasters Mon. used harsh language to repudiate a CEA petition at the FCC to revise the DTV tuner mandate compliance schedule on 25-26” TV sets. NAB branded the CEA petition a “delay plan” whose only purpose was to sell more analog TVs at the expense of digital.
Harris Corp. endorsed proposed CE adjustments in the schedule by which 25"-36” TV sets must conform to an FCC tuner mandate. CEA and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) want the FCC to accelerate a July 1, 2006, deadline to March 1, by which time 100% of such TV sets would have to include digital ATSC tuners. The groups also want to eliminate a July 1, 2005, phase-in schedule stipulating when 50% of 25"-36” sets must have built-in DTV tuners. Harris said it agrees with the CE “proposition” that by doing so, the FCC will “expedite the delivery” of ATSC-capable TV sets and eliminate the potential for “marketplace distortions” that may impede the DTV rollout. “Now is the time for the Commission to review and revise its policies with regard to the digital tuner requirements and make necessary changes given important data provided by the CEA/CERC,” Harris said. It said the CEA petition contained convincing evidence that the FCC 50% phase-in that began last July for 36” and larger receivers “has had an unintended consequence” -- consumers picking lower-cost receivers with NTSC tuners over the higher-priced models with digital ATSC tuning. Many retailers have said the interim 50% rule, effective July 1, 2005, for 25"-36” receivers “will create a similar retail environment of DTV,” Harris said. Comments in the FCC’s rulemaking (05-24) on the CEA/CERC petition are due Mon., replies May 2.
The VC-1 video encoding standard has met all requirements for Final Committee Draft Status, said the standards-setting body, the Society of Motion Picture & TV Engineers. VC-1, based on Windows Media Video 9, would be an alternative way to code and compress digital video. Among other uses, it’s expected to be employed to distribute video via the Internet, satellite and cable. It’s already the mandatory codec for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Supporters said the standard is progressing through the approval processes of other standards organizations, including ATSC and DVB, which set the competing DTV standards.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The cable industry expects to provide more systematic access to company facilities for testing new products, with hard news possible in 2 months, CableLabs Pres. Richard Green told Communications Daily Mon. He spoke after serving on an NCTA convention panel on industry standards in which he said individual it would be useful for MSOs to allowing such field testing, beyond the lab testing and product certification that CableLabs’ offers, to ensure that new gear works. Cable firms have allowed field testing ad hoc, but lately they and CableLabs have made progress toward a more formal program, Green said.