NAB again urged the FCC to recall Sirius and XM plug & play radios with wireless modulators that exceed the Commission’s Part 15 power emission limits. Interference from those devices causes “bleed through” of programming to FM radios, especially in cars, NAB Pres. David Rehr said in a letter Mon. to FCC Chmn. Martin. Sirius and XM stopped production of such radios last year, redesigned them and won FCC recertification. But the fix “did nothing” to resolve the interference caused by devices that already had been purchased by consumers or shipped to retailers, Rehr said. “Consequently, satellite radio continues to disrupt FM radio service, as consumers interested in noncommercial radio programming continue to receive unwelcome content such as the Howard Stern Show,” Rehr said. “Given Sirius and XM’s recalcitrance, it is left to the Commission to take corrective action.” The FCC never acted on an earlier NAB plea to recall the noncompliant devices.
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.
LCD TV market growth “is developing even faster than we expected,” doubling its global penetration last year to 22%, Corning COO Peter Volanakis told the company’s annual investor conference in N.Y. Fri. LCD TV penetration is expected again to double to 45% by 2008, he said.
CEA, for reasons undisclosed, no longer will release to the media weekly data on video equipment sales to dealers. CEA will release the data monthly, Tim Herbert, senior dir. of market research, said Thurs. The data, which have been released the media weekly for decades, have been used in compiling our weekly State of the Industry chart. “As a benefit to its 2,100 corporate members and the industry we serve, CEA produces the highest quality and largest body of industry research,” Herbert said. “We share a great deal of this data routinely with the media and other constituents for public consumption. To date, this has included weekly distribution of video category sales statistics to the media. After careful consideration, we have concluded that moving from weekly to monthly video sales reports will allow us to best serve our members, while ensuring the timely release of our data to the public.”
Mobile phones are the next great “growth platform that’s coming” because all mobile service providers are “looking for content to sell” as a hedge against price declines in voice- only services, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch told the Media Summit N.Y. conference in a Thurs. keynote. “We think there’s a huge opportunity there,” because there are at least 2-3 times as many mobile phones as computers, Murdoch said.
Viacom was “smart” to order YouTube to remove over 100,000 video clips from its site (CED Feb 5 p5), and there probably will be a “domino effect” of other media companies stepping forward demanding the same, IAC/InterActive Corp. CEO Barry Diller told the Media Summit in N.Y. in a keynote Wed.
“We desperately hope that sanity reigns” in flat-panel pricing this year and “that the lessons of the past holiday season are not lost on anybody in the industry,” Tweeter CEO Joe McGuire told analysts in a Tues. Q1 earnings call.
NTIA “certainly” expects there'll be enough DTV converter boxes to go around when coupon distribution begins next year, NTIA Dir. John Kneuer said in a C-SPAN interview televised Sat. “One of the powerful incentives of the program -- it creates a billion-dollar marketplace for manufacturers to address,” he said: “That’s a very attractive marketplace for them to serve.” Kneuer wouldn’t say where NTIA will stands on means-testing for coupon eligibility. The agency’s proceeding reveals a consensus that there’s “a very broad cross-section of Americans who are going to be impacted by this and that to the extent possible, they should be eligible,” he said. NTIA will put “systems in place” to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the program, including thwarting resale of coupons, Kneuer said: “I'm not sure what the marketplace for a coupon would be. If there’s broad eligibility for the coupon, why would one go and buy it on eBay when you can request it from the government in the first instance?” Asked whether he had called the $5 million set by law for consumer outreach “a drop in the bucket,” Kneuer didn’t acknowledge using those words. But if he did, he said, it was probably in the “context” that $5 million pales in comparison with what the CE and broadcast industries and others will spend to educate the public on the analog cutoff. He wouldn’t have used “drop in the bucket” to say the consumer outreach element isn’t well enough financed, he said. Asked if he thinks it is, Kneuer said: “I'm focusing that money on making people aware of the program itself, and we're working closely with the broadcasters and the consumer electronics industry and others, so as they're doing their broader public education campaigns, that they are reflecting and referencing our program. I intend to use those broader, bigger efforts to really leverage our $5 million resource.”
With final rules for NTIA’s DTV coupon program imminent, a key deadline in getting DTV converter boxes to market on time may have been missed. That’s what NTIA says in a summary of the program posted on the website of Office of Management & Budget, which is reviewing the rules.
NTIA didn’t release a request for proposals (RFP) Fri. for a DTV coupon vendor as it said in a Jan. 5 “presolicitation notice” it might (CED Jan 9 p6). Jan. 26 was only “an approximate date,” a spokesman said. The RFP and final coupon program rules are due very soon, he said. He wouldn’t comment on talk that they will appear around the same time.
“Find something interesting” is the tagline on a new site called CirccuitCity.com.” Interesting it is - but it’s not the e-commerce home of the Richmond-based chain. It’s what popped up on our screens early Thurs. when, seeking CircuitCity.com, we made a typo. The site “specializes” in plasma TVs, Apple eMac, cordless phones, air conditioners, racks and “an array of other products and services,” it says. “We empower individuals, organizations and businesses by providing unique up-to-date information. Our dedicated team of professionals strives to gather the most relevant content for our users.” Oddities on the site: (1) A copyright notice at the bottom of all pages is dated 2116. (2) Clicking on “plasma TV” brings up a list of “sponsored results,” including links to legitimate sites such as BestBuy.com, Hitachi.com, Sears.com -- even the real CircuitCity.com. A Circuit City spokeswoman said the chain wasn’t aware of the site until our query. It’s investigating, she said.