CEA Accuses Broadcasters of Offering Excuses to Delay DTV Transition
Summary
The Consumer Electronics Association accused broadcasters of offering excuses to delay the DTV transition while the consumer electronics industry invested over a billion dollars and sold more than 155,000 DTV units. CEA President Gary Shapiro urged the FCC to consider limiting cable carriage to broadcasters transmitting original, digitally created programming.
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 BROADCASTERS OFFER EXCUSES IN EFFORT TO DELAY DTV TRANSITION, SAYS CEASuggests Cable Carriage of Digital Programming Be Limited to Broadcasters Providing Original, Digitally Created DTV Content Use or Lose Spectrum, Demands Shapiro Arlington, Va., March 8, 2000 ñ The broadcast industry is offering excuses to delay making the necessary investments to transition to digital television (DTV), even as the consumer electronics and other industries are moving forward aggressively, accuses the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). CEA stated its claim in a letter delivered today to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Bill Kennard. The charges came in response to a letter sent to Chairman Kennard on February 22 by the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Association of Local Television Stations (ALTV). In that letter, the groups state that a majority of broadcasters favor a delay in the DTV transition.  "Having committed more than a billion dollars to digital television, the consumer electronics industry strongly objects to any proposed delay in the DTV transition," wrote CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. "Even as the broadcast industry offers DTV excuses, our industry offers an increasing array of DTV products." Shapiro accused broadcasters of skirting their obligation to provide high quality, digitally originated content to viewers. In the letter, Shapiro noted that Congress loaned the broadcast industry billions of dollars worth of spectrum with the understanding that broadcasters would offer high quality DTV programming to the American public. "Unfortunately, while some broadcasters have aired compelling content, the vast majority of broadcasters are actually passing through lower-quality, digitized NTSC programming." "Of course, individual broadcasters are free to elect not to transition to DTV," Shapiro continued. "In which case they should be encouraged to promptly return their borrowed spectrum to the American public. Indeed, broadcasters should use it or lose it." DTV is off to a strong start in the consumer marketplace. To date, manufacturers have introduced more than 165 DTV products which are being stocked by more than 250 retailers across the country. CEA reports that more than 155,410 DTV units have been sold in the U.S. since the introduction of DTV in August of 1998, meeting CEA's early projections. CEA estimates that sales of DTV products to dealers should hit 600,000 units in 2000. Shapiro cautioned that CEA's sales projections are premised upon the availability of quality content. "It's disturbing that broadcaster calls for delay come just as DTV is taking off," Shapiro notes. "Building on the successful launch, manufacturers are broadening their product lines and accelerating the deployment of next-generation receivers." Shapiro also said that broadcastersí lack of commitment is particularly shameful given the efforts undertaken by other industries to advance the DTV transition. Specifically, he pointed to the agreements reached between the cable and consumer electronics industries providing specifications for the direct interconnection of DTV sets and cable systems and the efforts undertaken by direct broadcast satellite providers to supply their subscribers with HDTV programming. Shapiro also urged the Commission to think creatively about promoting broadcaster compliance with the FCC's DTV conversion timetable. He proposed, as an example, that as the Commission deliberates upon the obligations of cable systems to carry digital channels, it consider requiring carriage of only those broadcasters transmitting a certain amount of original, digitally created programming. "Such a rule," argued Shapiro, "would encourage the sort of compelling programming that would drive even more consumers to purchase DTV receivers." |
