Amazon hasn’t yet gotten certification for NTIA’s converter box program (CED April 10 p6), but that isn’t stopping the e-tailer from posting product descriptions of five models of coupon-eligible boxes, including two offered for active sale without a coupon redemption option. The Zenith DTT900 at $59.99 is being sold through Amazon by Abt Electronics, while BuilderDepot is offering GE’s Model 22729 with smart antenna interface at $88.54. Three unpriced models are listed as unavailable or out of stock -- the GE 22730, the Philco TB100HH9 and the Magnavox TB100MW9. NTIA rules don’t prevent retailers not certified for the program from selling coupon-eligible boxes, as long as they don’t pose as certified retailers. Amazon’s description for the GE 22730 includes this selling point: “MEETS FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR USING TV CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM.” And searching “NTIA” at the Amazon site brings up an offer of a $9.95 download of a Home Networks magazine article. The 632-word article, “Consumer Electronics and Broadcast Industries Applaud NTIA on Converter Box Rules for 2009 Digital TV Transition,” ran last March, Amazon says.
Paul Gluckman
Paul Gluckman, Executive Senior Editor, is a 30-year Warren Communications News veteran having joined the company in May 1989 to launch its Audio Week publication. In his long career, Paul has chronicled the rise and fall of physical entertainment media like the CD, DVD and Blu-ray and the advent of ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology from its rudimentary standardization roots to its anticipated 2020 commercial launch.
The FCC Thursday cut Syntax-Brillian’s fine for DTV tuner mandate violations 55 percent from the $2.9 million the agency had proposed 11 months ago in a notice of apparent liability (NAL) (CED April 11 p1). Still, Syntax-Brillian “is disappointed with, and intends to seek review of,” the commission action, the company said in a statement.
The FCC whip cracked Thursday against 18 CE companies for mislabeling analog-only TV sets, leaving full V-chip functionality out of DTV sets or shipping analog-only sets with no digital tuners. Notices of apparent liability propose fines totaling $6.6 million against 11 companies. Consent decrees totaling $3.4 million were adopted against seven CE makers for violating requirements that DTV sets’ V- chips adopt content advisory rating system changes. The NALs and consent decrees were adopted Wednesday. Early Thursday, the FCC canceled an open meeting whose agenda included the actions.
Amazon has “formally applied” for certification in NTIA’s coupon program, a spokeswoman for the e-commerce giant told us. “We should know more soon about the status of our application,” she said. She didn’t say when Amazon might begin redeeming coupons online, assuming its application is approved. NTIA lists eight e-commerce sites where coupons may be redeemed online, but Amazon would be the most well- known.
Questions outnumbered answers in the aftermath of Philips’ surprise announcement Tuesday giving Funai responsibility for sourcing, marketing, distribution and sales of all Philips and Magnavox TVs in the U.S. and Canada. Funai will pay Philips an unspecified royalty for the exclusive use of the Philips and Magnavox TV brands under a five-year agreement that takes effect Sept. 1.
DTV coupon requests are on pace to exceed 10 million this week, NTIA figures show. Coupons ordered reached 9.63 million Friday and are being snatched up at about 102,000 a day. At that rate, the 22.25 million coupons in the program’s base phase will be gone by Aug. 6, if all are redeemed. Money for coupons that expire goes back into the system. Residents of California requested the most coupons, more than 855,000, through Friday, followed by Texas (almost 825,000) and Illinois (almost 516,000), NTIA data show. The other top origins of requests, with the number rounded to the nearest thousand: Pennsylvania (480,000), Ohio (459,000), Michigan (457,000), Florida (446,000), New York (418,000), Puerto Rico (391,000) and Indiana (313,000). Residents in Puerto Rico outside San Juan ordered almost 300,000. Top cities: Houston and Chicago (137,000); San Juan (91,000); Los Angeles (80,000); Philadelphia (73,000); Cleveland (70,000); Portland, Ore. (67,000); and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (61,000). Portland is the base of operations for Epiq Systems, the IBM subcontractor processing the applications and mailing the coupons.
Return rates on coupon-eligible converter boxes at Best Buy and RadioShack are lower than for other CE products, the retailers said. Neither those companies nor Circuit City and Wal-Mart, the other two major chains promoting coupon- eligible boxes, give details on returns, the chains told us. “Returns so far for the DTV converter box are well below the comparable return rate of like products in our line,” RadioShack said in a written statement.
An unnamed exercise equipment manufacturer faces possible FCC fines for violating the DTV tuner mandate by shipping workout gear with analog-only TVs built in. A notice of apparent liability for proposed fines against the maker is on the commission’s meeting agenda for Thursday. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing fines against 25 CE retail chains and set makers for DTV, V-chip or analog labeling violations (CED March 21 p1) in notices that also are on the Thursday agenda. Millions of dollars in proposed fines are still pending against Regent USA and Syntax- Brillian for importing analog-only TVs or shipping them across state lines after March 2007. The commission has taken a hard line against companies seeking tuner-mandate waivers or postponements for unusual circumstances. For example, waivers were denied to two suppliers of hospital video systems and to a manufacturer of bathroom mirrors with built-in TV sets. A second bathroom equipment maker dropped its waiver request before the commission could consider it. Commissioners are waiting for additional information on settlement talks between the companies facing fines and the FCC Enforcement Bureau before voting on the notices, agency officials said (CED April 3 p5). The commissioners wouldn’t need to vote on notices against companies that settle, the sources said. Any votes needed probably could be on circulation, since the fines aren’t controversial, commission sources said. Industry lawyers speculate that the FCC may cancel the meeting. If that happens, the commissioners’ monthly meeting will be April 17 in connection with a hearing on broadband management at Stanford University in California, and no votes will be taken.
Dissident Circuit City shareholder Wattles Capital Management seems to lack “full understanding” of the chain’s “strategy and challenges,” lead Circuit City director Mikael Salovaara told principal Mark Wattles in an open “Dear Mark” letter Friday. Circuit City released the letter in reply to Wattles Capital’s call to oust CEO Phil Schoonover (CED April 4 p8). Salovaara thinks “a personal conversation” will give Wattles “a better picture” of Circuit City turnaround efforts and promote “a more effective dialogue” between the chain and the 6.5 percent shareholder, the letter said. Wattles Capital has said that turning around the 32-store Ultimate Electronics gave it the experience needed to revive Circuit City. Wattles Capital assembled a dissident slate of five nominees to seek control of Circuit City’s board at the annual meeting June 24 in Richmond, Va. Salovaara said he was surprised that Wattles Capital won’t let its slate of nominees meet with the Circuit City board’s nominating and governance committee without “unusual and unreasonable” conditions. According to the dissident candidates, for them to meet with the committee the board first must commit unconditionally in writing to put them up for nomination at the annual meeting, because they don’t want the interviews to come off as “a mere formality,” Wattles Capital said. But Circuit City evaluates shareholder-proposed board nominees the same as other candidates, using a “very standard and appropriate process” that precludes such stipulations, Salovaara said. “Certainly you would agree the board has an obligation to its shareholders to thoroughly research and personally interview potential members,” he said. “This is even more true given that your proposal to remove the entire Circuit City board would, if adopted, give your nominees absolute control of the entire board.” Still, Salovaara told Wattles, “we can resolve this point in a personal conversation.”
Six CE makers lobbied the FCC this week for changes in its DTV consumer education order (CED March 5 p1), according to an ex parte. Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony asked the FCC to reword the order so it applies only to TV broadcast receivers and devices that record or display images from them. Under the order, which took effect Monday, CE makers must package with DTV sets and other products printed notices on the transition. CE makers and retailers claim the list is too broad and confusing. The six companies want the commission to clarify that the order doesn’t apply to broadcast and professional products. They don’t want to have to comply until April 30, the deadline for cable, satellite and IPTV providers to begin stuffing monthly bills with DTV notices. And they want the rule to apply to the date a product is “packed and sealed at the factory,” the filing said. The order “does not recognize that a device may be ’shipped’ multiple times, and in various manners, during the course of its distribution from manufacturer to retailer to consumer,” the filing said.