The mandate to include digital tuners began in 2007, before that only high-end or LCD TVs had them.
Not necessarily.
In 1998, the first HDTV programs were broadcast. Now yes, in order to enjoy the full HD experience back then, you had to fork over a King's Ransom for the highest of the high-end equipment capable of HDTV.
Now, as most of us now know, HDTV is digital, but digital is not necessarily HDTV. In the late 90's and early 2000's most people wouldn't have known enough to really tell the difference. HDTV was still in its infancy, but was starting to create a buzz. People wanted this new-fangled technology, but didn't want to pay the high-end price.
Manufacturers took advantage of this.
They began to include digital tuners in some of their mid-level TV sets (usually 30" and up) as a 'perk'. Many sets were still analog only, though.
However, when some manufacturers started hawking "digital TV's", the masses ate it up. As more TV's were sold in the coming years, more models started to get the digital tuners as well as the analog tuners. VCR's started getting digital tuners... and were touted as being able to provide a crisper recording. The digital tuners seemed to be capable of handling infinite channels... all "cable ready".
People thought they were getting something really special... when in reality, at the time it made next to no difference in their picture quality.
The sheeple didn't care, because to them, digital was just plain "better".
Well, their then seemingly illogical rush to keep up with the Jones might have finally do them some good.
The rise in HD programming and sales of digital tuner-equipped sets is what helped (in a small way) to egg on the FCC to mandate that all sets have such tuners, leading into the full-on digital changeover.
So don't be surprised if you find that your older, not super-duper high-end, pre-2007 TV has a digital tuner in it already.
Again, from the DTV site:
Does my TV set have a Digital Tuner?
Without a review of your owner’s manual, it may be difficult to know if your TV has a digital tuner.
Here are some general guidelines:
# If you bought your TV set before 1998, it most likely does not have a digital tuner.
# If you bought a projection, big-screen TV between 1998 and 2004, it may have a digital tuner, but it probably does not. Only a limited number of projection TV sets (usually 42 inches or bigger) included a digital tuner before 2004.
# If you bought a TV set since 2004, you have a better chance of it having a digital tuner. Even some of these newer TV sets are purely display monitors that lack a digital tuner to receive digital signals. These sets usually say "HD-ready" or "HDTV monitor". That means they can display digital and high-definition signals, but they need a converter or cable box as explained above.