Transition in Trouble: Introduction

Transition in Trouble

Introduction

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) is the nation's oldest and most diverse coalition of organizations dedicated to advancing civil rights. LCCR consists of approximately 200 national organizations representing persons of color, women, children, organized labor, persons with disabilities, seniors, gays and lesbians, and major religious groups. LCCR, together with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF), seeks to further the goal of equality under law through legislative advocacy and public education. LCCR and LCCREF are privileged to present this report on behalf of the civil and human rights community concerning the significant challenges that threaten to undermine the success of the nation's upcoming transition to digital television. These challenges must be boldly and rapidly addressed if the digital transition is to succeed in leaving no viewers behind.

By law, at midnight on February 17, 2009, the nation's full-power television stations will turn off their analog signals and exclusively broadcast in digital. Although not required by law, an estimated one-third of the nation's low-power stations and translators will also broadcast exclusively in digital on that date.¹ Digital television offers many benefits over analog television, including sharper images, superior sound, and more efficient use of spectrum. Broadcasters will be able to provide more free over-the-air programming to viewers in their local communities, utilizing multiple new digital channels rather than just one analog channel at a time.

Perhaps more important, because a digital signal can include much more information than analog, it has the potential to provide not only additional channels to meet the needs of underserved communities, but more services, such as closed captioning and video description service for people with disabilities, and secondary audio channels to better serve those who speak languages other than English. We do not know if the broadcasters are going to provide these innovative and enhanced services, but we do know that there is the potential to do so. Additionally, valuable spectrum now used for analog television broadcasting will be reclaimed for other important uses, such as public safety and homeland security, additional mobile phone service, wireless broadband Internet service, and more.

Thus, the transition could, if successful, open the door for more Americans to participate fully in the digital age. This will only be true, however, if all households have the opportunity to access digital television programming.

A May 2008 Nielsen Media Research survey shows just how important television is in Americans' lives: on average, an American spends more time watching television than using all other media combined. Importantly, the primary news source for most Americans remains broadcast television.²

Therefore, it is critical that the hundreds of millions of television viewers in our nation are still able to view television after February 17, 2009. But that is no easy task. TV sets that are not connected to cable or satellite, or do not have a built-in digital tuner, will need a converter box to receive digital broadcast television after the transition occurs. Cable customers, who many assume will not be impacted by the digital transition, may in fact be substantially impacted if they subscribe to basic analog cable service.

Recent Nielsen report data confirm the magnitude of the challenge that the DTV transition poses. Though DTV transition publicity and a coupon distribution program have been underway for months, Nielsen reports that as of April 30, 2008, at least ten million American households - 9.4 percent of total U.S. households - are still "Completely Unready" to receive digital broadcast television. Another 13 million households - 12.6 percent of total U.S. households - are still "Partially Unready."³

Those alarming findings are seconded by a GAO report released June 10, 2008 that concluded "nearly half of the households that could lose television service after the transition to digital broadcasting are still unprepared for the switch."⁴

While many cheered the U.S. Department of Commerce's announcement that, as of early May 2008, more than one million households had redeemed government-issued $40 coupons to purchase TV converter boxes that would allow their analog televisions to receive digital signals, it is daunting to note that there are over 21 million U.S. households that rely exclusively on over-the-air, free television, according to the GAO. The real story behind the "one million households have already redeemed coupons" announcement is that after months of outreach and education efforts, at most only five percent of the 21 million U.S. households that rely exclusively on over-the-air broadcast television are prepared for over-the-air digital broadcasting. This may overstate the actual preparedness of exclusively over-the-air households since households that subscribe to cable or satellite television also were entitled to receive coupons during this period.

The digital transition impacts low-income Americans, seniors, people with disabilities, non-English speakers, and minorities - many of the communities served by LCCR members - more than the general population. These communities are disproportionately reliant on free over-the-air broadcast television; they own a disproportionate number of older analog television sets that require a converter box to receive digital broadcasts;⁵ and, if they are cable customers, they may be more likely to subscribe to less expensive analog cable.⁶

For many members of these communities, who too often may be among society's most vulnerable and disadvantaged, free over-the-air broadcast television is a lifeline that, through news and other local programming, helps to keep them informed and engaged in their communities. It also warns them about potential life-threatening situations, such as dangerous weather or public safety emergencies.

Therefore, a successful transition from analog to digital television is vital to ensuring that those who may be on the remote edges of the economy and society, and already on the wrong side of the Digital Divide, do not suddenly also find themselves on the wrong side of a Digital Television Divide. For a few, should an emergency strike, it may even be a matter of life and death.

To help facilitate the nation's successful transition to digital television, the Leadership Conference became a founding member of the DTV Transition Coalition, which includes the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Association of Broadcasters and other industry groups, grassroots and membership organizations, manufacturers, retailers, trade associations, civil rights organizations, and community groups. We applaud the hard work put into this critical effort by these groups and others, including many policymakers and elected officials, to make the transition to digital television as smooth and successful as possible. We support the analog shut-off test scheduled for September 2008 in the Wilmington, NC market and the recently completed test in the Orlando market. We also support tests in many more markets, as proposed by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.⁷ We hope these tests will provide valuable insights on the progress of the digital transition, as well as the challenges that remain.

But the evidence gathered in this report clearly demonstrates that we cannot afford to wait months for the results of these tests to address the substantial challenges that are now threatening the success of the digital transition. To make certain none of our nation's viewers are left behind on February 17, 2009, much more work needs to be done, and it needs to be done boldly and quickly. The serious problems with the transition identified by the Leadership Conference include:

Absence of clear federal leadership and a comprehensive transition plan;
Lack of viewer awareness;
Viewer and retailer confusion;
TV converter box coupon program problems and complexities;
Excessive and unanticipated costs and burdens to viewers to make the transition;
Loss of community (low-power) broadcast television stations;
Difficulties in procuring and attaching converter boxes;
Reports of unnecessary retailer upselling;
Difficulties for seniors and people with disabilities in accessing captioning and any available video description on digital converter boxes, cable, or satellite boxes, and in finding converter boxes that support video description;
No rapid response capability to deal with problems after February 17, 2009; and
Many other unanticipated problems and unintended consequences that must be addressed.

These issues will be detailed below, followed by several recommendations for policymakers.

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1. David Rehr: Broadcast's Man for All Seasons, Broadcasting & Cable, June 2, 2008.

2. TVB Study Finds TV is America's Top Medium, TV Newsday, May 7, 2008.

3. The February 2009 Digital Television Transition, The Nielsen Company, May 2008. Nielsen defines a "Completely Unready Household" as one in which all television sets are unready for the DTV transition, no TVs are connected to cable, satellite, or a digital converter box, and they do not have internal digital tuners. A "Partially Unready Household" has at least one TV capable of receiving digital broadcasts and other TVs that are not capable. (p. 2)

4. Many TV Viewers Unprepared for the Switch, Washington Post, June 11, 2008. GAO report (pdf).

5. Id.

6. Move to Digital TV Could Cost Some Cable Customers, Associated Press, April 20, 1008.

7. Adelstein, Broadcasters Discuss More DTV Tests, Broadcasting & Cable, June 3, 2008.