Digital TV Facts: The Latest

The law that gave us the 2009 cutoff date for analog TV broadcasts has been challenged on procedural grounds almost since its (supposed) passage. (The procedure in question could hardly be more basic: The House and Senate failed to pass identical bills.) The Hill brings us up to date on the various federal lawsuits seeking to strike down the Deficit Reduction Act, which contains the DTV provisions.

Even if a judge throws out the law, I would still expect the current Congress to preserve the current Feb. 17, 2009, digital TV deadline by enacting new legislation. They just might sweeten the converter-box subsidy or make other tweaks, but I don’t see the date changing—unless, in the months immediately preceding the transition, consumers hit major snags. If digital TV’s over-the-air reception problems are behind it, and if the converter-box coupon program is run more competently than other projects of the Bush administration, the deadline will stick.

• Links: The Hill, Multichannel News

The federal coupon program to help consumers pay for digital TV converter boxes could double or triple in size under the new Democratic Congress—according to Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Davis.

• Link: Multichannel News

If you still have a traditional analog TV, you’ll finally have low-cost access to digital broadcasts by next year. That’s when an “affordable” set-top converter box from LG Electronics will hit the U.S. market, according to a company announcement. The small box will connect to a conventional television set, allowing it to receive digitally transmitted broadcasts over the airwaves.

In anticipation of the 2009 cutoff of analog TV broadcasts, the federal government will offer coupons worth $40 toward the cost of a digital-to-analog converter box (sometimes called a “digital TV adapter”). While LG did not disclose the retail price of its box, a target price of $50 to $60 was envisioned by Congress when it approved the consumer subsidy program.

Various consumer electronics manufacturers are expected to produce converter boxes, allowing millions of old-style TVs to survive the digital transition. LG and Thomson (which sells products under the RCA brand) each developed prototype set-top boxes under a contract with two broadcasting trade groups, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Association For Maximum Service Television (MSTV). Those boxes, once scheduled for delivery by the end of last year, have yet to arrive. Meanwhile, prices on brand-new digital televisions have never been lower, with Best Buy and Circuit City both reporting strong December sales of flat-panel sets.

LG’s converter box will feature, in the company’s words, “the latest ATSC-VSB circuitry for optimum reception”—the company’s own sixth-generation chipset, presumably [UPDATE: Nope, it’s the fifth generation]—along with a simple electronic program guide (EPG) and a remote control.

• Link: press release

Federal subsidies to ease America’s transition to digital TV remain controversial. In Italy, however, a lavish DTV subsidy plan unveiled this week could make Uncle Sam look miserly by comparison:

ROME—Italy’s 2007 budget will include a program that will give Italians who buy new high-definition digital television sets rebates worth up to €200 ($257) in a bid to promote the spread of digital broadcast technology in Italy.

While U.S. consumers who want HDTV will have to pay their own way, a federal program will provide coupons worth $40 off the price of a converter box that attaches to a conventional analog TV set. The maximum U.S. subsidy is $80 per household (which covers two digital TV adapters).

• Link: Hollywood Reporter

House Democrats voiced reservations about the Bush administration’s converter box subsidy proposal yesterday. They have now even suggested that problems with the federal coupon program, if not remedied, could delay 2009’s “hard deadline” for the cutoff of analog TV broadcasts.

John Dingell (D-Mich.), incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, and other committee Democrats raised concerns in a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration:

“We continue to believe this plan is highly flawed and disadvantages the poor, the elderly, minority groups, and those with multiple analog television sets in their home….”

The NTIA is the Commerce Department agency overseeing the converter box coupon program.

If Congress truly wants changes to the much-criticized, $1.5 billion subsidy program, it must be prepared to increase its funding.

• Link: TV Week

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

Viewers of over-the-air TV—some of them, anyway—will get $40 coupons from the federal government to ease the shift to digital television. As we’ve noted, Congress’s funding of the program, at $1.5 billion, won’t cover every analog TV that would need a converter box to continue receiving broadcasts come 2009.

What would it take to get the job done? Maybe $10 billion, according to David Rehr, CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.

• Link: Mediaweek

Broadcasting and consumer-electronics industry representatives, once again presenting a united front, have called on the federal government to include cable and satellite TV subscribers in its converter-box subsidy program. The program will provide $40 coupons to U.S. households to ease the transition to digital TV. The digital-to-analog converter boxes (also known as digital TV adapters) will allow continued use of conventional analog TVs after analog broadcasts cease in 2009.

The industry groups object to a proposal from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a Commerce Department agency, which would limit coupon eligibility to broadcast-only households. Many cable and satellite customers will not need additional equipment to continue receiving local channels. But under the government scenario, cable or satellite subscribers would not get converter-box subsidies, even for spare TVs not connected to those systems.

The industry lobbies also called on the NTIA to make coupons available to requesting households regardless of their income. Other recommendations include:

Allowing subsidized boxes to include certain features, including electronic program guides and “smart antenna” interfaces. While I agree, and strongly, it’s not clear to me that the Digital TV Act of 2005—which specifically limits the coupon program to stripped-down converter-boxes—would permit inclusion of these essential features. But if the NTIA wants to allow it, they probably can.

Setting minimum performance requirements for converter boxes. The industries’ recommendations would exceed the ATSC A/74 “recommended practice on receiver performance” guidelines. Given the over-the-air reception issues already experienced by many U.S. digital TV viewers, the NTIA seriously needs to do everything it can to help consumers get converter boxes with robust reception capabilities. Low-grade converter boxes would further undermine the viability of broadcast television in the United States.

Rejecting stringent state-level energy-efficiency requirements for converter boxes. Broadcasters and electronics firms have sought to preempt a strict but achievable California energy standard that would lead to substantial savings for power customers in that state. Instead of such mandatory state requirements, the lobbyists suggest that the NTIA “be prepared to review and, as appropriate, adopt” energy guidelines under the EPA’s Energy Star program. The Energy Star guidelines for converter boxes would be voluntary—if the EPA ever bothers to adopt them.

The recommendations were issued by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) on Monday. That was the deadline for comments to be submitted to the NTIA as part of its rulemaking process for the converter-box coupon program.

• Links: press release, industry comments [pdf]

Households that receive all of their TV programming over the air would be eligible for government coupons that will reduce the cost of set-top converter boxes, under a proposal from a federal agency. The converter boxes (sometimes called digital TV adapters) will enable existing analog TVs to continue receiving broadcasts after the digital TV transition is completed in 2009. Eligible households could request two $40 coupons.

Cable and satellite subscribers would be ineligible for subsidies, even if some televisions in the household are not connected to a pay-TV service, according to the plan.

This scenario won’t make everyone happy—and given that Congress apparently underfunded the subsidy program, some folks are bound to be unhappy. Would it surprise you to know that broadcasters are less than completely happy?

“…we would hope that no broadcast-only TV sets are forced to go dark during this transition,” said [National Association of Broadcasters] spokesman Dennis Wharton.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a Commerce Department agency, seeks public comment on whether a means test or other criteria should be used in determining eligibility. The NTIA also invites comments on other aspects of its proposal.

• Links: USA Today, NTIA

The change to digital TV can be a struggle for the elderly and people with disabilities, according to a British government report.

A nine-month study in Bolton, Lancashire, found that almost three-quarters of elderly viewers over the age of 75 as well as people with significant disabilities relating to vision, hearing, mobility or learning had difficulties managing their set-top boxes up to four weeks after the change to digital terrestrial TV.

Most report being happy with digital television, however, after the initial period of adjustment. But it bears noting that in Britain, an extensive government program helps those who most need assistance with making the leap to digital TV. They don’t just grudgingly mail out some coupons, either. The program provides free or low-cost equipment and support to install and use it, including a telephone help line.

Subsidy coupons will be available to help Americans buy set-top converter boxes in advance of 2009’s shutoff of analog TV broadcasts. But no special assistance is provided for the elderly or people with disabilities, nor any help with installation or usage. I am not aware of any private or community programs that will provide such help, either.

Draft telecom legislation in the Senate would direct the FCC to establish a DTV Working Group to coordinate with state and local governments and community groups “to promote consumer outreach and to provide logistical assistance to consumers, including converter box delivery and installation.” The FCC would also be directed to recommend procedures for “toll-free informational hotlines.” But the bill—which has other problems—provides no additional federal funding for outreach or installation programs, and its chances are uncertain. (In the UK, the BBC funds the support program through “television license” fees.)

Technological change has already brought about a digital divide in the U.S. If we do not want to leave millions more Americans behind in 2009—without access to even over-the-air television—we have much work to do.

• Link: Digital TV Group

The ink is barely dry on the digital TV transition plan signed by the president yesterday, but already we have word of a potential setback.

Because of a “clerical error,” the House and Senate passed slightly different versions of the budget reconciliation bill, according to Reuters. The affected portion was unrelated to digital television, but the DTV plan was part of the budget bill.

While such glitches are usually handled quietly, this time the Democrats may try to force a re-vote. Democratic lawmakers who are unhappy with GOP spending cuts affecting the poor may seize the opportunity to voice their displeasure. (Consumer subsidies for digital-to-analog converters, which fall short of covering all affected TVs, have also drawn Democratic complaints.) However, the vote may be limited to “a narrow part of the [budget] bill—not the entire measure,” The Hill reports.

• Links: Reuters, The Hill

Now it’s official. [UPDATE: Or maybe not.]

Digital TV transition plans received President Bush’s signature today. Analog TV broadcasts will end Feb. 17, 2009, and the legislation provides up to $1.5 billion in consumer subsidies.

• Link: TV Week