CEA Announces Support For Hard Cut-Off Date For Analog TV

[hdtvtechno]

http://db.widescreenreview.com/week...Year=2005&Month=02&Day=21&-recid=42320&-find=

Calls On All Industry Stakeholders To Speed DTV Transition, Educate Consumers



Adopting a fixed date for the return of the analog spectrum will provide regulatory certainty to all industries involved in the analog to digital television (DTV) transition, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) today said as the House Telecommunications Subcommittee held a hearing on the issue. Titled, "The Role of Technology in Achieving a Hard Deadline for the DTV Transition," the hearing featured witnesses from multiple DTV industries, including one of CEA's member companies.

"A fixed cut-off date would be a critical step in the right direction, but it won't mean all the transition work is done," CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro said. "All industries must kick it up a notch to reach the finish line. For broadcasters, that means more aggressively promoting their digital broadcast channels, both during analog broadcasts and in TV program listings. In addition, broadcast stations must fully construct their facilities to reach all the viewers of their analog signal with a digital signal.

"Cable operators must support digital cable ready (DCR) integrated television sets with adequate promotion and supplies of CableCARDS provided at a fair price in order to provide a seamless viewing experience for cable customers to access HDTV and DTV programming. Additionally, for consumers to enjoy a truly open and competitive market for cable equipment, the cable industry must rely on the same security interface as their consumer electronics manufacturer counterparts. Anything else would be anti-innovation and anti-consumer."

Shapiro added that CEA wouldn't rest in its efforts to speed the transition, pointing to CEA's numerous industry and consumer outreach programs including its over-the-air antenna selection website created and independently funded by CEA for more than four years. The website, www.antennaweb.org demonstrates the consumer electronics industry's continued commitment to free over-the-air DTV.

"At this stage of the transition, I no longer have enough hands to count the programs and initiatives CEA has conducted in an effort to move the country to DTV," Shapiro continued. "The call now is for everyone involved in the transition to continue educating consumers about the analog shut-off and working together to get there as fast as possible. I invite all transition stakeholders to join us at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center on March 15 for the 10th annual HDTV Summit as we continue the analog cut-off debate."

 

[Tony N]

Oh yes, so nice to spell out all this, when they have done little substantive to promote digital terrestrial TV. The one manufacturer that developed a really workable decoder chip is owned by an offshore company that has pulled the chip off the market except in it's own branded TV sets. In other words, while all the CES member retailers have been selling analog only sets by the millions, we find the best technology for making less expensive, reliable STBs to allow those brand new sets receive digital broadcasts has been held off the market. Sounds to me as if the CES's hidden agenda is for the analong cut-off to actually become to a free OTA TV cut-off!

I can see where that would make perfect sense for their members. No more free TV means a windfall, as now all those second sets that don't yet get cable or sat. TV will be forced to chip in fees for PayTV connections. More cable boxes, sat receivers and DVD sales! More commissions for selling cable or sat subs! Wowee! The consumer yet again held hostage as prices and fees increase, since there would be no alternative.

 

[Tony N]

PS. Did you notice Shapiro had a lot to say about what the broadcasters must do to promote Digital TV, but he mentioned nothing at all about how the receiver manufacturers should "kick-up" their efforts to make broadcast digtal tv receiveable inexpensively.