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Partnership Works to Clear Digital Transition Picture

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 June 2008, 09:01 CDT

PHILADELPHIA, June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Representatives from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Comcast, The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) today announced a partnership that will boost education outreach to Pennsylvania residents about the pending, federally-mandated broadcast-to-digital television (DTV) transition. The goal of the grassroots community outreach campaign is to offer resources for local organizations and drive additional DTV education and access to information. The community outreach plan is funded by NCTA.

The federal government requires that, as of February 17, 2009, all full-power TV broadcast stations like ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, Fox and PBS begin broadcasting exclusively in digital format. As a result, the analog TV signals that non-cable and non-satellite viewers receive "over the air" with rooftop antennas and rabbit ears will shut off. Consumers' television sets will stop receiving analog broadcast TV signals unless they are connected to cable or satellite services or they purchase a new digital television with a built-in converter or a digital-to-analog converter box. This transition has been planned for years by the federal government for the stated purpose of freeing up parts of the broadcast spectrum for public safety communications such as police, fire departments and rescue squads.

A 2008 Nielsen survey estimated that more than 13 million households in the United States receive television programming over the air on non-digital television sets, meaning they will need analog-to-digital converter boxes, service from a cable or satellite provider or a new digital TV set with a built-in converter to watch broadcast television after February 17, 2009. Another 6 million households have at least one television set that will be affected by the DTV changes. As reported by the Associated Press, Nielsen researchers found that 10.1 percent of all households would have no access to television signals if the transition occurred today. Broken down by race, 8.8 percent of whites would be unready; 11.7 percent of Asians; 12.4 percent of blacks; and 17.3 percent of Hispanics.

"The value of this important partnership is ensuring that our entire community has access to critical information concerning the broadcast-to-digital transition," said Pennsylvania State Representative Angel Cruz, a member of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO). "I applaud this collective effort that aims to keep everyone well educated about the facts of the February 2009 deadline and its far-reaching implications."

J. Whyatt Mondesire, president, NAACP of Pennsylvania, recognized the DTV outreach partnership as an essential campaign that brings all communities together and provides empowering tools and information. The organization will sponsor special forums in the coming months to drive additional awareness.

"We are grateful for the invaluable support of our community partners to help us educate the public with a clear message about the DTV transition and the easy and inexpensive options available to consumers," said Kathleen Sullivan, Comcast regional vice president of government and community relations, Philadelphia Metro and Central Pennsylvania. "Customers connected to cable are already covered and do not need to do anything at all to prepare for the broadcast digital transition, but we have begun an extensive communications campaign to ensure they are aware and to assist them and non-customers with the information they need to know. This partnership is an additional, and essential, extension of that campaign."

DTV educational outreach includes: -- Door-to-door canvassing -- Presentations and panels at regional and national conferences and events -- Website and newsletter information placement and distribution -- In-language material distribution -- Public service announcements -- Opinion pieces and letters to editors -- Special appearances and media interviews

More information on the DTV transition can be found through the following websites:

http://www.dtv.gov/ http://www.dtv2009.gov/ http://www.dtvtransition.org/ http://www.getreadyfordigitaltv.com/ http://www.civilrights.org/dtv http://www.comcast.com/DTV

Comcast Cable

CONTACT: Brian Dietz of NCTA, +1-202-222-2350, or Jeff Alexander ofComcast Cable, +1-610-650-3065

Web site: http://www.comcast.com/http://www.dtv.gov/http://www.dtv2009.gov/http://www.dtvtransition.org/http://www.getreadyfordigitaltv.com/http://www.civilrights.org/dtvhttp://www.comcast.com/DTV

Source: PRNewswire

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