A recent Federal Communications Commission ruling may have the electronics industry up in arms, but for local retailers it’s business as usual.
That’s because while some in the electronics industry call the FCC mandate requiring electronics manufacturers to include digital tuners in all new television sets a road block for consumers, retailers say it’s what their customers are already looking for.
"Ninety percent of the televisions we sell are digitally-equipped already," said Kate Monaghan, a spokesperson for the Canton-based Tweeter Home Entertainment Group. "We think this ruling is great for the industry. We are in close contact with all of our manufacturers and what we hear is that they were already headed in this direction."
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But officials at the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group that represents more than 1,000 corporate members in the electronics industry, adamantly opposes the ruling. Pointing to high consumer costs and the scant percentage of households relying on over-the-air television reception, the group has threatened to challenge the FCC’s ruling in court saying it interferes with the marketplace.
"The FCC has just imposed a multi-billion dollar annual TV tax on American consumers," Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, said in a recent statement. "With fewer than 13 percent of American households relying on over-the–air reception for their TV signal, we don’t need a digital broadcast tuner embedded in every new television set in order to accelerate the DTV transition. We need digital cable equipment compatibility – the option for consumers to buy a high-definition set, take it home, plug it into the cable jack in their wall and turn it on just like they do today in the analog world. A mandatory digital broadcast tuner would be a costly vestigial organ in the sets used by millions of American cable and satellite viewers."
Most affected initially will be the 15 percent of U.S. consumers who do not subscribe to cable or satellite systems and instead rely on over-the-air broadcast signals using rabbit ears or antennas.
For cable and satellite subscribers, the greatest benefit of digital transmission is likely to be high definition television, or HDTV, which offers lifelike sounds and picture, but requires a certain television.
Concern on both sides of the issue continues to swirl around the new mandate’s price effects. The electronics industry said the cost could increase by as much as $100 per digital television, but the FCC estimates it will only add about $16 to the cost of a digital television, which currently range in price from $800 to $2,000 each.
Industry experts say the prices for digital televisions will drop as the market grows.
For consumers who own a television that is not equipped for digital hookup, a digital converted would be needed, which starts at $400.
Monaghan doesn’t believe any cost increase will be a factor.
"Digital television sales shot through the roof last year," she said. "We saw a 46 percent increase in our sales of digital television (for the fiscal year ending June 30). People are looking for this. We think the ruling is more than a ceremonial mile stone for the industry."
According to the FCC, which approved the measure by a vote of 3 to 1, the new requirements are not designed to cost consumers, but instead to ensure that all sets are "capable of adequately receiving all frequencies" it allocates for television broadcasting. FCC officials say they want to guarantee that anyone who buys a TV can take it home, plug it and receive local stations without subscribing to a cable service or buying an extra set-top box for digital signals.
"I think this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion," said Mark Lussier, owner of Roland Television in Cumberland. "I just went to a seminar in Florida and there were a couple of people talking about it, but I don’t think that anyone is really worrying about it."
Jim Babb, a spokesperson for the Circuit City, said the Richmond, Va.-based electronics retail giant doesn’t expect much to change – at least not in the near future.
"We are waiting for time and the marketplace to work their magic," he said. "We think that time will tell."
