NAB Responds to Microsoft/Philips FCC Meeting and Test Results

By Doug Lung
published

The NABroadcasters issued a short statement in response to the meeting between representatives from Microsoft and Philips Electronics and the FCC on Sept. 20.

In response to the representatives’ claim that they had developed a device that detects TV signals “with 100 percent accuracy,” NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton responded, “It’s ironic that a company with a track-record of developing less-than-perfect products is now claiming to have invented a device that functions with ‘100 percent accuracy.’ While frustrated users of Microsoft products have come to expect routine system errors and computer glitches, they do not expect the same to hold true for broadcast television service. As was shown in the FCC’s July test results, the devices proposed by the White Space Coalition do not function as advertised. They do not detect broadcast signals, and they do interfere with TV reception.”

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.