Digital TV Facts: The Latest

The transition to digital TV is, for many Americans, quite baffling enough. Nonetheless, a cable industry lobbying group this week accomplished the impossible: In a letter to regulators in Washington, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association added a fresh layer of muddle to the DTV transition debate.

Cable operators are trying to preempt a federal regulation involving digital cable boxes—a rule having little to do with the transition to digital broadcasting. The cable box requirement takes effect on July 1, 2007, more than a year and a half in advance of the analog broadcast shutoff. It requires cable operators to separate security and descrambling functions from digital cable boxes, which would then need a CableCARD to perform those tasks. The objective, evidently well-intentioned, was to create a competitive market for universal set-top boxes. Such boxes would be purchased from retail stores, supposedly, and then outfitted with a card supplied by the cable company. (Whether consumers actually want this is another matter. If you purchase your own DVR—one equipped with a CableCARD slot—you could avoid adding an additional box, at least.)

Cable operators don’t want to replace existing boxes with new and, they say, more expensive ones equipped with CableCARD slots. Forcing such a change will, they say, endanger the nation’s switch to DTV. Somehow.

The NCTA still objects to a federal proposal that would exclude cable households from the government program that will provide $40 coupons to subsidize the purchase of set-top converter boxes for analog TV sets. Many cable subscribers, they note, have spare TVs around the house that are not hooked up to cable but are used for over-the-air viewing. The cable lobby would prefer that customers get digital cable boxes for these dusty old sets, apparently.

Cable has never completely fallen in love with the CableCARD, which is understandable given the technology’s limitations. I can see, too, why the NCTA isn’t excited about the box mandate—the expense, the logistics, the customer service issues.

Their letter, though, reads like an exercise in obfuscation, especially this section:

…we made a significant commitment that we would carry not only digital signals but also recreate signals in analog wherever possible to ensure that our customers with analog televisions were not adversely affected. All we asked for was some flexibility in ensuring that this voluntary additional burden would not displace other needed services or channels our customers demand….

First of all, it’s not clear yet whether cable companies can just unilaterally decide to deliver local digital TV channels in analog form once the transition is completed. (The Digital TV Act won’t allow it, but FCC Chairman Martin has hinted that he might. Also, the National Association of Broadcasters has waived its earlier objection.)

Oh, and that “flexibility” they’ve asked for? That means your cable company wants to be free to downconvert local stations’ high-definition broadcasts into crummy old standard definition.

• Links: NCTA, TV Technology