**STATEMENT OF**

**COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN**

**APPROVING IN PART, DISSENTING IN PART**

*Re: DTV Consumer Education Initiative, MB Docket No. 07-148*

This *Order* is long overdue.

After much delay, the Commission is finally adopting measures to ensure
that Americans are aware of the DTV transition. I support this item
because it is a critical *first* step towards developing a comprehensive
consumer education plan -- an essential part of the broader DTV
transition effort that has sorely lacked focus, leadership and
coordination. I am also pleased Chairman Martin has agreed to implement
my proposal to reconstitute the Commission's intra-agency DTV task force
that was improvidently dismantled some time ago. We should now act on
another one of my proposals -- a federal government-wide, inter-agency
task force.[^1]

With disappointment, I dissent in part from this item because the
majority of my colleagues have refused to agree to prepare a DTV
transition report to Congress and the American people with a detailed
plan to reach *and* assist at-risk, over-the-air reliant communities.
The Commission's unwillingness to prepare such a report ignores sound
management practices, snubs the recommendations of objective expert
observers, and, frankly, defies common sense. It perpetuates uncertainty
at a time when everyone needs to know and help execute the game-plan.
The quarterback needs to let other players know the play to execute;
that's the only way this nation will win on February 17, 2009.

Unfortunately, the Commission's refusal to prepare a DTV report to
Congress is the latest illustration of its stubborn unwillingness to be
proactive and to mitigate risks associated with the transition. While
oversight hearings and letters from Congress have certainly made us much
more engaged, congressional prodding is not a substitute for Commission
planning and leadership.

The Commission's passive, *reactive* approach has had real consequences
on the DTV transition. It has unnecessarily made the daunting task of
executing an under-funded, national transition even more difficult. For
example, the lack of an analog pass-through feature in the vast majority
of the digital-to-analog converter boxes available to consumers could
have been avoided. The Commission -- the federal agency with a most
talented, skilled staff of experts in communications -- should have
engaged the National Telecommunication Information Administration (NTIA)
and participated in the converter box coupon rulemaking proceeding. The
NTIA, the Department of Justice, and the Small Business Administration
have participated in Commission proceedings whenever they have had an
interest to do so. The Commission should have done the same. Instead of
lending its expertise to the process, the Commission equivocated about
its leadership role in the DTV transition which resulted in the failure
to participate in NTIA's coupon converter box proceeding. The
Commission's lack of engagement with NTIA, particularly during the
converter box coupon program rulemaking, has truly complicated the DTV
transition for television viewers and the entire broadcasting industry,
especially the millions of households that rely on Class A, Low Power
and analog translator stations.

Our painfully slow action on a comprehensive education effort is yet
another illustration of the Commission's stubborn unwillingness to take
proactive steps and to mitigate risks associated with the transition. As
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found, "not having a
comprehensive plan for the DTV transition limits the government's
ability to measure efforts against planned goals, set milestones, and
assess risks."[^2]

For nearly two years, I have been calling on this Commission to, among
other things, develop "a coordinated, comprehensive public/private
campaign to educate the American people" about the benefits of digital
broadcasting and the steps households need to take to continue receiving
the over-the-air signals of full-power television stations.[^3] I urged
the Commission to take advantage of the time we had -- *and have now
lost* -- to make the DTV transition a real national priority by
developing an outreach and education plan that integrated the efforts of
other federal agencies, state, local and tribal governments and
permitted private industry and consumer interest organizations to
develop their complementary activities. This coordination was, and still
is, needed because of the limited federal resources we have to target,
reach, inform and assist consumers to make the transition successfully.

After nine months since Congress prodded us to pay more attention to DTV
education,[^4] today the Commission is finally establishing baseline
consumer education standards for broadcasters, cable and direct
broadcast satellite operators and other industry regulatees. This
*Order* is an important step towards developing a coordinated DTV
transition message and national education effort. For instance, we
emphasize that consumers should specify that this is a transition for
"full power" stations. The Commission's own message on posters and some
education materials still reads "analog broadcasting end February 17,
2009," even though we know fully well that is not accurate. If we cannot
get the technical details straight, how can we possibly expect millions
of casual observers to do so?

While I approve many key features of this *Order*, I must dissent in
part because we continue to demonstrate an unwillingness to marshal the
expertise of Commission staff and the consultative services of public
relations and marketing vendors to develop a report to the nation about
the critical next and final steps necessary to ensure a smooth
transition on February 17, 2009.

The DTV transition is indeed an enormous undertaking, and doomsday
scenarios are counterproductive. But we should have a plan in place so
industry, Congress and the American people know what steps are coming
next. The half-hearted efforts of a reluctant regulatory agency have
made the transition more difficult to administer. As GAO recognized last
November, "\[s\]ince FCC has the broadest telecommunication
responsibilities in the federal government, it is in the best position
to increase assurances of a successful transition through increased
attention to high-level comprehensive planning, performance measurement,
and risk mitigation efforts."[^5] The Commission should begin to take a
more proactive leadership role in the DTV education effort. With less
than a year left in the transition for full power television stations,
time is running out.

[^1]: For nearly two years, I have repeatedly called on the FCC and the
    NTIA to take leadership in creating an *inter*-agency task force.
    See Keynote Address of Jonathan S. Adelstein, Commissioner, FCC, "I
    Want My DTV: Building a National DTV Consumer Education Campaign,"
    Entertainment Technology Policy Summit, Consumer Electronics
    Association (March 15, 2006), at p. 4.
    <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264354A1.pdf>.

    Congressional leaders from both political parties have made similar
    requests, leading to the extraordinary step by Senate Chairman
    Inouye and House Chairman Dingell to send a letter to the President
    urging the creation a federal inter-agency task force.

[^2]: "Increased Federal Planning and Risk Management Could Further
    Facilitate the DTV Transition," U.S. Government Accountability
    Office, GAO-08-34 (November 2007) at p. 33.

[^3]: Keynote Address of Jonathan S. Adelstein, Commissioner, FCC, "I
    Want My DTV: Building a National DTV Consumer Education Campaign,"
    at p. 2.

[^4]: This is in sharp contrast to the Commission's urgency to adopt the
    so-called "viewability," dual carriage order on September 11, 2007.
    To the surprise of many observers, the Media Bureau circulated a
    draft order three business days after reply comments were due, and
    the Commission adopted final rules within three weeks.

[^5]: GAO-08-43 at 33.