All-Channel Receiver Act - Digital Television

Digital Television

The act has most recently been used in 2005-2007 (47 C.F.R. 15.115c and 47 C.F.R. 15.117b) to require TV manufacturers to include ATSC-T (terrestrial TV) tuners for digital television, in any TV set that includes an NTSC analog TV tuner. This requirement has been phased-in during the mid-2000s, starting with the largest TV sets. By early 2007, every device capable of receiving over-the-air TV (including VCRs) was forced to include an ATSC tuner. Millions of dollars in fines were imposed in 2008 by the Federal Communications Commission against vendors, including various name-brand retail chains such as Best Buy, Sears/Kmart and Walmart. Best Buy is disputing both the fines and the authority of the FCC to impose the penalties; Circuit City and Sears also disputed the charges.

In late March 2008, the Community Broadcasters Association filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeking an injunction to halt the sale and distribution of DTV converter boxes, charging that their failure to include analog tuners or analog passthrough violates the All-Channel Receiver Act. Responding to CBA's actions, the FCC and NTIA urged manufacturers to include the feature voluntarily in all converter boxes, and manufacturers responded by releasing a new generation of models with the feature. In early May 2008, the D.C. district court denied the CBA petition without comment, effectively telling the association that it had not exhausted all its efforts, and that there was not enough merit to take the case to the courts.

In July 2010, the FCC granted a waiver allowing Dell, LG, and Hauppauge to fail to include tuners for NTSC analog TV or standard ATSC digital TV in mobile television devices designed to receive ATSC-M/H signals. While all full-power stations have been forced to turn off their analog signals, and most low-power TV stations therefore have been forced to digital as the de facto standard, the vast majority of stations do not transmit a mobile-TV signal, which will leave viewers with these devices unable to receive most broadcasts. Because LPTV stations have already had their limited financial resources drained by having to buy and install new digital equipment, it is unlikely that any LPTV stations will be seen on mobile TV because of this waiver, which also applies to other companies.