Digital Television DTV

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Digital Television (DTV) Transition Overview
Michael DiSerio, Director of Public Affairs and
Marketing, DTV Transition, National Association
of Broadcasters February 27, 2009
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Digital Television (DTV) Transition Overview
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DTV Awareness
General awareness rises to 97 in January
Source NAB surveys, Aug. 05, Jan. 07, Sept.07,
Jan. 08, May 08, Oct. 08, Jan. 09
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DTV Transition

• DTV Transition Basics
• Upside Viewers Benefit
• Crystal clear pictures and sound
• More channels through multicasting
• Free High-Definition (HD) broadcasting for
  viewers with HD sets
• Downside Upgrade requires action
• Affected viewers must take action to upgrade, or
  will lose reception

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DTV Transition

• Whos affected?
• Broadcast Households
• 17 (19.6m) of American households are
  exclusively OTA
• 31 (34.5m) of American households have at least
  some OTA
• 69 million analog TV sets affected
• Disproportionately Affected Groups
• Seniors
• Minorities
• Low Income
• Rural Areas

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DTV Transition

• Consumer Options
• Purchase a new TV set with a digital tuner
• All new TV sets have digital ATSC tuners
• Cost 99-up (some DTV sets are not HD or flat
  screen)
• Purchase a digital-analog converter box
• Cost 50-70
• Available in 20,000 retailers nationwide
• Federal government providing 40 coupons
• Subscribe to a pay service
• Cable, satellite or telephone company TV service
• Antennas will maximize reception

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DTV Transition

• DTV Delay Act
• Moved mandate of analog shutoff to June 12
• 36 of stations have already transitioned
• 421 switched off analog on February 17
• 220 switched off analog before February 17
• Remaining stations will go all-digital between
  April 16 and June 12
• Stations that want to transition before June 12
  must apply to FCC

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DTV Transition

• Federal Stimulus - DTV
• 650 million approved for converter box coupon
  program (NTIA)
• 90 million for consumer education
• Funds not received yet OMB approval soon
• 4.3 million application backlog
• 2-3 weeks to process after stimulus money
  received
• May prioritize to analog-only HHs to speed up
  processing

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Digital Television (DTV) Transition Overview
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Challenge Antennas

• Antennas maximize reception
• But in some cases, are necessary to upgrade
• Problem 1295 stations relocating to a channel
  different than their NTSC channel many across
  bands
• UHF antennas cant pick up low VHF, and vice
  versa
• Stations moving from UHF to VHF, or from VHF to
  UHF, need to talk about antennas
• Problem Digital cliff effect

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Challenge Re-Scanning

• Re-scanning channels is crucial
• Some channels will move around the airwaves
• Stations can maintain branding for their channels
  because of PSIP (Program and System Informational
  Protocol), but
• Viewers will need to re-scan if channels that
  were previously received disappear and after
  2/17/09 when the channel relocations must be
  completed

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Challenge Cliff Effect

• Contour Changes
• FCC Contour Change Report
• Issued by FCC on December 23, 2008
• 1553 stations will experience a net viewer gain
• 196 stations will experience a net viewer loss
• 319 stations will see 2 or more of their current
  analog viewers unable to view digital
• Maps of predicted coverage may not match actual
  coverage in all cases

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DTV Transition

• Important Notes
• Digital is available NOW
• 93 of stations broadcasting in digital
• No reason to wait
• Newer TVs have both analog digital tuners
• Some viewers may be watching in analog
• ATSC Tuner Channel 4, for example, would come
  up as either 4.1 or 4-1
• HD is the highest level of digital programming
• Need a HD set to view HD programming

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Digital Television (DTV) Transition Overview
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DTV Transition

• Call Center 888-CALL-FCC
• Integrated Government/Industry hotline
• Viewers will get info from nightlight video
• How to install converter boxes
• How to re-scan
• How to position antennas
• Automated System
• Identifies viewers by zipcode, type of reception
• Answer basic questions
• Direct viewers to live operators or NTIA coupon
  center

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DTV Transition

• Call Center 888-CALL-FCC
• Integrated Government/Industry hotline
• Live trusted advisor operators
• Staffed by industry, FCC
• Neutral-outcome scripts
• Answer more complex, nationally-answerable
  questions
• Local Help Desks
• For local reception issues
• State broadcasters
• DMA lines
• Stations

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DTV Transition

• Campaign Changes
• Revamped DTVAnswers.com and marketing materials
• Updating graphics
• New QA sheet
• Eventually completely updated
• New 30-minute educational program
• Currently in production
• Distribution by end of March
• Analog Nightlight program
• Promotes no specific transition date
• Website version also created for stations to post

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DTV Transition
Nightlight Video
www.ncoa.org/dtv
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Antennaweb.org
Website to help consumers select an appropriate
over-the-air antenna Increased popularity as DTV
transition moves forward NAB partnering with CEA
to update and co-sponsor the Web site
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DTV Transition

• Station Activities
• News coverage
• Station web sites
• DTV Countdown Clocks
• Answering phone calls
• Volunteers
• Walk-in centers
• Possible need for volunteers
• Help Your Neighbor
• Home visits

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DTV Transition

• Countdown to June 12
• 105 Days Left