House Subcommittee Pushes for a Smoother DTV Transition
Feature Story by Katie Guzman - 6/17/2008
At a June 10 hearing on the status of the digital television (DTV) transition, members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunication and the Internet voiced concerns about the results of the federal government’s efforts to educate Americans about the transition.
The DTV transition was mandated by Congress and will take place on February 17, 2009. Most television stations will be required to transmit their signals digitally, ending transmission of analog over-the-air signals.
Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Dr. Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, associate administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), assured the subcommittee that consumer awareness of the transition continues to grow and that both agencies are working with grassroots organizations to educate the consumers who are hardest to reach.
Martin testified about the FCC’s partnership with AARP, which is using radio, national conventions, and their magazine to reach senior citizens. Another FCC partnership with the Spanish-language television network Univision will provide DTV awareness sessions for non-English speakers.
NTIA has also partnered with Univision, airing public service programs in Spanish throughout the country. NTIA participated in an event during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month to raise awareness about the coupon program among Korean and Chinese speakers, and they will be participating in the Hearing Loss Association of America’s convention, demonstrating the captioning features of converter boxes.
Mark L. Goldstein, director of physical infrastructure issues in the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), cited statistics from recent consumer surveys that contradicted the government’s assertion that consumers will be ready for the transition. The surveys showed that white Americans had higher general awareness (86 percent) about DTV than non-white groups (78 percent) and Americans with disabilities (77 percent).
Although awareness is increasing, civil rights groups are concerned that many communities are still in the dark about the transition.
“We at the Leadership Conference are concerned that the working poor, that senior citizens, that a disproportionate number of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans, that people with hearing or visual limitations, and that Americans living in rural areas will lose access to the vital lifeline of over-the-air television,” said Mark Lloyd, vice-president of strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, in his testimony.
Lloyd noted that despite efforts by the government to provide assistance to all Americans, the nation is not prepared for the transition.
According to the GAO study, while awareness of the transition is relatively high, Americans still aren’t ready for the transition because too few know about the coupon program. In his testimony, Goldstein cites statistics showing that of the people aware of the transition, only 33 percent know how to get a coupon.
The federal government created the TV Converter Box Coupon Program to help offset the cost of the transition for Americans. Under this program, households can request up to two $40 vouchers toward the purchase of DTV converter boxes, which allow analog televisions to receive digital signals
Many of the subcommittee members spoke about challenges their constituents were experiencing with the government coupons and the converter boxes, such as difficulty acquiring the boxes within the 90-day expiration period of the coupons.
Rep. Bart Stupak, D. Mich., suggested that the NTIA lift the 90-day expiration period to accommodate people who were unable to redeem their coupons before the expiration date, while Rep. Anna Eshoo, D. Calif., asked the NTIA why it was necessary for the coupons to expire at all.
