DTV Transition's "Mixed Signals"
Feb 15, 2008
With a little over one year left until the digital TV transition goes into effect in the U.S., federal agencies and consumer interest groups expressed concerns (again) this week about the plan to prepare the public for the end of analog broadcasting in February 2009.
During Wednesday's hearing of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, ranking member Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) noted that consumers have requested almost 5 million coupons to purchase converter boxes for their existing televisions, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will start mailing those out as early as next week. Rep. Stearns also cited data from the Consumer Electronics Association that indicates consumer awareness of the DTV transition has increased by 80% since 2006.
The same day, consumer watchdog group U.S. PIRG released a report that claimed electronics retailers were providing misleading information to consumers (see this clip from the Media Vault ). The organization conducted a series of "secret shopper" investigations at stores around the country, concluding the following:
In a statement in response to the U.S. PIRG report, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Jonathan Adelstein referred to sales associates as the "first line of defense" in educating consumers about the switch to DTV and renewed his call for the FCC to create a federal interagency task force to develop benchmarks and a timeline for educating consumers. He quipped, "Communication is the FCC's middle name, but we haven't lived up to it."
For more info on the Subcommittee hearing, check out this video archive. Witnesses included FCC chairman Kevin Martin and NTIA's acting assistant secretary Merideth Baker.
Tags:
Congress, Digital TV, DTV, FCC, NTIA
