FCC Ruling Requires Labeling Analog TVs

This past Wednesday, the FCC ruled that electronic retailers will have to post warning stickers on any left-over analog televisions that are still being sold out of inventory.

The Commission already had ruled that all new TVs, VCRs, DVD recorders include digital ATSC tuners as of March 1 of this year. Technically making them digital devices. Some retailers are still trying to get rid of leftover inventory from last year.

According to hearings held before the House Commerce and Energy Subcommittee, Chairman Edward Markey grilled Mike Vitelli, Consumer Electronics Retail Coalition (CERC) and Senior VP of Circuit City if his stores were posting warnings that old analog sets would cease to receive signals after the February 2009 analog TV cutoff date. Mr. Vitelli said that at that time Circuit City wasn't. This could have been a problem with older consumers or with those that are not inclined to technology.

The FCC's ruling now requires that all brick and mortar stores, direct mail merchants and on-line retailers that continue to sell analog TVs to post consumer alerts on those sets. The warnings which begins, "This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009," must also clearly inform buyers that the sets won't receive broadcast signals after February 2009 if not connected to a cable, satellite or DTV converter.

In a statement responding to FCC actions, CERC Executive Director Marc Pearl said that CERC had supported past labeling provisions in DTV legislation and worked with the FCC on compliance and text standardization.

FCC commissioner Michael Copps said that labeling analog-only televisions is a good thing for consumers, but it would have been better if it would have been adopted over a year ago when Congress passed the February 2009 deadline. According to Mr. Copps, consumers bought 11 million analog TVs in 2006 alone and wondered if those consumers would have chosen a digital set if they would have known about the upcoming analog cutoff date.

I'm sure the mass media will start talking about this more as 2009 looms. After all, 11 million potentially obsolete new TVs are bound to stir some consumer ire.