Countdown to February 2009: Digital Television Transition (DTV) Coalition Pledges to Alert Consumers About Transition From Analog to Digital TV
February 28, 2007
Washington, D.C. – 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."
