Digital Test Drive
If—somehow—you have not seen the deluge of trade group tv ads, here’s the deal: millions of analog TV sets will no longer display broadcast TV signals unless they are connected to cable, satellite, or to a converter. Millions are being spent in easing this transition, including a free converter coupon program. Still, nervousness is spreading.
FCC Commissioner (and apparent theater fan) Michael Copps wants to schedule a practice:
"Broadway shows open on the road to work out the kinks before opening night," he wrote. "The DTV transition deserves no less."
Copps noted that other countries, like the United Kingdom, have made the shift in stages and that the "single transition date does not afford us the luxury of a built-in learning curve."
Martin, in a reply letter, said Copps had presented some "interesting ideas that I am in favor of pursuing, including switching a small number of test markets to all-digital service before February 17, 2009."
On Feb. 18, all full-power broadcast television stations will stop transmitting an analog signal. Viewers with cable or satellite television will not be affected. Over-the-air viewers will need a converter box, which the government will help pay for.
A test run would present challenges, Martin noted. It would require the "voluntary participation of an entire community or market." Martin said he will ask the agency’s digital transition task force to begin exploring how such field tests could be done.
Those annoying commercials have done their job – in the past year "2009 transition" awareness has almost doubled from 41 to 74 percent of consumers. But the education efforts are not over:
Washington — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday issued a DTV Consumer Education Order requiring television broadcasters, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), telecommunications carriers, retailers and manufacturers to promote awareness of the nation’s transition to digital television.
The FCC also said it will assist the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in ensuring that retailers are getting digital-to-analog TV converter boxes on shelves.
The mandated activities and reporting procedures for those efforts come after increased pressure from some members of Congress who want to ensure that consumers are aware of the upcoming analog TV broadcasting cutoff in time to make necessary adjustments. Previously, FCC chairman Kevin Martin had encouraged voluntary industry education efforts.
