The Community Broadcasters Association (CBA) asked the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit last Wednesday to order the FCC to halt the distribution and marketing of digital television (DTV) converter boxes without analogue TV.
According to the CBA, DTV converter boxes are required to receive “all frequencies allocated by the FCC to television broadcasting’ as per the All Channel Receiver Act (ACRA).
The US’s full-power TV stations are required under law to cease analogue operation and commence digital transmission in February 2009 while low-power television (LPTV), Class A and TV translator stations will continue to transmit in analogue. Without the ability to receive analogue over-the-air (OTA) signals, the converter boxes will effectively cut the stations off from viewers.
The association’s petition comes after months of discussion with DTV stakeholders, the FCC and the NTIA. In the petition, the CBA noted that when the FCC ordered all TV sets and other TV receiving devices to include digital tuners, it “emphatically acknowledged the importance of displaying all programming,…[and] held that the ACRA requirement entails not only that all channels be received but also that all formats, including analogue and digital, also be received. The FCC said that the “ACRA was intended to ensure that the viewing public has access to receivers which are capable of receiving all broadcast signals. Thus, to suggest that the statutory requirements are somehow satisfied simply where a receiver picks up the frequency but is incapable of displaying the signal in a viewable format strikes us as an absurd reading of the ACRA.’’
Despite its “best efforts,’ distribution of converter boxes without analogue capability has begun, said Greg Herman, CBA VP. “It is unfortunate that in spite of our best efforts, those who simply want to keep pushing illegal converter boxes on the American public have ignored our many warnings and shown contempt and disregard for the over-the-air viewing audience,’ he said.
On the other side of the controversy, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) issued a denunciation of the move. “This is an irresponsible lawsuit, as was CBA’s advertising calling the government program a “scam,’’ said CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro.
“CBA should act in the national interest and either shift to digital or promote the several converter box models with analog pass-through that already provide the solution CBA seeks.’
