Campaign to educate public on digital TV switch

CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE PUBLIC ON DIGITAL TV SWITCH
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
Concerned that millions of Americans don't understand what the February 2009 digital television switch means for their sets, a number of industry and public interest groups on Wednesday said they plan to launch an educational campaign. Trade associations representing consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers, the cable and broadcast industries, public television stations, and civil rights advocates have aligned themselves as the DTV Transition Coalition and plan to pool unspecified millions of dollars to educate consumers about the crossover from analog TV. The announcement of the alliance's formation at a press conference here arrived one day before manufacturers must cease shipping TVs, VCRs, DVD players and recorders, digital video recorders and other devices that contain only an analog tuner. The proposed transition from analog to all-digital broadcasts has been in the works for years, but Congress decreed in late 2005 that analog TV spectrum had to be vacated after February 17, 2009. The deadline will not affect the vast majority of Americans who already subscribe to cable or satellite TV. But an estimated 19 million households, according to a recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) survey, that do not subscribe to those services, must either acquire a digital-to-analog converter box or another device, such as a VCR or DVD player, containing a digital tuner to continue receiving free, "over-the-air" shows on their analog TV sets. The new campaign also launches as leaders in Congress continue to voice concern about what some perceive as a lack of guidance from the Bush administration on a planned program to subsidize converter boxes.
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