Consumerist
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digital tv transition
FCC: Why Are Cable Customers Paying The Same Amount For Fewer Channels?
The WSJ says that the FCC has sent letters of inquiry to 11 cable companies asking why their customers are paying the same amount each month, even as the companies move channels to digital cable. More » -
fines
Big Box Retailers Fight Back Against FCC's Recent Fines
Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears are all contesting the FCC's recent fines against them for not properly following analog transition rules in their stores, reports Ars Technica. Last week, Best Buy submitted a 41-page response (PDF) that claimed among other things that the FCC has no authority to fine them. More » -
fines
Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart And Others Fined For Not Warning Consumers About Analog Obsolescence
The FCC handed out a whole basketful of fines to electronics retailers today: $1.1 million for Sears and Kmart; $992,000 for Wal-Mart; $712,000 for Circuit City; and amounts between $168,000-384,000 for Target, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics. What made Christmas come so early? They were all failing to warn consumers that analog-only TVs and tuners will stop working on their own when the digital switchover comes next year. More » -
tv
Best Buy CEO Admits They'll Probably Screw Up Digital TV Switchover
Well, at least he's being honest—Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson announced at CES today that the 2009 switchover from analog to digital television (still a year away) poses "one of the biggest risks our industry has," whatever that means. "The number of converter boxes that is going to be required could put tremendous pressure on us." Oh, you mean because you'll have to have them in stock? Interpretation: if you're going to need a converter box or two, you'd better plan on buying them elsewhere. More » -
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, half of US homes already have digital televisions. If you're not one of them, you've got a year to switch—or make sure you hit up this site next Tuesday to get a coupon for a converter. [InformationWeek]
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shutdowns
Items Affected By The Cellular Analog Network Shutdown
The analog-to-digital TV revolution is still a year off, but the country's oldest cellular network will be shut down in February. Wired and Associated Press provide the following list of what kinds of items will be affected.
Cell phones
"In particular, check phones that are kept around as 911-only phones. Such phones, which don't have a phone number and aren't initialized with a carrier, were given out by some donation programs that collected old phones." Less than 1% of cell phones currently in use are analog, but the article points out that that still counts for over a million devices. Anything less than 5 years old or that can text message isn't analog. More » -
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badvertising
Cablevision Uses Digital TV Transition To Upsell Basic Cable
Cablevision is trying to scare consumers into signing up for basic cable service ahead of the planned transition to digital television. After February 17, 2009, consumers will need a $60 converter box to receive television signals over-the-air. The transition to digital will significantly improve the quality of over-the-air television, but that isn't stopping Cablevision from funding a scare-mongering campaign to rustle up new business.
More »
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obsolescence
FCC Fines Radio Shack For Selling Analog TVs With No Consumer Warning
The FCC is serious when they say they want retailers to warn consumers about purchasing analog TVs. This week they've announced fines against Radio Shack, HH Gregg, FYE, Fred Meyer Stores, Ultimate Electronics, and Boscov's for selling TVs without a warning label.
The consumer alert rule states that retailers have to post a warning like this one from Kmart's website:
CONSUMER ALERT: This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009, to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation's transition to digital broadcasting. Analog-only TVs should continue to work as before with cable and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, VCRs, DVD players, and similar products. For more information, call the Federal CommunicationsCommission at 1-888-225-5322 (TTY: 1-888-835-5322) or visit the Commission's digital television website at: www.dtv.gov.
The FCC supposedly has undercover agents working in stores and surfing the web to make sure stores aren't selling obsolete TVs to hapless rabbit-ear using folks. Meanwhile, Best Buy has stopped selling analog TVs outright. More » -
analog to digital
FCC Takes Action To Prevent Cable Companies From Dropping Digital Broadcast Networks From Analog Cable
In 2009, broadcast channels are going to switch over to digital, freeing up a large swath of bandwidth that will be sold to the highest bidder. At that point, says the FCC, cable companies were going to drop broadcast networks from analog cable. More » -
bye bye bunny ears
FCC Requires "Consumer Alert" Labels For TVs Affected By The Switch To Digital Television
The FCC will require retailers to warn consumers that certain television models will not work without additional equipment after the conversion to digital television in early 2009. The FCC nicely asked retailers to help educate the public, but concluded that voluntary efforts are "not working." More »
analog
New York, 2:31 AM
Wed Dec 3
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