FCC Consumer Bureau Sees Increase in DTV Complaints

By Doug Lung
published


An FCC report released this week shows interest in broadcast DTV is not decreasing. Indeed, the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau's Summary of Top Consumer Inquiry Subjects – Fourth Quarter – Calendar Year 2010 reports 1,793 "Digital TV Issues," an increase of over 140 percent from the 2009 report, which started only three months after the completion of the DTV transition.

The number of 4Q2010 DTV inquiries is greater than the number of wireless telecommunications service related and interference inquiries combined. It was over double the number of inquiries about wireless billing and rates.

The total number of cable and satellite services inquiries was 1,922 in 4Q2010, only 129 more than the DTV issues alone. Of those 1,922, 385 were related to over-the-air reception device issues.

It will be hard for the FCC to ignore the growing interest in broadcast digital DTV reflected in the CGB's numbers when it considers the impact of following the National Broadband Plan's recommendation to take away over half the usable TV channels. While the FCC Chairman claims he can do this without hurting broadcasters and consumers who watch TV over-the-air, the engineering does not support that claim and the FCC has offered no technical data to back it up. See more about this in a story on Representative John Dingell's letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski in RF Shorts.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.