Broadcaster DTV Education Efforts Get Boost With NAB Hires
Broadcasters’ efforts to boost awareness of the DTV transition got a boost as NAB hired 4 employees to educate lawmakers, media, consumer and other groups and the public about the issue. The “digital TV transition team” is part of a push to ensure people aren’t caught off-guard by the analog cutoff in Feb. 2009, said NAB Exec. Vp Dennis Wharton: “We want to make sure there is not some sort of revolt on the part of the consuming public because they haven’t been educated on what the consequences are of this transition.”
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The transition can be promoted by ensuring there’s enough money available for digital tuner coupons, said Wharton and Assn. for Maximum Service TV (MSTV) Pres. David Donovan. The 2 groups and CEA have jointly asked NTIA to drop a preliminary proposal to confine eligibility for the $1.5 billion coupon program to homes without cable or satellite (CD Sept 26 p3). NAB estimated 73 million TV sets need conversion gear to get DTV, though CEA has said the number is far lower. “Part of our mission with this new team will be to make policymakers understand the consequences of not having a large enough funding pool whereby a large percentage of the 73 million TV sets could go dark,” Wharton said: “Woe be unto those people who get between Americans and their love for TV.” Many analog sets are in homes that subscribe to pay TV.
In NAB’s education campaign, TV stations may air public service ads highlighting the need for consumers to get digital tuners before the 2009 deadline, Wharton said: “What better way to educate Americans on this transition to digital TV than if broadcasters use our resources and airwaves to make this education worthwhile?” Plans haven’t been nailed down, but education will be a top priority for the group, he added: “A lot of people inside Washington are living and breathing this issue.” Elsewhere, however, “some people don’t even know it’s coming.” CEA ads alerting people to the transition recently have appeared on D.C. buses, for instance. A CEA official declined comment on NAB’s plans, but said the group supports DTV education.
NAB’s effort was praised by Donovan, whose group is among those pushing for greater awareness of the digital conversion. “It is a terrific step by NAB, and we look forward to working with them,” Donovan said: “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done between now and then, and an important component of that is educating the public.” For its part, MSTV will “focus on coordinating the nuts and bolts of the transition,” Donovan said: “There’s a lot of technical work to be done.” An initiative this year will be to help TV stations’ prepare for the DTV switch by coordinating with broadcasters who will take their digital channel slots after the transition to digital-only broadcasts on what was previously their analog channel, he said. Broadcasters must make sure there are enough crews to switch out antenna gear, Donovan said, “to try to avoid a crush that will occur in February of 2009.”
NAB’s DTV transition team is headed by Vp Jonathan Collegio, who used to be press secy. to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He started at NAB late last year, said Wharton. Myra Dandridge, Shermaze Ingram and Lale Mamaux, who report to Collegio, started Mon. at NAB, Wharton said. Dandridge, the team’s public affairs dir., came from the Congressional Black Caucus. Ingram, media relations dir., worked for Discovery Education, and external relations dir. Mamaux came from the office of Rep. Wexler (D- Fla). - Jonathan Make