FCC Grants Tivo Waiver From Analog Tuner Mandate

[dfergie]

The waiver is conditioned on TiVo clearly informing consumers of the limitations of the box--that it cannot receive analog broadcast or cable channels, or in some cases broadcast channels period.
The FCC back in 2011 granted TiVo a waiver of the all-channel tuner mandate for its Premiere Elite product line of digital-only tuners on the same grounds and with the same consumer info requirement. In February 2014.

Source & More: broadcastingcable.com

 

[jayn_j]

Wow. So TIVO doesn't need to support analog cable because it can connect to the outputs of the cable box??? No matter that the TIVO does not have AV inputs, and even if it did, it wouldn't be able to use 90% of the TIVO features.

I wonder what this means to the long term outlook for OTA TIVO devices? I am just commenting on another thread that the OTA TIVO is the most viable DVR solution for cable cutters.

 

[harshness]

The FCC has been hoodwinked yet again.

I've come to expect this from political appointees but this case has taken the issue to a new level. In this case, the director was once the chairman of the National Cable Television Association and was a widely recognized lobbyist for the industry when he moved on. Cable will do everything in its power to get rid of analog and if they can do it by government exceptions to the rules, so much the better.

I would hope that any TiVotees that feel compelled to chime in to limit their discussions to current and future TiVo products as opposed to discontinued products that were vastly more capable in this regard.

 

[jayn_j]

TIVO is misleading everyone with their definitions. When they say digital transmissions, they really mean "digital cable (QAM)"

From the TIVO site a page describing the TIVO-4 and TIVO-4 XL

A CableCARD™ decoder from your cable company is required to receive digital cable programming. The TiVo Premiere 4 and Premiere XL4 are designed for use only with digital cable systems. TiVo Premiere 4/XL4 do not receive analog programming, including over-the-air programming, and they will not work with an over-the-air antenna.

The only premieres that will recive ATSC OTA broadcasts are the original units. Further, all the whole home add ons and minis are also cable only. It does not bode well for the next generation, and the outcome may very well be that series 3 HD and original Premiers become cherished.

Please note though that the original Premiere is still available, at least for now. The original Premiere XL has been discontinued

 

[mike123abc]

TiVo was required to equip boxes with analog tuners. So, for a TiVo Premier they had 2 OTA analog tuners (probably also used for analog cable) plus analog to digital hardware.

Supposedly in testing at the FCC is a 6 tuner cable TiVo and a 4 tuner OTA/Cable TiVo, both without analog capability. I would love the 4 OTA TiVo...

OTA analog is going away, and seriously how many actually watch what is left, much less want to record it on a TiVo? Cable has mirrored the analog channels in digital for quite a while to make cable boxes without analog tuners.

 

[jayn_j]

I have heard of the 6 tuner in beta. Still, the latest TIVO Premiere 4 models came with 4 QAM tuners only. No ATSC, so I am not convinced that the next gen will have ATSC tuners for digital OTA.

 

[mike123abc]

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/07/tivo-series-5-roamio-pro-and-roamio-plus-dvrs-pop-up-in-fcc/

4 Tuner supposedly OTA and Cable, the 6 tuner cable only... Although really I do not see why they cannot both be both since chipsets now do both QAM and 8VSB, as demonstrated in TVs that tune both...