FCC Approves Proposal To Boost TV Set-Top Box Competition

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By a vote of 3 - 2, the Federal Communications Commission has approved moving ahead with a proposal to give consumers more choices in the set-top boxes required to watch cable TV.

The proposal has set off a frenzied lobbying battle pitting a tech industry eager to tap into the lucrative market against cable and TV companies, which could lose billions of dollars in rental fees for set-top boxes. Many of those industry providers spoke out against the measure after the vote Thursday. The commission has said opening the set-top box market to alternatives such as a smart TV or tablet would help lower prices for consumers, noting that set-top box rental fees have risen 185 percent since 1994.
 
Agreed, but I'll take the free market & open competition option if that's what I can get for now. At least the Republicans showed their true colors and sided with the entrenched monopolies.
 
All this will do is make the cable companies change it from charging you for additional boxes to charging you for additional outlets.
 
I'm all for removal of the bullshit set top boxes, but I'm not sure it will solve much. Maybe I'm just an odd ball cord cutter, but do we even need broadcast tv anymore? Sure for live sporting events, but for regular recorded shows? Does anybody even watch anything live anymore or just dvr everything so they can skip commercials?
 
How about we get a boost in transmission strength so the average tree doesn't wipe out all reception ?

DTV has done me no favors at all, except take away every local station I used to be able to receive over the air.
 
Dawill said:
I'm all for removal of the bullshit set top boxes, but I'm not sure it will solve much. Maybe I'm just an odd ball cord cutter, but do we even need broadcast tv anymore? Sure for live sporting events, but for regular recorded shows? Does anybody even watch anything live anymore or just dvr everything so they can skip commercials?
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The girlfriend and I watch The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow live -- though we could probably catch them a day later online. I suppose I could get a dvr, but from what I've seen, they lower image quality quite a bit from the pristine hd you get live on air, and they cost a couple hundred.
 
webdev511 said:
Agreed, but I'll take the free market & open competition option if that's what I can get for now. At least the Republicans showed their true colors and sided with the entrenched monopolies.
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Both sides simply voted down party lines. I don't think it's even a case of who actually believes in what anymore. It's all "we must vote the opposite of the other party no matter what". Which means in every case the majority party wins.
 
Derangel said:
Both sides simply voted down party lines. I don't think it's even a case of who actually believes in what anymore. It's all "we must vote the opposite of the other party no matter what". Which means in every case the majority party wins.
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If eight years I had said that if Barack Hussein Obama II were elected and that his administration would successfully block the two largest telecom mergers in history, introduce net neutrality and that most of the nation would see sub $2 gallon gas at the end of two Obama terms, people here would have called me crazy. Hell, I'd have probably though it myself.

Yet here we are. And there's always things to complain about. How this politician is corrupt or how this guy is evil and no doubt that's true. But in the end it's all a guess. Welcome to the Information Age.
 
heatlesssun said:
If eight years I had said that if Barack Hussein Obama II were elected and that his administration would successfully block the two largest telecom mergers in history, introduce net neutrality and that most of the nation would see sub $2 gallon gas at the end of two Obama terms, people here would have called me crazy. Hell, I'd have probably though it myself.

Yet here we are. And there's always things to complain about. How this politician is corrupt or how this guy is evil and no doubt that's true. But in the end it's all a guess. Welcome to the Information Age.
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It's nice that good things are getting done, but I prefer not to pretend to that they're doing it for noble causes and that the current two party system isn't completely fucked.
 
Hope this works out to have more options than we saw with cable cards.

and more cooperation from telcos with equipment they didnt issue.

hey...I can edit here now? nice!
 
DocSavage said:
I suppose I could get a dvr, but from what I've seen, they lower image quality quite a bit from the pristine hd you get live on air, and they cost a couple hundred.
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With analog TV that was true, but with Digital TV, all the DVR does is write the digital stream to a file and then play it back. There should be no change in image quality unless you have the DVR connected with a lower quality connection.
 
Dawill said:
I'm all for removal of the bullshit set top boxes, but I'm not sure it will solve much.
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We already had this solution: it was called the cable card. The problem is that TV's never included support for a cable card, and it's largely been abandoned.
About the only devices that support cables cards are Windows media center and Tivo.

I can't receive any OTA channel, so it's cable or satellite. Only device I have connected to the cable TV is my HTPC, with a 4 channel cable card tuner. I'm thinking about adding a 2nd TV just for my xbox 360, which can also act as an extender to allow me to watch TV though the HTPC.

Too bad the Democrats sold out to thier supporters in Silicon Valley. Now we will have to BUY our cable boxes, and the cable companies will still charge the same amount just to allow you to connect the box.
 
nutzo said:
We already had this solution: it was called the cable card. The problem is that TV's never included support for a cable card, and it's largely been abandoned.
About the only devices that support cables cards are Windows media center and Tivo.

I can't receive any OTA channel, so it's cable or satellite. Only device I have connected to the cable TV is my HTPC, with a 4 channel cable card tuner. I'm thinking about adding a 2nd TV just for my xbox 360, which can also act as an extender to allow me to watch TV though the HTPC.

Too bad the Democrats sold out to thier supporters in Silicon Valley. Now we will have to BUY our cable boxes, and the cable companies will still charge the same amount just to allow you to connect the box.
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Holy Cow
I gave up on WinMC and ditched my tuner card years ago (Cromcast scrambled everything but local) Seriously? no OTA, you live on the North Slope?
 
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