WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) today released the results of a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on America’s transition to digital television, set to take place February 17, 2009. On this date, full-power television stations will cease broadcasting their analog signals, at which point analog televisions will stop working unless they are connected to a converter, cable or satellite.  The report highlights challenges that remain for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in implementing the transition with respect to consumer education, public-private coordination, the converter-box coupon program, and particularly with measuring the progress of these initiatives.

 

“This GAO study confirms what we learned at our hearing: that there is a great potential for disorganization and confusion surrounding the transition, but there are also steps we can take now to prevent it,” said Chairman Kohl. “If we ramp up planning and coordination, we can prevent seniors from being left in the dark come February 2009.”

 

GAO’s report concluded that the government should strengthen planning and inter-agency cooperation and tackle foreseeable problems early. These suggestions mirror provisions put forth in Senator Kohl’s Preparing America’s Seniors for the Digital Television Transition Act of 2007 (S. 2125). The bill would formalize a partnership between the FCC, the NTIA, and the Administration on Aging (AoA) to coordinate with a diverse advisory board of stakeholders in crafting a national consumer education campaign targeting older individuals who depend on analog TV. The partnership would be assigned specific reporting requirements in order to monitor overall progress of the transition and implementation of the coupon program.

 

The legislation also modifies the coupon program to ensure that households relying solely on over-the-air television sets are prioritized and that residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities are eligible to participate. Additionally, the bill would set requirements for the broadcasting industry, electronic manufacturers, and electronic retailers which include mandatory public service announcements; placement of easily identifiable labels on coupon-eligible converter boxes; and the maintenance of toll-free phone lines to help individuals with converter box installation. Specific to older Americans, the legislation would establish a grant program to support non-profits and state and local government agencies as they help seniors and other vulnerable populations navigate the transition and the coupon program, which was created by NTIA to help subsidize the cost of a converter box for analog televisions. 

 

Chairman Kohl’s bill has received support from AARP, the Association for Public Television Stations (APTS), the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, the National Association of State Units on Aging, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs, and the Meals on Wheels Association of America. 

 

On September 19, the Aging committee held a hearing entitled “Preparing for the Digital Television Transition: Will Seniors Be Left in the Dark?” The hearing highlighted several areas for concern, including the lack of coordination between government agencies; an over reliance on competing private sector efforts; the potential for fraud, abuse, and confusion with respect to the government’s coupon-program; and finally, that non-profit organizations require additional resources to sufficiently assist seniors with navigating the transition. The author of the study released today, Mark Goldstein, detailed the inter-agency confusion over jurisdiction for the overall DTV transition and noted that currently there are no mechanisms to ensure that consumer awareness efforts will reach those affected by the transition or that the converter box coupons will reach those who need them. Goldstein is the Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues at GAO.

 

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