Digital TV Facts: The Latest

The long-awaited RCA digital TV adapter, designed for over-the air viewers with old-style TVs, has yet to reach stores. For a hint of what we might expect, have a look at that brand’s combination DVD/VCR recorder with built-in DTV tuner, model DRC8335. Jonathan Takiff was especially impressed by the digital tuner:

When connected to a rooftop antenna (recommended), the on-board tuner pulled in an extremely stable picture from every digital TV station in town, including some channels I hadn’t been able to receive on much pricier high-def TVs!

At one major retailer, the price for the DRC8335 is about $220.

I have no idea, as of yet, whether DTV converter boxes from RCA will use the same tuner found in the DVD/VCR combo. Let’s hope for DTV converter performance that’s comparable to this early report.

Consumers who want a digital TV converter today may find recorder/DTV-tuner combos appealing. If you don’t mind waiting until next year, $40-off coupons from the federal government become available in January.

• Link: Philly Daily News

Related:
• DTV Converter Box Alternatives
• DTV Converter Box Coupons
• Converter Boxes
• Converter-box performance: Reports raise concerns

…well, sort of. You can buy a DTV converter box alternative for your old analog TV today—as long as you don’t mind paying for (and perhaps even enjoying) extra features like DVD recording.

A DVD recorder, equipped with a built-in digital tuner, can solve the “2009 problem” faced by analog TV owners who watch over-the-air broadcasts using an antenna. When analog broadcasts meet their demise on February 17, 2009, many of those viewers will switch on brand-new, government-subsidized DTV converter boxes. But new DVD recorders, starting at about $145, can also tune in digital TV broadcasts.

Some models, according to user reports, are not without problems. For a look at the benefits and drawbacks, see our story on DTV converter box alternatives.

Read more:
• DTV Converter Box Alternatives
• DTV Converter Boxes
• DTV Converter Box Coupons

DTV converter box coupons could be made of paper, not plastic—despite their recent description, on America’s top newspaper web site, as “$40 gift cards.”

The coupons offer a government-sponsored price break on digital TV adapters, which will permit ancient analog televisions to live on unnaturally through artificial means into the era of all-digital TV broadcasts commencing on February 18, 2009.

Federal rules specify that DTV coupons must be electronically trackable. For retailers, a plastic card might be easiest and most familiar. But paper coupons, like subway tickets, can also be made to store encoded data. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will await a recommendation on the paper-or-plastic issue from the contractor that will administer its DTV coupon program, according to Anthony Wilhelm, an NTIA official.

You can find out more about the DTV coupon program right here—including information you won’t find in the Q&A sections of promotional DTV sites produced by government or industry lobbies. Now aren’t you glad you read the “unofficial” DTV site?

Read more:
• DTV Converter Box Coupons
• Why choose an ‘unofficial’ DTV site?

The broadcast lobby will spend millions on TV commercials promoting the DTV conversion. The ads, in several languages, will hit the air by year-end.

(Factoid: In Mandarin, a common mispronunciation of the word for “converter box” can lead to a life of shame and ostracism.)

NTIA, preparing its $5 million consumer information campaign for DTV adapters, plans outreach to “the elderly, the poor, minorities, and those with special needs.”

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress want to know what the FCC will do to alert the public to the digital TV transition. They await a response from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

• Links: Broadcasting & Cable: NAB and NTIA; FCC

Consumers who own analog TVs equipped with stereo sound may, after attaching a DTV converter box, suffer a downgrade to mono. The problem: While the spec for converters eligible for the federal government’s DTV coupon program allows the boxes to include stereo capability, the feature is not required, according to a report in Broadcasting & Cable. The report suggests that at least some converter box manufacturers are not including stereo support.

“For about the cost of a postage stamp, stereo sound can be incorporated into the box to ensure a consistent viewing experience while meeting the current implementation deadlines. We need to ensure that millions of Americans will not lose their stereo sound as a result of the self-imposed deadlines,” said Les Tyler.

The converter boxes will allow conventional televisions to survive the shift to digital-only broadcasts after February 17, 2009.

Having your TV-listening demoted to mono sounds like a bummer to me. But it’s probably not a show-stopper for most consumers. Many of these TVs probably don’t have stereo sound in the first place. If you asked analog TV owners, many would struggle to say whether they have the feature or not. (An astounding number of HDTV owners think they’re watching shows in HD, yet have no source of HD programming.)

As I see it, the people who are likely to actually get steamed about this fall into two distinct groups:

1. Folks who care…uh…somewhat…about how their TV sounds. But not so much about the picture. And not enough about either to buy an HDTV.

2. People who sell stereo technologies developed for analog TVs.

Mr. Tyler, as you may have guessed, happens to fall into that second category. He is the CEO of That Corp., an analog integrated circuits company that licenses audio technologies. He was also involved in developing the analog TV stereo standard during the 1980s, according to B&C. For that, we owe him a debt of gratitude.

But Les Tyler doesn’t want our thanks, it seems. What he wants are Congressional hearings.

If people can compare DTV converters side by side, and the price for a stereo-capable one isn’t much higher, the mono models will lose out on some sales. Presumably, that is a calculation that converter-box manufacturers have already made.

• Links: B&C, press release

A novel alternative to the converter-box coupon subsidy, from Nolan Bowie at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government:

A better solution would be for Congress to provide subsidies in the form of means-tested “digital TV credits” to enable low-income families to purchase basic digital TV-video offerings from a multi-channel video service provider, whether that be a phone company or cable TV or satellite TV service. Congress could then make better and more efficient uses of the public airwaves by reallocating much of the television broadcasting spectrum for unlicensed broadband. This would help ensure universal access to high-speed broadband connectivity to the Internet and alternative forms of information, news, and entertainment.

Pay TV subsidies? I don’t think so. At $80, two digital TV adapter coupons enable a viewing household to receive several more years of broadcast programming. The same amount buys perhaps a month or two of cable or DirecTV (assuming you can wangle a free-installation deal).

He muffs the coupon program’s details and the distinctions between HDTV and SDTV. Nonetheless, Bowie’s proposal, while tardy and, let’s face it, dead on arrival, raises relevant issues. A drive to assure fast, cheap, network-neutral broadband access for all Americans would benefit the nation more than outdated federal policies (including mandated cable carriage) that indirectly subsidize TV broadcasters.

Bowie frets that DTV multicasting will exacerbate media-ownership concentration:

Once the transition into digital is completed, a single firm like Clear Channel or General Electric could, by maximizing the number of radio and TV channels ultimately have as many as 58-100 broadcast voices in the same community by compressing their digital frequencies.

Media concentration remains a huge problem, but multicasting doesn’t necessarily make it any worse (especially if it merely subdivides an already concentrated audience—which would amount to a small improvement, actually). But if Kevin Martin succeeds in greasing the wheels for multicast must-carry, smaller stations with fewer resources could lose audience share to stronger competitors who can program multicast channels more efficiently.

In the unlikely event that broadcasters find a way to offer multicast fare compelling enough to capture a meaningful audience, they might even win back some of the pay-TV audience. The way things are going now, however, I don’t think we’re heading into a new era of broadcast dominance. The more likely scenario is an acceleration of audience splintering, continued erosion of broadcast audiences, and eventual pleas from station owners for fresh forms of government help as smaller stations struggle for survival in an overchanneled era. The amount of spectrum dedicated to over-the-air television in the U.S. may actually be excessive, as Bowie contends.

Rather than concocting new schemes for bolstering broadcast hegemony, the FCC must come to terms with the changing communications landscape. Martin should put broadcasters on notice: they face a reinvent-or-die scenario, and now is the time—if it is not, in fact, already too late—to reimagine their future.

More on the future of TV:
• The system is broken
• What’s wrong with the FCC?
• Will TV’s new rules serve big players or public?

• Link: Boston Globe

The FCC issued citations to four more large retailers Thursday, saying they failed to display appropriate “consumer alert” notices near analog-only TVs offered for sale on their web sites earlier this month.

Amazon.com, Sears, J&R and Fry’s received the latest warnings. According to Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton, “hundreds of citations” may be on the way for these and other stores. Since May 31, FCC citations have also been issued to Kmart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, and CompUSA.

The required consumer alerts warn purchasers that conventional TVs not equipped with digital tuners will need a DTV converter box to receive over-the-air broadcasts after February 17, 2009.

Here’s what struck me: One of the seven models listed in the citation letter to Amazon was a Syntax Olevia 32-inch LCD flat panel, model LT32HVE. Amazingly, the same model number appeared in a list of TVs manufactured by Syntax-Brillian that the FCC says were imported and shipped in violation of the digital tuner mandate. So what we have, apparently, is a chain of rule-breaking extending from manufacturer to retailer. In the end, consumers who don’t know about the DTV transition are being harmed. It’s heartening to see the FCC take action.

The commission warned retailers to expect fines of up to $11,000 a day, limited to $97,500 per violation, for any future breach of its analog TV labeling rules.

Critics portray the digital TV adapter coupon program as “TV welfare” and a drain on the federal treasury. But if the FCC uncovers enough violations, who knows—the digital transition could turn into a profit center. They clearly need one, too, now that Cher can say the F word for free. Anyway, the enforcement bureau found a consumer-friendly way to usher in this new era, closing out the uniquely memorable week in which Chairman Kevin Martin managed to put the F back in FCC.

• Link: B&C

The campaign to inform consumers about the digital TV transition remains under fire, with new signals of minimal buy-in from retailers and congressional tut-tutting about stingy budgets.

Democratic Reps. John Dingell (Mich.) and Edward Markey (Mass.) lament that

the FCC has requested “a mere $1.5 million to inform 300 million American consumers about the digital television transition.” By contrast, they noted, Berlin spent more than $980,000 to educate 3.4 million citizens about its transition.

A proposal to require stores that participate in the federal digital TV adapter coupon program to detail their employee training and consumer education plans is receiving a chilly response from Marc Pearl, the leader of a trade group representing Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and Sears:

He said retailers were waiting for the NTIA to choose a contractor in August before deciding if they would get involved, and to what extent.

But we must cut the megaretailers some slack here. They’re busy. Best Buy is too busy, apparently, to stock converter boxes. Circuit City is busy firing people. Sears is still busy plastering its tired but venerable name on rebranded Kmart stores (because people hate Sears slightly less than Kmart). And Target is perpetually busy, trying to persuade hipsters they need new sorts of candles (they don’t).

Meanwhile, across the pond, the Brits—yes, again with the Brits—have devised what is, from all indications, a jolly fine campaign for their DTV switcheroo. Pensioners, as they call them, and folks with disabilities can even get special installation assistance. What’s more, the British don’t just have a campaign. No, no. It’s much more than that. They have an actual mascot, you see. And it’s not just a mascot, it’s a robot mascot:

A DIGITAL roadshow will be visiting thousands of households in the ITV Border region ahead of the national television switchover.

Starting next week, the three-month tour will see Digit Al, the switchover robot mascot, driving a 10-metre trailer across Cumbria, south-west Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Please allow me to underline this point: Not only are they sending a robot all about the UK to promote digital TV, but they actually TAUGHT IT TO DRIVE!

Now that’s a good $5 million right there, especially at today’s exchange rates.

• Links: Broadcast Engineering, News & Star

These posts are now available by email. So why miss a single moment of the digital TV transition?

• Digital TV Facts free email subscriptions

Converter boxes for conventional televisions, one of the keys to a successful digital TV transition in 2009, have yet to hit the mass market. But already the reception capabilities of the digital-to-analog converter boxes that will be eligible for $40 rebate coupons from the federal government have been called into question.

The converters must meet a government-imposed performance requirement, instituted at the urging of a broadcasting industry worried that poorly engineered converter boxes would shrink their audiences. But that very performance requirement, which corresponds to the ATSC A/74 Receiver Performance Guidelines set by the U.S.-based digital TV standards body, is being criticized by Charles W. Rhodes, a broadcast technology consultant writing for TV Technology. Rhodes, whose recent columns have examined possible threats to broadcast TV reception from unlicensed devices that would share broadcast spectrum, sounds quite alarmed by three recent laboratory testing reports on DTV receivers.

Rhodes highlights several interference scenarios uncovered by the reports, which were prepared by the FCC, the Canadian Research Center, and the University of Kansas. The reports suggest, according to Rhodes’ interpretation, that manufacturers of digital TV receivers have largely ignored ATSC A/74. What’s more, A/74 deserves to be ignored, in his view, because “it’s busted!”

If Rhodes is correct, this does not bode well for analog TV owners hoping to purchase reliable digital TV adapters, and it could even undermine the DTV transition.

Rhodes takes the reports very seriously, describing the government’s thusly:

It may be the most important technical document from the FCC ever.

Meanwhile, several companies are working to bring to market converter boxes compliant with A/74, as mandated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), by early next year. What remains to be seen is whether the FCC will go through with its controversial plan, much anticipated by technology enthusiasts, to let unlicensed transmitters share broadcast spectrum once the February 17, 2009, DTV transition is completed.

This story isn’t over, and I would be most interested to learn how other analysts view this issue. I truly hope that converter box manufacturers, broadcasters and government regulators will study it closely.

• Link: TV Technology

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps sounds an alarm about the transition to digital TV, scheduled for Feb. 17, 2009:

“I am really worried about this entire transition process,” Copps said at the NAB [that’s National Association of Broadcasters] convention in Las Vegas. The guiding principle, he said, should be “no consumer left behind.”

…With the deadline less than two years away, concerns have been growing that not enough people are aware of the switch-over or what will need to be done to make sure their sets still work.

Copps is right to worry. Viewers need to understand how to prepare for the switch, and broadcasters still have time to help them as they’ve pledged. The task will become easier by next year, when inexpensive converter boxes hit stores and the federal government begins dispensing $40 coupons to help pay for them. Given strong HDTV sales in recent years, maybe the $1.5 billion Congress set aside for consumer subsidies will even be enough to meet the demand. (We still don’t know. Depends on how many people want a converter box for that dusty old analog TV they’ve relegated to the laundry room.)

The FCC must keep a close eye on whether stations will be ready for the deadline—some still aren’t. The Commerce Department’s administration of the coupon program requires diligent oversight from Congress. And NAB President David Rehr is on the right track, looking to the example of the United Kingdom, which has left little to chance in coordinating its own digital transition.

If we really wanted to do this right, the FCC, the NTIA and broadcasters would find a way to actually test the switch in advance (as the British have done). Pick a town, somewhere in America, launch an information campaign, get converter boxes and antennas to the folks who need them, and then shut off analog TV broadcasts entirely and see what happens. Everyone would learn from the experience and be better prepared when the coast-to-coast shutdown arrives in 2009.

• Link: USA Today

Digital TV transition assistance, in the form of government-provided $40 coupons, will be available to every American household beginning in 2008. The federal subsidy will reduce the cost to U.S. consumers who purchase a set-top converter box, which will allow conventional analog TVs to continue receiving over-the-air broadcasts following the transition to digital television. Analog broadcasts cease after Feb. 17, 2009.

Today’s announcement from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is much in keeping with its earlier proposals, with one significant exception: Households that subscribe to cable or satellite TV service will also be eligible for the coupon program in its $990 million initial phase. If demand for coupons exhausts first-phase funding, the NTIA will allocate an additional $510 million to the program, but subsidies for phase two will be limited to over-the-air households. The federal funding won’t cover every existing antenna-equipped analog TV set, according to some estimates, though many traditional TVs have already been replaced with high-definition models equipped with built-in digital tuners. But once the government money is spent, consumers will be on their own—so it might pay to apply early.

Cable or satellite subscribers will not generally need a box of this type, however, except for use with a “spare” television set that is not connected to the pay-TV service.

Coupon program essentials:

• Households must request coupons from NTIA between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009.

• Consumer coupon requests will be taken via a toll-free customer support center, a Web site, fax, and through the mail.

• Upon request, a maximum of up to two coupons will be sent to households via the United States Postal Service and will expire three months after they are mailed.

Details are available in this NTIA fact sheet [pdf]. And you can expect further updates on the converter box coupon program, of course, right here at Digital TV Facts.