Target’s analog TV muddle
July 5th, 2007
The FCC cited Target last month for violations of analog TV signage requirements, both on the retailer’s web site and at several of its stores. Wouldn’t you expect Target, after such an embarrassment, to be extra careful about how they describe those outmoded television sets to their customers?
Yet if you shop the Target web site today, you might run across a category in its electronics section called “FCC Tuner Compliance.” Now, what would you expect to find in that category?
If you’re expecting a list of TV sets that have FCC-mandated digital tuners, you’ll be disappointed.
At target.com, “FCC Tuner Compliance” apparently means “outmoded analog TVs we’re still trying to unload.” Plus some HDTV monitors and other products. That’s what I found, anyway, when I checked a few minutes ago. Television receivers without ATSC digital tuners will be unable to receive over-the-air broadcasts after February 17, 2009, unless the consumer purchases a DTV converter box. So in Target-speak, it seems, “FCC Tuner Compliance” really means “”FCC Tuner Non-Compliance”.
Nowhere did I find an explanation for this puzzling name. If you click on the category heading, a range of items appears. After you click on the TV or other item and are brought to its product page, the FCC’s consumer alert appears. (Needlessly, in some cases, sowing further confusion. The page for the Toshiba HD DVD Player HD-A20 warns: “This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner…” Among the features listed, however, is this one: “No tuner.”)
Target does warn online shoppers about its soon-obsolete electronics…eventually. The retailer may not have intended to deceive. But I would have hoped that the threat of big fines, described in stern warning letters from the FCC, would encourage them to be a bit more careful.