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Technology Stocks : HDTV: Television of the future here now -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lola who wrote (5)	1/7/2001 9:09:06 PM
From: ChrisJP	Respond to of 152

Hey Lola, I saw you posting on Anthony's thread. I guess your ears must have been burning. <gg> I tried following the story line ... but its kind of like trying to follow a mystery novel when you're only reading every other chapter. Hope the markets have been treating you kindly, Chris

To: Lola who wrote (5)	1/11/2001 12:25:52 PM
From: Ron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152

Interesting general update on HDTV from New York Times nytimes.com WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Thursday are expected to address several outstanding digital television (DTV) issues in an effort to further advance the emerging market, as more consumers embrace the expensive technology. Broadcast stations are slowly making the transition from analog signals to digital signals which offer viewers sharper, clearer images -- a move to be completed by 2006 as long as U.S. consumers buy the equipment to receive the signals. The agency at an open meeting Thursday may consider requiring electronics makers to include a tuner that could receive digital signals in every new TV set made, as well as extending the requirement that cable operators must carry on their systems local stations that broadcast digital signals. One reason for the slow transition to DTV has been the high cost of sets turning off consumers. They typically cost several thousands of dollars but statistics show sales are picking up. The Consumer Electronics Association said last week that 625,000 digital televisions worth about $1.4 billion were sold to dealers in 2000, more than five times the number sold in 1999. The trade group said it expected the rising sales trend to continue this year, with more than 1.1 million sets likely to be sold, fetching $2.1 billion. The FCC is also expected on Thursday to act on a petition by a Florida broadcaster who has sought the agency's help in getting a digital-only television station he plans to start carried on the cable system operated by Adelphia Communications Corp. (ADLAC.O) in the West Palm Beach area. The FCC is anxious for stations to move from the analog spectrum to digital signals because the agency plans to begin auctioning off the old analog airwaves to wireless communications companies in March. Congress gave the stations until 2006 to switch bands -- although the lawmakers wrote the law in a way that allows the stations to go beyond that deadline should the digital penetration rate not reach 85 percent by then. DEBATE OVER DTV REQUIREMENTS The agency is teed up to consider other issues related to the advent of digital television, including channel positions digital stations will occupy, rate regulations, tiers of service for various channels and complaint processes. The National Association of Broadcasting (NAB) said 167 stations are broadcasting in digital and urged the agency to take quick action on must-carry rules and digital tuners in a letter sent to the five FCC commissioners last week. ``No more than a handful of these stations, however, are carried on any cable system and the absence of cable carriage is a significant deterrent to sales of digital receivers and investment in digital product,'' Edward Fritts, president and chief executive of the trade group, said in the letter. Some electronics manufacturers have urged the commission to avoid imposing receiver requirements, warning that consumer costs could rise sharply and unfairly. ``An FCC regulation mandating DTV reception capability in all television receivers ... could imperil the DTV transition and the return of (analog) spectrum and impose substantial and unreasonable costs on consumers,'' Philips Electronics NV (PHG.AS) (PHG.N) said in a filing with the FCC made last month. The commission could hold off imposing some requirements, especially if the five-member FCC panel believed it did not have the legal authority to do so. Instead, it could seek Congressional action to obtain the necessary authority. DIGITAL-ONLY STATION As for the specific petition by a DTV station, Florida broadcaster Guenter Marksteiner plans to launch WHDT-TV channel 59 soon, offering high-definition programs from German news network Deutsche Welle, syndicated shows like the old private investigator series ``The Rockford Files'' and a local news show, according to the FCC. The problem the station faces is that few consumers have televisions that can receive the digital signal and, unlike other broadcasters, WHDT-TV does not have a sister analog channel. Thus, the station has offered to aid cable operator Adelphia in converting its signal from digital to analog so that it could be broadcast on the cable system there, one FCC official said. ``This kind of request (for carriage) is limited in some respects to West Palm Beach but would have broader applicability if there were other DTV-only stations like it in other markets,'' the official said, declining further identification. A broadcast station can assert its rights under U.S. law -- known as ``must-carry'''' -- to be carried on cable systems, but then cannot receive compensation for carriage. Alternatively, a station that does not invoke its must-carry rights can negotiate retransmission consent to receive some form of non-monetary compensation, typically advertising.