U.S. DTV Education Coordination Lags, Fret GAO, Adelstein

Today’s efforts will bear fruit, said NTIA director John Kneuer. Government’s role is to encourage cable, satellite, consumer electronics, broadcasters and other industries to run their own DTV promotions, he testified. “There is a danger to having the federal government establish unified messaging” because bureaucratic review could delay messages, he said. “This is a huge market opportunity and a huge market danger for all of these entities, and you see that” reflected in their work priorities.

NAB Executive Vice President Marcellus Alexander touted the DTV Transition Coalition, whose 160-plus members, including the FCC, will be working to ensure consumers have access to consistent information from many sources. The Coalition has assumed the governmental role, perhaps easing the need for further coordination, he said in an interview. “There’s no single organization” or “message type that’s going to get the job done,” he said.

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said the DTV Coalition began because the agency “didn’t do anything.” Government agencies need a unified message, especially given GAO’s concerns, he said. “There has to be some leadership,” he said. “No one else is in a position to be the referee.” Private efforts, including NCTA’s $200 million PSA campaign, are good, but not enough, he said. Cable ads in particular drew fire from Adelstein and McCaskill for seeming to promote cable more than the transition.

PSA campaigns are underway at Capitol Broadcasting, Freedom Broadcasting, Raycom and others, Alexander said. Some of the companies have been airing DTV spots for over a year. But PSAs are only “one part of our overall strategy,” he said. Next week, NAB will unveil a timeline for more steps, of which PSAs are only one element. Asked by Kohl if NAB would commit to airing many ads in primetime, Alexander demurred. “It’s not about the number of spots, it’s about reach and impressions” on viewers, he told us. “It’s obviously a major undertaking,” he added. “A lot has yet to be done.”

Leadership Vacuum

Goldstein said the FCC and NTIA have their work cut out, since neither has taken the lead in managing education. That job is best left to the FCC because it “has the broadest telecommunications authority in the government,” he said. But there is no national clearinghouse for DTV information, he said. “Because many education efforts are in the planning or early stages of implementation, it is too early to tell how effective these efforts will be.”

Declarations by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and colleagues show divergence on who should take the lead, said Goldstein. “There is no comprehensive planning effort,” he said. “No one is really trying to assess what risks might show up, what gaps might be there, what problems might exist, and how to best mitigate them.” Federal and other websites inconsistently address availability of boxes used to let analog TVs get digital broadcasts, he said. The devices won’t be “generally available until April,” but that’s not clear; some government websites say they'll be sold in January. NTIA’s $1.5 billion coupon program starts that month, but boxes may not be widely available then, he said.

Kohl said lack of educational oversight prompted him to prepare a bill for a “public-private partnership” to inform seniors. “The bill will also require commercial broadcasters to air public service announcements, require easily-identifiable labels to be placed on coupon-eligible converter boxes” and set up a toll-free phone number to answer questions on installing boxes, he said. The Preparing Seniors for the Digital Television Transition Act will be introduced this week or next in the Senate Commerce Committee, a committee aide said. The aging committee lacks authority to introduce legislation. The bill won’t mandate more educational outlays, but would authorize funds “if necessary,” Cherie Wilson, Kohl’s senior policy aide, said in an interview. The bill would mandate that the NTIA and FCC analyze education efforts, require entities running assistance programs for the poor to report on their DTV information efforts and set up a nonprofit to coordinate efforts.

McCaskill fears that employees at consumer electronics stores don’t know about the NTIA coupons, based on her recent TV shopping experience, she said. “If the people that are selling this stuff don’t know this stuff is coming… they won’t order boxes unless they have demand,” she said. Kneuer said many manufacturers want to make coupon-eligible boxes. That didn’t satisfy McCaskill, who said “I think we could do better than we are doing.” The U.S. Public Interest Research Group said five Washington, D.C., area retailers it surveyed weren’t up to speed on coupons. Retailers will focus on employee education after this holiday season, so they'll have time to meet consumer demand for the boxes, said Kneuer.

The U.S. Administration on Aging and local entities that serve seniors seem to be overlooked by the FCC and NTIA, said Smith. “This incredible resource is not being utilized by your agencies,” he said. “Please take this hearing as a friendly prod.” Kneuer said NTIA long ago reached out to the federal agency. Meals on Wheels volunteers helped promote Medicare prescription coverage, and can do the same with DTV, said Smith. “It is an army of willing workers.”