NAB, NCTA Clash Over DTV Transition

The major cable and broadcast associations were firing salvos at each other Wednesday over the digital television transition, but with a subtext of ongoing rancor over the issue of issue of retransmission consent. Prompted by a Consumer Reports story criticizing the cable industry for moving channels from analog to digital without lowering the price for the analog tier, the National Association of Broadcasters suggested the Federal Communications Commission might need to investigate the industry. The magazine accused the cable industry of trying to use confusion about the DTV transition to boost cable bills. "The cable industry has been assuring cable customers that they won't be affected by the transition. Apparently that's not the case" it wrote. "If true, the Consumer Reports allegations raise disturbing questions about the cable industry that might be worthy of an FCC review." said National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton.