Scott, Agree. The ATSC standards were approved by the FCC in the last few days of 1996 and, certainly, weren't factored into the royalty projections listed in the 1996 10-K.
My recommendation is to get the key players to pay the royalties up front....Zenith go to every TV and PC manufacturer and offer them the opportunity to license VSB reception for a minimum $50 million cash payment, for unlimited units. To those wanting to pay-as-they-go, set a $25 to $50 per unit charge.
My read is that at least ten TV and PC manufacturers (Sony, Mitsubishi, Matsushita, Samsung, Philips, Thomson, JVC, Hitachi, Compaq, IBM, Dell, Gateway 2000) would jump to grab the $50 million offer, adding $500 million to ZE's bottom line in 1998. Smaller, niche companies would select the pay-as-you-go plan, spreading royalty over many years.
With a clean balance sheet and several hundred million in the till, Zenith would gain the necessary financial strength to be able to, quite possibly, dominate in the DTV marketplace both at home and abroad.
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