All Channels Act
Encyclopedia
The All-Channel Receiver Act (ACRA) , commonly known as the All-Channels Act, was passed by the United States Congress
in 1961, to allow the Federal Communications Commission
to require that all television set
manufacturers must include UHF
tuners, so that new UHF-band TV stations (then channels
14 to 83) could be received by the public
. This was a problem at the time since the major TV networks were well-established on VHF, while many local-only stations on UHF were struggling for survival.
The All-Channel Receiver Act provides that the Federal Communications Commission shall "have authority to require that apparatus designed to receive television pictures broadcast simultaneously with sound be capable of adequately receiving all frequencies allocated by the Commission to television broadcasting." Under authority provided by the All Channel Receiver Act, the FCC adopted a number of technical standards to increase parity between the UHF and VHF television services, including a 14dB maximum UHF noise figure
for television receivers.
Fourth-network operators such as the DuMont Television Network
, forced to expand using UHF affiliates due to a lack of available VHF channels, were not viable and soon folded. The fraction of new TV receivers that were factory-equipped with all-channel tuners dropped from 20% in 1953 to 9.0% by 1958, a drop that was only partially compensated for by field upgrades or the availability of UHF converters
for separate purchase. By 1961, with 83 commercial UHF stations still on-air, the number of new TV's capable of receiving UHF as well as VHF channels had fallen to a record low of 5.5% with a small number of viable stations situated in localities where a lack of available VHF frequencies had forced early expansion onto UHF.
While public educational television
was available from 105 US stations by 1965, many of them in the already-crowded VHF spectrum, only 18 percent of the large number of UHF frequencies reserved for educational use in US cities were in active use. In areas where audiences had no UHF receivers, a station broadcasting above channel 13 was unlikely to survive.
Under the All-Channel Receiver Act, FCC regulations would ensure that all new TV sets sold in the U.S. after 1964 had built-in UHF tuners. By 1971, there would be more than 170 full-service UHF broadcast stations nationwide; the number of UHF stations would grow further to accommodate new television networks such as the Public Broadcasting Service
(1970), Fox TV (1986), Univisión
(1986) and Telemundo
(1987).
UHF TV stations would ultimately outnumber their long-established VHF counterparts.
, 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 box
es, 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, and because the FCC mandated the use of ATSC (the only DTV standard not originally compatible with mobile reception), it is unlikely that any LPTV stations will be seen on mobile TV because of this waiver, which also applies to other companies.
was used to require that all AM
receivers
be able to pick up the new expanded band
stations from 1610 to 1700 kilohertz. This requirement was enacted in advance of new stations being allotted in the 1990s.
It has been proposed in 2009 to require HD Radio
receivers to be included in all satellite radio
(SDARS) receivers, in response to the monopoly
created by the XM/Sirius merger. All three use proprietary
systems, and there have been no considerations to require the inclusion of open standard
s like FMeXtra
, DRM+, DAB+ or DMB
, which are compatible anywhere outside of the United States. A notice of inquiry (a predecessor to a full rulemaking
proceeding) is before the FCC as docket 08-172. A bill had been submitted to the U.S. House as the Radio All Digital Channel Receiver Act in 2008 but was not passed into law.
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 1961, to allow the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
to require that all television set
Television set
A television set is a device that combines a tuner, display, and speakers for the purpose of viewing television. Television sets became a popular consumer product after the Second World War, using vacuum tubes and cathode ray tube displays...
manufacturers must include UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
tuners, so that new UHF-band TV stations (then channels
Channel (communications)
In telecommunications and computer networking, a communication channel, or channel, refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel...
14 to 83) could be received by the public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
. This was a problem at the time since the major TV networks were well-established on VHF, while many local-only stations on UHF were struggling for survival.
The All-Channel Receiver Act provides that the Federal Communications Commission shall "have authority to require that apparatus designed to receive television pictures broadcast simultaneously with sound be capable of adequately receiving all frequencies allocated by the Commission to television broadcasting." Under authority provided by the All Channel Receiver Act, the FCC adopted a number of technical standards to increase parity between the UHF and VHF television services, including a 14dB maximum UHF noise figure
Noise figure
Noise figure is a measure of degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio , caused by components in a radio frequency signal chain. The noise figure is defined as the ratio of the output noise power of a device to the portion thereof attributable to thermal noise in the input termination at standard...
for television receivers.
History
While the first US commercially-licensed UHF television stations signed on as early as 1952, the majority of the 165 UHF stations to begin telecasting between 1952 and 1959 did not survive. UHF local stations of the 1950s were limited by the range their signals could supposedly travel, the lack of UHF tuners in most TV sets and difficulties in finding advertisers and TV network affiliations. Of the 82 new UHF-TV stations in the United States broadcasting as of June 1954, only 24 remained on the air a year later.Fourth-network operators such as the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
, forced to expand using UHF affiliates due to a lack of available VHF channels, were not viable and soon folded. The fraction of new TV receivers that were factory-equipped with all-channel tuners dropped from 20% in 1953 to 9.0% by 1958, a drop that was only partially compensated for by field upgrades or the availability of UHF converters
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
for separate purchase. By 1961, with 83 commercial UHF stations still on-air, the number of new TV's capable of receiving UHF as well as VHF channels had fallen to a record low of 5.5% with a small number of viable stations situated in localities where a lack of available VHF frequencies had forced early expansion onto UHF.
While public educational television
Educational television
Educational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...
was available from 105 US stations by 1965, many of them in the already-crowded VHF spectrum, only 18 percent of the large number of UHF frequencies reserved for educational use in US cities were in active use. In areas where audiences had no UHF receivers, a station broadcasting above channel 13 was unlikely to survive.
Under the All-Channel Receiver Act, FCC regulations would ensure that all new TV sets sold in the U.S. after 1964 had built-in UHF tuners. By 1971, there would be more than 170 full-service UHF broadcast stations nationwide; the number of UHF stations would grow further to accommodate new television networks such as the Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(1970), Fox TV (1986), Univisión
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
(1986) and Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
(1987).
UHF TV stations would ultimately outnumber their long-established VHF counterparts.
Digital television
The act has most recently been used in 2005-2007 ( and ) to require TV manufacturers to include ATSC-T (terrestrial TV) tuners for digital televisionDigital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
, in any TV set that includes an NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
analog TV tuner
Tuner (radio)
A radio tuner is a subsystem that receives radio broadcasts and converts them into audio-frequency signals which can be fed into an amplifier driving a loudspeaker. FM tuner, AM tuner, Digital Audio Broadcasting DAB tuner, etc. are types of radio tuner dealing with transmissions using different...
. 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
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
TV (including VCRs) was forced to include an ATSC tuner
ATSC tuner
An ATSC tuner, often called an ATSC receiver or HDTV tuner is a type of television tuner that allows reception of digital television television channels transmitted by television stations in North America, parts of Central America and South Korea that use ATSC standards...
. Millions of dollars in fines were imposed in 2008 by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
against vendors, including various name-brand retail chains such as Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
, Sears/Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
and Walmart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. 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
Community Broadcasters Association
The Community Broadcasters Association was a trade organization representing low-power broadcasting interests, including LPTV and Class A television stations, in the United States of America...
filed a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeking an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
to halt the sale and distribution of DTV converter box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es, charging that their failure to include analog tuners or analog passthrough
Analog passthrough
Analog passthrough is a feature found on some digital-to-analog television converter boxes. Boxes without analog passthrough only allow digital TV to be viewed on older, analog-only TVs...
violates the All-Channel Receiver Act. Responding to CBA's actions, the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
and NTIA
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' economic and technological advancement and to regulation of the...
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
Waiver
A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege.While a waiver is often in writing, sometimes a person's actions can act as a waiver. An example of a written waiver is a disclaimer, which becomes a waiver when accepted...
allowing Dell
Dell
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
, LG
LG
LG may refer to:*LG Corp., a South Korean electronics and petrochemicals conglomerate*LG Electronics, an affiliate of the South Korean LG Group which produces electronic products* Lawrence Graham, a London headquartered firm of business lawyers...
, and Hauppauge
Hauppauge Computer Works
Hauppauge Computer Works , or just Hauppauge, is a US manufacturer and marketer of electronic video hardware for personal computers. Although it is most widely known for its WinTV line of TV tuner cards for PCs, Hauppauge also produces personal video recorders, digital video editors, digital media...
to fail to include tuners for NTSC analog TV or standard ATSC digital TV in mobile television devices designed to receive ATSC-M/H
ATSC-M/H
ATSC-M/H is a standard in the USA for mobile digital TV, that allows TV broadcasts to be received by mobile devices.....
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
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
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, and because the FCC mandated the use of ATSC (the only DTV standard not originally compatible with mobile reception), it is unlikely that any LPTV stations will be seen on mobile TV because of this waiver, which also applies to other companies.
Broadcast radio
In the 1980s, this lawLaw
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
was used to require that all AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
receivers
Receiver (radio)
A radio receiver converts signals from a radio antenna to a usable form. It uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio frequency signal from all other signals, the electronic amplifier increases the level suitable for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information through...
be able to pick up the new expanded band
Extended AM broadcast band
The extended mediumwave broadcast band, commonly known as the [AM] expanded band, is a broadcast frequency allocation which moved the upper limit of the AM bandplan from 1610 to 1700 kHz.- History :...
stations from 1610 to 1700 kilohertz. This requirement was enacted in advance of new stations being allotted in the 1990s.
It has been proposed in 2009 to require HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
receivers to be included in all satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
(SDARS) receivers, in response to the monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
created by the XM/Sirius merger. All three use proprietary
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
systems, and there have been no considerations to require the inclusion of open standard
Open standard
An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was designed . There is no single definition and interpretations vary with usage....
s like FMeXtra
FMeXtra
FMeXtra, now marketed as VuCast and oriented at the broadcast data market like MSN Direct, is an in-band on-channel digital radio broadcasting technology created by Digital Radio Express, now VuCast Media. Unlike iBiquity's HD Radio system, it uses any FM radio station's existing equipment and...
, DRM+, DAB+ or DMB
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting is a digital radio transmission technology developed in South Korea as part of the national IT project for sending multimedia such as TV, radio and datacasting to mobile devices such as mobile phones...
, which are compatible anywhere outside of the United States. A notice of inquiry (a predecessor to a full rulemaking
Rulemaking
In administrative law, rulemaking refers to the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or promulgate, regulations. In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more detailed regulations through rulemaking.By bringing...
proceeding) is before the FCC as docket 08-172. A bill had been submitted to the U.S. House as the Radio All Digital Channel Receiver Act in 2008 but was not passed into law.