Some 60 years ago, FCC Chairman Newton Minow championed — and got the nod of his fellow Commissioners — to mandate that all TV set manufacturers in the U.S. add a dial for UHF television. It was a game-changer that fully came to fruition a decade later, thanks to programming choices, cable TV distribution and “Superstation” status for channels in markets ranging from Boston to Tampa.
Now, the Carr Commission is considering a mandate that would require all sellers of televisions in the U.S to include a NEXTGEN TV-compatible receiver. The lobbying group that’s responsible for the annual CES conference doesn’t want that to happen.
It’s the latest salvo from the Gary Shapiro-led Consumer Technology Association (CTA), and directors heading up regulatory affairs and research and standards at the group that’s become a vociferous opponent of broadcast industry initiatives such as a hard ATSC 3.0 transition date and the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.”
In an ex parte filing made by the CTA and penned by Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Rachel Nemeth and SVP of Research & Standards Brian Markwalter, the CTA states that it “remains concerned about the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) proposal to mandate ATSC 3.0 tuners in consumer devices.”
This was stated in an October 20 meeting with Erin Boone, Senior Counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, and Media Bureau staffers Evan Morris, Mark Columbo, Lyle Elder and Evan Baranoff. The gathering illustrates that, even as 1,000 staffers have been furloughed due to the ongoing federal government shutdown due to a funding lapse, the Commission is not fully shuttered.
“As an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standards development organization, CTA has played a key role in advancing industry-driven solutions for over a century,” the association said in the ex parte filing. “Industry-driven” is code for anti-mandate, and has permeated all of the CTA’s communication regarding any suggestion technology companies should be forced by law or regulatory policy to do something that the marketplace may not support independent of such action.
With Tesla revealing that two of its 2026 model vehicles will neither contain an AM or FM radio receiver and the NAB compromising on a sunset date for the proposed “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act,” the CTA’s weight on Capitol Hill and at the Commission is strong. As such, the battle over the ATSC 3.0 transition will likely be hard-fought.
While the CTA says it appreciates that a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking exploring the issue of a mandated ATSC 3.0-compatible tuner in all televisions sold in the U.S. “through thoughtful questions,” bringing its point of view to the Media Bureau and Ms. Boone was paramount for the Shapiro-led group.
And, while the ex parte filing didn’t delve into details as to what was said at the Monday gathering at the Commission, Nemeth and Markwalter “applaud the Commission’s focus on building an accurate record around consumer costs, technical feasibility, and paths to a voluntary transition to NEXTGEN TV.”
Lastly, while the CTA has not previously opined on digital rights management (DRM) in this proceeding, it supports the FCC’s goal in asking questions about these issues in the FNPRM.
