TV retailers settle with FCC

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., Big Lots Inc. and Variety Wholesalers Inc. will pay the U.S. government a total of $106,000 to settle charges they failed to warn TV buyers about the switch to digital signals next year.

The retailers didn’t display labels or signs telling customers that old-fashioned analog sets will need extra equipment to work after the switch to digital transmissions in February, the Federal Communications Commission said in orders and consent decrees posted today on its website.

The retailers must post notices about the transition in stores and on their websites and make “voluntary contributions” to the FCC, the agency said.