The New York Times reports that eleven huge food companies, in the face of regulatory intervention, lawsuits, and a forthcoming government study on childhood obesity, agreed to voluntarily withdraw junk food advertising from children’s TV shows targeted at an under-12 audience.
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Cable Companies Will Raise Set-Top Box Rates, Blaming Costs Incurred From FCC Forcing Them To Finally Comply With 11-Year-Old Law
By 7.5.07
Cable companies are using the government’s forcing them to ship new cable boxes with detachable cable cards as an excuse to raise rates on old set-top boxes, AP reports.
Target Horror Story: Lies, Misprints, Credit Cards, Gift Cards and Accusations Of Theft
By 7.3.07
It was $999 but you got 10% off for applying for a Target card making it $899. Not too shabby I thought. The picture looked good, it sounded good, and I liked the style of it. The sign talking about the Target card said that you just had to apply for the card and that it did not need to be used for the purchase. We said that we had $100 in Target gift cards with us and that we’d take it. They rang it up and we handed them the gift cards. They scanned them through the computer. It popped up on the screen and said that the Gift Cards could not be used as the item was on Sale. Well that’s a load of crap…gift cards are supposed to be as good as cash.
Jericho To Re-Run On CBS, Jericho Fans Beg You To Watch It
By 6.21.07
Jericho fans sent 50,000 lbs of nuts to CBS in an effort to get them to bring back the show… and they won. CBS will add new episodes of Jericho into their line-up this fall as a mid-season replacement.
FCC To Retailers: "Warn Consumers About Analog TVs"
By 6.8.07
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: http://www.dtv.gov.
The FCC supposedly has undercover agents surfing the web and shopping in-store, on the prowl for analog TVs that are not clearly marked as such. Fear the FCC. The warnings come after retailers promised that federal regulations were not necessary, then showed that they were by ignoring the voluntary program. —MEGHANN MARCO
FCC Requires "Consumer Alert" Labels For TVs Affected By The Switch To Digital Television
By 5.5.07
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.”
DirectTV CEO's Contact Info
By 5.3.07
To send a valentine to DirecTV’s CEO, Chase Carey, email chase.carey@directv.com.
Walmart's New "Cable TV Show" Is Going To Be So Awesome
By 4.20.07
I don’t know if I’m the only one who finds this a little odd, but Wal-Mart is starting up a TV series about its associates. It’s going to be called “In-Front with Wal-Mart” and is set to air April 28 on USA. I’ve attached a screenshot capture of walmartbenefits.com where I found this info. Seems kind of likely a silly PR stunt. Even though I work for Wal-Mart (and love it) I still think this is kind of ridiculous.
Hmmm, would USA really do a Walmart TV show? Sure! Why?
DirecTV Expect Interest-Free Loans For Overbilling
By 4.6.07
Man, is the DirecTV billing department staffed by rat-faced bastards or what?
DirecTV's "3-Day No Risk Trial" Actually Full Of Risks And Charges
By 4.6.07
Reader D signed up for what he thought was a 3-day no risk trial period with DirecTV. Dissatisfied with the picture quality, he canceled two days later and returned the receiver.
Verizon: Watch Non-Recordable TV On A Tiny Screen For $15 A Month
By 4.3.07
I watched on the LG phone and was struck by the video’s sharpness and detail — it felt as if I were watching a miniature HDTV. Under an overcast sky, the screen wasn’t that viewable, and on sunny days, forget it. But in a car or on a bus or indoors, reception and clarity were great.
Watching TV in cars makes us revisit our last meal, so we’ll pass. —MEGHANN MARCO
The Conversion to Digital Television Is Going To Be Unpleasant
By 3.29.07
Congress has ordered broadcasters to shut off old-style analog TV broadcasts by Feb. 17, 2009, and replace them with sharper digital ones. When that happens, millions of households with pre-digital TVs that rely on antennas will need to have purchased and installed digital converter boxes that will cost a minimum of $60 each.
America's Least Wanted: Top 10 TV Product Placement Offenders
By 3.26.07
Product placement is annoying. You can’t TiVo through it, it’s distracting, and you can’t get rid of it. Neilsen has compiled a list of the top 10 shows with the most product placement advertising as well as the top 10 offending advertisers. Quite unsurprisingly, FOX’s American Idol comes in at the top spot with 4,086 occurrences of product placement. Yuck.
No Sopranos For You: Comcast Says Switch To Digital Or Lose HBO
By 3.22.07
“I guess the thing that bothers me is, the service is bad and rates keep increasing,” said Alan Letofsky, one of many customers who recently received a notice from Comcast saying they would need a digital-cable box to keep HBO, which telecasts The Sopranos. “We just don’t want to give any more money to Comcast.”
BREAKING: NBC and FOX Announce "You Tube Killer" Featuring Full Episodes of Popular Shows
By 3.22.07
The companies said Thursday that distribution partners for the online content would include Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.’s MSN network and Time Warner Inc.’s AOL unit. The site, which will be free, is expected to launch this summer and will carry full episodes and clips from hit shows such as “Heroes,” “The Simpsons,” “24” and “My Name Is Earl.” It will also feature movies, including “Borat.”
Circuit City Manager Won't Exchange Item, Even After Circuit City's Help Desk States It's Eligible
By 3.17.07
The Auburn Hills, MI Circuit City refuses to exchange Eric’s broken TV, even though, according to Circuit City’s help desk, he is eligible for an exchange under his service plan. Eric purchased an open-box 17″ Magnavox LCD with built-in DVD player; it stopped ejecting disks, trapping his daughter’s sign-language DVD inside. Circuit City sent the unit for repair, but the TV was totaled. Eric was told to go back for an exchange unit.
Upon returning to the store, I was not happy to hear that the store would not exchange my TV because (1) it was an open box item, and (2) the only similar unit to mine cost $200 more than what I paid. I asked for and was given a copy of the service plan guidelines, which clearly state that items covered under a service plan are treated like new, sealed box items and qualify for the usual Circuit City exchange and return policy. I then called the phone number on the service plan and was told that the exchange should happen even if the replacement was a greater cost than the original. However, Greg (the store director) said there was no way he was exchanging the TV in his store. Left with no other option, and per the service agreement, I then asked for a gift card in the amount of purchase so I could pick out another TV. Greg also refused this, saying that gift cards are not issued for these issues, and that I would have to find another open-box item as a replacement.
Great service, Greg. Eric’s email and our suggestion, inside…
Viewers Expect Tom Brokaw, Get Hard-Core Porn
By 3.15.07
The incident on KPPX-TV Monday night prompted a flood of calls to local news media outlets and cable provider Cox Communications, including one from Chandler resident Brenda Schodt, who said she was shocked to look up and see graphic sex acts on her television screen.
