The FCC denied a request June 9 from two associations to modify its DTV tuner timetable by delaying the date by which half of all mid-sized TV receivers must have a built-in DTV tuner.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) had asked the commission to eliminate the 50 percent requirement for mid-sized sets (25in-36in), and to move up the date for full compliance for mid-sized sets to March 1, 2006.
In denying the request to do away with the intermediate 50 percent deadline, the commission said that such an action would delay the wider dissemination of DTV tuners in products and would be inconsistent with its efforts to advance the DTV transition as rapidly as possible. The commission also advanced the date for 100 percent compliance for mid-sized TV receivers from July 1, 2006 to March 1, 2006.
The commission also proposed to move up the date by which all TV receivers with a screen size of 13in or larger and other TV receiving devices must have DTV tuners from July 1, 2007 to no later than Dec. 31, 2006, the statutory target date for the end of the DTV transition and the corresponding end of analog broadcast television transmissions.
The commission sought comment on whether a DTV tuner requirement should be extended to TV receivers with a screen size smaller than 13in.
For more information, visit www.fcc.gov.
