Sensenbrenner moves to kill DTV-tuner mandate
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/22/2002 4:00:00 AM
The Federal Communications Commission's "TV tax" is under attack from House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who last week introduced legislation to eliminate the commission's 2007 deadline for requiring digital tuners in nearly all television sets.
"The FCC's mandate is comparable to requiring viewers to purchase an expensive antenna when they already have cable," Sensenbrenner said, noting that only 13 percent of viewers rely on over-the-air reception.
Sensenbrenner said at current estimates of $250 per set, a digital-TV-tuner mandate would cost consumers in his state $140 million per year. Costs of digital-TV tuners are expected to drop, however, as demand for digital sets grows.
The FCC imposed the mandate in August to speed the adoption of digital-TV-ready sets and the phase-out of analog broadcasts.
The tuner requirement is opposed by the Consumer Electronics Association and some of its member manufacturers.
Although the bill was unveiled just as Congress adjourned, Sensenbrenner promised to reintroduce the legislation next year. It's doubtful that the legislation will get much traction then, either. House Commerce and Energy Committee leaders, to whom the bill will be assigned, support the tuner mandate.
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