| Contacts: | Jason Oxman tel: 703-907-7664 e-mail: joxman@CE.org |
Shermaze Ingram tel: 202-429-5477 e-mail: NAB http:// |
Countdown to February 2009: Digital Television Transition (DTV) Coalition Pledges to Alert Consumers About Transition
New Website, www.DTVtransition.org, to Help Consumers Navigate the DTV Transition
| Washington, District of Columbia | 2/28/2007 |
A diverse coalition including representatives from private industry, trade associations, civil rights organizations and community groups plus the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced that they will work together on a comprehensive consumer education campaign to increase awareness of the nation's transition from analog to digital television, which will be completed on February 17, 2009.
In a recent survey of over-the-air viewers conducted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 56 percent of respondents reported that they have "seen, read, or heard nothing" about the transition to digital television, and only 10 percent were able to guess that the transition would occur in 2009.
Nearly 20 million households that rely solely on over-the-air television signals will be affected by the end of analog broadcasting on February 17, 2009. Millions more households that receive over-the-air signals on secondary TV sets will also be affected. About 96 million consumers subscribe to a cable or satellite service and should continue to receive the broadcast signals through their subscription service.
The mission of the DTV Transition Coalition is to ensure no consumer is left without broadcast television due to a lack of information about the transition. The privately-funded campaign will use basic marketing and public education strategies to help television viewers better understand the nature of the transition, become educated about the changes that will occur before February 2009, and provide information about steps consumers may need to take to maintain their over-the-air television signals.
One of the first components of the DTV Transition campaign is the launch of a website - www.DTVtransition.org - to help consumers learn about options they have to navigate the transition to digital television. The site provides basic information about the transition and offers links to a wide variety of additional industry resources to help answer basic questions.
The DTV Transition Coalition's founding members include:
- Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV)
- Association of Public Television Stations (APTS)
- Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
- Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC)
- Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)
- LG Electronics
- National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
- National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)
"The work of the DTV Transition Coalition will be critical to ensuring that Americans have the information they need to make the transition to digital television "said Richard E. Wiley, former Chairman of the FCC and its DTV advisory committee, who led the establishment of HDTV in the U.S. "This coalition has the breadth and scope to reach all consumers who will be affected by the DTV transition, including under-served communities."
Quotes from speakers at today's press conference are below:
"NTIA looks forward to working with the Digital Television Transition Coalition to bring the benefits of the transition to all Americans. We encourage others to join the Digital Television Transition Coalition and to reach their members for a successful national digital transition."-- Meredith Baker, deputy assistant secretary, NTIA
"We welcome the opportunity to inform consumers about the benefits of the digital television transition. The added value of superior picture quality and more programming choice will soon become apparent to consumers. Right now consumers can watch their favorite High Definition shows -- for free -- with the purchase of an antenna and a new digital set. Newsweek called this "one of the most promising high-tech services of the digital age." Consumer wishing to keep their current analog TV sets may do so by using a low cost, government subsidized digital to analog converter box. We look forward to collaborating with all the industries to get the message out."-David Donovan, president, Association for Maximum Service Television
"Public television's goal is the preservation of over-the-air television. Rather than the dinosaur some perceive it to be, we believe broadcast television is poised for a big come back. Consumers will rediscover it as 'wireless television' and make it cool again."-- John Lawson, president and CEO, Association of Public Television Stations
"The transition to digital television will revolutionize the way we communicate and create countless benefits for all Americans. This coalition unites a remarkable group of technology and public interest leaders to ensure that no consumer lacks information about this vital transformation. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is committed to this effort to educate consumers, retailers, manufacturers and policymakers about the transition to digital television. In conjunction with this new coalition, CEA will continue its tireless efforts, initiated in 1994, to move the nation into the digital television era. We are also assisting consumers with an important corollary to the DTV transition -- recycling of TV sets -- with our new myGreenElectronics.org environmental initiative."--Jason Oxman, vice president of communications, Consumer Electronics Association
"Retailers play a pivotal role in helping consumers understand what products or services they need (or already possess) that will bring the reality of digital technology and content into their homes, and we look forward to working with this important coalition."-- Marc Pearl, executive director, Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition
"The switch from analog to digital television in 2009 means that some 70 million sets will go dark-and the viewers of those sets, many disproportionately elderly, lower-income, or disadvantaged-may find themselves in the dark as well. That's why the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of nearly 200 diverse civil rights organizations, has joined industry, broadcasters, manufacturers, and federal officials to make sure that this audience knows before the switch that they are eligible for federal vouchers. The vouchers can be used to purchase a converter box that will let their current analog TV receive the new digital signals."--Nancy Zirkin, vice president and director of public policy, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
"Over 90 percent of local broadcasters have completed the transition and are already broadcasting in digital, but the public has a longer way to go. As broadcasters, we are 100 percent committed to ensuring that no consumer is left unprepared, by lack of information, for the transition from analog to digital TV."-- Jonathan Collegio, vice president, digital television transition team, NAB
"NCTA shares the goal of this coalition to educate American consumers about the February 2009 digital TV transition so that not one viewer loses their signal because of a lack of information about the transition. While this is a formidable goal, by utilizing the combined resources of the organizations represented here today, we are confident this campaign will reach far and wide. We look forward to working with the coalition to develop a series of simple messages that will alert American consumers about this transition and provide specific directions to ensure that their TV sets continue to receive over-the-air signals." -- Rob Stoddard, senior vice president for communications & public affairs, NCTA
Additonal Contacts:
Shermaze Ingram, NAB 202-429-5477
Jason Oxman, CEA 703-907-7664
Tania Davis, APTS 202-654-4222
Brian Dietz, NCTA 202-222-2358
Mistique Cano, LCCR 202-263-2882
Todd Sedmak, NTIA 202-482-7002
Marc Pearl, CERC 202-263-2585
John Taylor, LG 847-941-8181
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