Top executives from the consumer electronics and cable television industries are privately trying to strike a deal to end their long, bitter battle over set-top boxes.
Set manufacturers have sought for more than a decade to make TVs that could plug into any cable company's network without need for a set-top box, just as telephones and answering machines can plug directly into any phone company's lines. But ever since cable operators introduced digital cable service in the late 1990s, no sets have been truly "cable ready"--not even the latest digital TVs.
The dispute is complex, with the two sides battling to control on-screen program guides and other potentially lucrative services. Also at stake are consumers' ability to record certain shows and to watch premium high-definition television programs on older HDTV sets.
Pressure from Congress and regulators has improved prospects for a deal. And Wednesday, House Energy and Commerce Chairman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) circulated a draft bill that would enable TV sets to offer simple digital cable services without a set-top box.
Leaders of the talks have promised to strike a compromise by Oct. 10, or turn the problem over to federal regulators to solve. Officials on both sides confirmed the talks but declined to comment on the status of the negotiations, saying they had agreed to remain mum until the talks concluded.
"There are a number of complex technical and business issues on the table in discussions that involve multiple companies in the cable and consumer electronics industries," said Marc Osgoode Smith, a spokesman for the National Cable and Telecommunications Assn. "The exchange of views between industries has been constructive but because these private discussions are ongoing, we prefer not to comment further."
About two-thirds of all U.S. homes have cable TV, and about half of all cable customers have set-top boxes. That percentage rises dramatically in communities where cable operators have pushed digital cable service aggressively, such as Pasadena, where Charter Communications Inc. offers HBO and other premium channels only to digital cable subscribers.
Set-top boxes not only cost consumers an additional $3 to $6 per month, but they also interfere with some of the devices that consumer-electronics companies are eager to sell. For example, most set-top boxes disable a TV set's "picture-in-picture" feature, and many digital set-tops have trouble working with personal video recorders.
