FCC issues fines to retailers over labeling of analog TVs

Do you still use “rabbit ears” to watch your television shows? Was your TV manufactured before March 2007? If so, in case you weren’t aware, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to move all TV broadcasting into the digital spectrum, thus making all analog TV receivers inoperable after February 17, 2009 without a digital converter box. To help spread the news, the FCC is making it mandatory for retailers to inform consumers of the plan to switch from analog to digital signal by labeling televisions that would be obsolete in the new year. Unfortunately, some retailers like Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, Target, and Circuit City (among others) have forgotten to the apply the “consumer alert” label to applicable analog television equipment. As a result, the FCC has issued $3.9 million in fines to the offending stores after warning them 30 days in advance.