The CEA urged the FCC to set July 1, 2004, as the deadline for both full analog service area replication and maximization by network affiliates in the top 100 markets.
“CEA joins consumer groups and others in urging the FCC not to allow broadcasters to stall in performing their responsibilities,” said the CEA in a filing with the FCC. “The FCC’s requirements for construction of the digital stations were adopted in April, 1997—six full years ago. Broadcasters have enjoyed more than ample time to plan, construct and place on air their digital stations, yet after six years only 25 percent of commercial television broadcasters have on-the-air facilities capable of reaching the viewers of their analog signal.”
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has asked the FCC to reject further delays by broadcasters in the DTV transition, and to swiftly adopt the pending cable-consumer electronics DTV plug-and-play compatibility agreement.
The CEA noted that the Consumer Federation of America’s (CFA) FCC filing last month remarked on the paucity of commercial broadcasters that have brought full-power digital signals on-the-air and observed that operating at low-power means that a percentage of homes within a signal’s analog service cannot receive the station’s digital signal.
Additionally, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the American Cable Association (ACA) similarly pointed out that in many cases the broadcasters’ reduced-power DTV signals do not reach cable system headends or are poor quality signals below the level necessary for retransmission.
The CEA urged the FCC to set July 1, 2004, as the deadline for both full analog service area replication and maximization by network affiliates in the top 100 markets; and July 1, 2005, as the deadline for all other commercial and non-commercial broadcasters.
For more information visit www.ce.org.