U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001

48–241 PDF 2009

MANAGEMENT OF THE DIGITAL TV TRANSITION:

IS NEW YORK CITY PREPARED?

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT,

ORGANIZATION, AND PROCUREMENT

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT

AND GOVERNMENT REFORM

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JULY 18, 2008

Serial No. 110–139

Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html

http://www.oversight.house.gov

(II)

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM

HENRY A. WAXMAN, California, Chairman

EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York

PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York

ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland

DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio

DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois

JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts

WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri

DIANE E. WATSON, California

STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York

JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of

Columbia

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota

JIM COOPER, Tennessee

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland

PAUL W. HODES, New Hampshire

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut

JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland

PETER WELCH, Vermont

JACKIE SPEIER, California

TOM DAVIS, Virginia

DAN BURTON, Indiana

CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York

JOHN L. MICA, Florida

MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania

CHRIS CANNON, Utah

JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee

MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio

DARRELL E. ISSA, California

KENNY MARCHANT, Texas

LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia

PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina

VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina

BRIAN P. BILBRAY, California

BILL SALI, Idaho

JIM JORDAN, Ohio

PHIL BARNETT, Staff Director

EARLEY GREEN, Chief Clerk

LAWRENCE HALLORAN, Minority Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND PROCUREMENT

EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York, Chairman

PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut

PETER WELCH, Vermont

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York

BRIAN P. BILBRAY, California

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania,

JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee

MICHAEL MCCARTHY, Staff Director

(III)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Hearing held on July 18, 2008 ............................................................................... 1

Statement of:

Baker, Meredith Attwell, Acting Assistant Secretary, Communications

and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce ............................................. 70

Desai, Monica Shah, Chief, Media Bureau, Federal Communications

Commission ................................................................................................... 89

Lloyd, Mark, vice president, Strategic Initiatives, Leadership Conference

on Civil Rights and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education

Fund ............................................................................................................... 14

Ritter, Bill, co-anchor, Eyewitness News, WABC–TV, New York, NY ........ 6

Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:

Baker, Meredith Attwell, Acting Assistant Secretary, Communications

and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, prepared statement of ...... 73

Desai, Monica Shah, Chief, Media Bureau, Federal Communications

Commission, prepared statement of ............................................................ 92

Lloyd, Mark, vice president, Strategic Initiatives, Leadership Conference

on Civil Rights and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education

Fund:

Information concerning transition ........................................................... 30

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 17

Ritter, Bill, co-anchor, Eyewitness News, WABC–TV, New York, NY,

prepared statement of ................................................................................... 10

Towns, Hon. Edolphus, a Representative in Congress from the State

of New York, prepared statement of ........................................................... 3

(1)

MANAGEMENT OF THE DIGITAL TV

TRANSITION: IS NEW YORK CITY PREPARED?

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2008

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND PROCUREMENT, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Brooklyn, NY.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:55 a.m., at

Brooklyn Sports Club, the Club Room, 1540 Van Siclen Avenue,

Brooklyn, NY, Hon. Edolphus Towns (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representative Towns.

Also present: Representative Clarke.

Staff present: Michael McCarthy, staff director; Lars Hydle, legislative director; William Jusino, professional staff member; and

Kwane Drabo, clerk.

Mr. TOWNS. I ask unanimous consent that Members of the New

York City Congressional Delegation be allowed to participate in the

hearing.

And, without objection, so moved.

Welcome to today’s oversight hearing on the Digital Television

Transition. On February 17, 2009, broadcasters will stop airing

their signals in the current analog format. Without proper preparation, millions of New Yorkers may turn on their TVs on February

18, 2009, only to find themselves left in the dark, without access

to critical weather updates, emergency alerts, news or entertainment programming.

The switch will require new equipment and services for many

people currently using antennas to receive over-the-air broadcasts.

There are already major efforts under way to educate the public

about this transition.

The broadcasting industry has launched a national consumer education campaign valued at more than $1 billion. And, I salute

them for their efforts. Today, we will hear specifically about how

WABC-TV has educated its viewers here in New York City about

the transition.

The government has also been working to educate consumers

about the transition date and the availability of free Federal vouchers to help citizens purchase new equipment. Today’s hearing will

evaluate how wisely that money is being spent.

Some are concerned that vulnerable populations such as seniors,

low-income Americans, or non-English speaking viewers are unaware of the steps they need to take. These groups are known to

2

heavily rely on their over-the-air broadcasts and would be most

hurt by failing to prepare for the transition.

In addition, these groups are large blocks of New York City’s

population. So, I look forward to hearing how the education effort

can be targeted as the programs move along.

And, let me pause here to say that this is not a beat-up session.

You know, I’ve been a part of some of those, but this is not a beatup session. This is a session to have dialog, to see what we can do

together, to make certain that people are aware of the transition

that is going to take place on February 19th. And then, if we talk

to each other, and if there is enough dialog, then I think that we

can make a smooth transition. But, if we do not talk to each other,

and there is not dialog, then I think we’re going to have a mess

on February 19th.

[The prepared statement of Hon. Edolphus Towns follows:]

3

4

5

Mr. TOWNS. So, at this time, I would like to yield to my colleague, a person that I have worked very closely with down

through the years, for her opening statement, Yvette Clarke, who

also represents a District in Brooklyn.

Yvette.

Ms. CLARKE. I want to first of all thank you, Chairman Towns,

for permitting me to share in this extremely important issue for

our Districts here in Brooklyn, and its significance and relevance

to our city, our State, and our Nation.

The city of New York is oftentimes seen as the Mecca for communications. Here, we transmit news around the world. And, the

transmission of information and communication has been what has

been the primary mover in making our world a smaller place, in

making sure that we can inform citizenry of important issues and

concerns, as well as the entertainment that we’ve enjoyed for generations now. We are moving, Mr. Chairman, into a new era, an

era where communication comes to us much faster, much deeper,

and much more quicker than ever before.

This hearing today is important for the people of Brooklyn, the

people of the city of New York, and certainly the people of this Nation. On February 19th, we open the doorway to that new era, and

we want to make sure that every citizen is informed, and has an

opportunity to participate in the program that the Nation has set

aside, the Federal Government, in terms of vouchers and making

this transition, and that it can be done in as smooth and organized

fashion as possible.

The word must get out. The word has to get out. So many of us

rely on this media for our ability to communicate with one another

in a very timely fashion. And so, Mr. Chairman, you’re to be commended for setting aside the time here in New York with people

of the community, with the stakeholders who will make this transition happen, and begin that process in a very bold and orderly

fashion.

I hope today we will hear from our witnesses how they feel this

will impact the lives of our citizenry, and what is in place, currently, to make this transition a smooth one, and what more needs

to be done, quite frankly, to make sure that everyone in this Nation can be prepared for the upcoming tansition, whether they live

in a densely populated area like our Districts in Brooklyn and in

the city of New York, or whether they live upState in areas much

more remote where oftentimes communication can be a bit slower.

I want to thank you, once again, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me

to participate. Together, our Districts make up the bulk of Brooklyn, and we will be sure that the 11th and 10th Congressional Districts are informed and a part of this change.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much.

Ms. CLARKE. I yield back.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much. And, I appreciate your statement.

And, of course, you’re right. We have to make certain that in our

Districts, at least, the word gets out, and hope that others will help

us spread the word.

6

It’s a longstanding tradition that in this committee that we

swear in our witnesses. So, if you would please stand and raise

your right hands?

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. TOWNS. Let the record reflect that they answered in the affirmative.

You may be seated.

We have with us today Mr. Bill Ritter. He’s the Emmy-Award

winning anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Newscasts at WABC-TV

here in New York. And, we’re proud to have him here today.

He has several years of experience in broadcasting. And, of

course we welcome you here today. And, at this time, we’d like to

pause and allow you to give an opening statement. And then, of

course, allow us enough time to be able to raise questions with you.

Mr. RITTER. Of course.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you. Mr. Ritter.

STATEMENT OF BILL RITTER, CO-ANCHOR, EYEWITNESS

NEWS, WABC–TV, NEW YORK, NY

Mr. RITTER. Thank you, Chairman Towns, Congresswoman

Clarke, members of the panel, and all the visitors and guests who

have come here and live in Brooklyn, to support the hearing.

My name is Bill Ritter. I work at Channel 7, WABC Eyewitness

News, where I co-anchor the 6 and 11. I am also a correspondent

for the ABC News program magazine, 20/20. That is also produced

here in New York City. So, I have a national and local perspective

on this.

I want to thank you, first, for holding this important hearing. It’s

timely, as we begin now the 7-month countdown to the transition

to digital television and digital broadcasting.

There in this country right now about 69 million analog television sets still in use. They will stop working after February 17th

of next year, unless consumers do one of three things: Connect

their analog set to a digital converter box; subscribe to cable, satellite, or get a telephone service provider to do that; or, purchase

a new television set with an integrated digital tuner.

Those affected the most by this digital television transition,

which we call DTV, are, as you said, Mr. Chairman, the elderly,

the economically disadvantaged, the various minority populations,

and those living in rural areas.

Many people behind me and you all, I know, I saw you looking

at the television sets we brought. And, I’ll just direct your attention

over there. The two television sets there are both analog television

sets. The one on the right is the more traditional over-the-air signal, with rabbit ears. The one on the left is a crystal clear enhanced picture using this converter box, that we’ve been talking

about, that the Government is passing out coupons, giving people

a big discount on the price of the converter box. The difference is

substantial, as you can see. One is a typical fuzzy picture, and the

other is crystal clear, an enhanced picture. Both are analog televisions.

Broadcasters are, in fact, leading the way to educate consumers

about DTV. We are fully committed to ensuring that no viewer is

7

left behind, if you’ll pardon that phrase, and no viewer loses access

to free television after the switch in programming.

Broadcasters across the country—you mentioned $1 billion.

We’ve also spent more than $5 billion upgrading equipment. And

we have committed, as you say, another billion dollars to providing

educational information about DTV.

Local television stations across the country, including WABC, are

now using digital television technology to provide these crystal

clear pictures and sound, as well as new multicast program services. As a member of the DTV Transition Coalition steering committee—that’s the industry and government coalition made up of

about 240 groups and organizations—WABC Channel 7 television

is fully engaged in educating New Yorkers about the transition and

about the options available to them, to successfully make this

switch by February of next year.

We’re also actively participating in the National Association of

Broadcasters—that’s the NAB—the NAB’s DTV consumer education plan that was adopted by the FCC on March 3rd. And, as

part of this plan, we have committed to a comprehensive program

of DTV public service announcements, air time, community events,

and other on-air features. The campaign is based on quarterly DTV

Public Service Announcements [PSAs], airing of a 30-minute educational program. We also air informational messages through

what we call crawls, and snipes, and news tickers. Those are—you

know, the crawls and snipes, you know, what pop up on the bottom

of your television screen. And, other TV features, such as countdown activities beginning 100 days from the transition date, and

we’ll talk about that in a couple of minutes.

We like to say sometimes, in our newsroom, that numbers and

news tend to confuse. Don’t say too many numbers over the air, because it does confuse. But, if you’ll indulge me, I do want to offer

you some numbers and hopefully it won’t confuse too much.

During the second quarter, which just ended, of this year, WABC

aired a total of 321 PSAs and 434 crawls and snipes on this digital

television transition. The PSAs aired over various day parts in our

schedule, including prime time and during highly watched programs like Eyewitness News and the Oprah Winfrey show. Spots

also aired on Live with Regis and Kelly, the morning television

show produced by Channel 7 here in New York, which airs not just

here but in more that 200 stations across the country.

I’d like, if I could, to play a sample of one of our PSAs.

Mr. TOWNS. Right, delighted, yes.

Mr. RITTER. If you’ll look at the screen over there, on your left.

[Voice on PSA: The digital evolution is coming and ABC–7 wants

you to be ready. Digital TV has better picture, better sound, and

more channels. In fact, digital is the very best way to experience

television. Starting February 17, 2009, all broadcast TV has to be

digital by law. Some TVs will need an upgrade to get digital and

ABC–7 wants you to get the facts so you can continue to enjoy all

your favorite programs. Visit DTV Answers dot com to learn more,

or call this number to find out how you can be prepared.]

Mr. RITTER. We have heard—I’ve seen it—I mean, I see it every

day. I hope the people that watch Channel 7 have seen it, as well.

8

And, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of those. It’s pretty direct,

and I think very effective.

This last weekend, we also aired a 30-minute special program on

the DTV transition, and that will air again before the February

deadline.

In addition, over the last several months, Eyewitness News has

aired DTV news stories, and we’re going to continue to ramp-up

our DTV consumer education coverage throughout the fall and

early winter as the February deadline approaches.

We are also in discussions with other New York City broadcasters to create a plan for some sort of coordinated over-the-air

test some time in the coming months. It’s going to go something

like this: On television, we will say, ‘‘If you can see this image, it

means that you have an analog television set, and you will need

a digital converter box to get the signal by February 17th, 2009,

so you can continue watching television.’’

We are also, I should say, setting up several town meetings in

the fall throughout the Tri-State area, not just New York City,

where we can speak one-on-one with people who have questions

about the digital transition. In fact, my bosses are here right now,

and I want to say publically that I am volunteering to host some

of those town meetings and talk directly to viewers who might have

any questions, so that we get one-on-one time with people and

faces they know from the news.

Additionally, we’re using the Internet to get this transition message out and prepare viewers for this rather dramatic change. We

have placed a helpful DTV link on our Web page—7 online dot

com—which guides people to the frequently asked questions and

the easy answers they will need to make the transition.

Our goal is pretty simple. We want to reach New Yorkers—and

indeed everyone in the Tri-State area—using every media platform

at our disposal. It is not just our goal for the digital television transition, but it is, indeed, our goal as a television station and certainly as a news organization.

To be frank, it’s in our interest to make sure that as many viewers as possible are able to watch television, and we hope that

means watching Channel 7 Eyewitness News. And, as the first responders in terms of public information during emergencies, it is

also in the public’s interest to make sure that everybody—every

American and every New Yorker—has access to over-the-air television signals.

I hope I’ve shown in this brief presentation just how committed

we are to this. This is—no question about it, an enormous effort.

The good news is that the Tri-State has some of the lowest numbers in the Nation of people who are actually affected by this. The

overwhelming majority of people here have DTV capability already.

That’s the good news. And, there are many parts of the country

where that, frankly, is just simply not the case.

But we have, as an organization, something of a zero tolerance

goal here. It’s our responsibility—we know and we fervently believe—our responsibility to the communities we serve, that every

viewer with a television be able to watch Channel 7.

This is our philosophy as we proceed toward February 17, 2009.

9

I thank you for the opportunity to testify. If you have any questions, I’m here to answer those, as well.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ritter follows:]

10

11

12

13

14

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much, Mr. Ritter. What we’re going

to do is just have quick—we’ll have Mr. Lloyd to present, and then

we will raise questions for both of you.

Mr. Lloyd is vice president of Strategic Initiatives of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on

Civil Rights Education Fund. There are approximately 200 national

organizations representing people of color, women, children, organized labor, people with disabilities, seniors, gays and lesbians, and

major religious groups for the goal of equality under the law

through public education. This public education expertise will be

very helpful today. So, we welcome you, Mr. Lloyd.

You may start.

STATEMENT OF MARK LLOYD, VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC

INITIATIVES, LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS

AND LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS EDUCATION FUND

Mr. LLOYD. Thank you very much, Chairman Towns. And again,

I congratulate you on holding this hearing and coming to the community, to allow the community to hear from its representatives.

We hope that you don’t get the heat when folks’ television sets go

off.

Members of the committee, distinguished guests, and Yankees

and Mets fans: It’s a pleasure to be here in Brooklyn.

As you said, my name is Mark Lloyd. I’m the vice president of

strategic initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.

LCCR is the oldest and most diverse coalition of organizations

working to protect the civil rights of all Americans through legislative advocacy. And, the Ed Fund is the sister organization working

with LCCR to further the goal of equality under the law through

public education.

Given the fact that we represent a very broad coalition of organizations, I would not suggest here that my testimony fully represents the concerns of all of our coalition. With that said, we have

consulted and are actively working on the DTV transition with several members of our coalition, both in Washington and in the field.

In addition, LCCR is a founding member and steering committee

member of the DTV Transition Coalition, a large coalition that includes government agencies, industry groups, grassroots and membership organizations, manufacturers, retailers, trade associations,

civil rights organizations, and community groups.

And so, as you mentioned in your opening remarks, this is not—

my presentation is not a beat-up session about what folks are doing

wrong, but an encouragement about what we can do to improve the

process.

I must say that despite the valiant volunteer work of our members and the DTV Transition Coalition, the Nation is simply not

prepared for the shut-off of full-power analog television broadcasting. There is, in brief, too little funding for research, education, and

outreach to ensure that when February 17, 2009 arrives all Americans will continue to receive the over-the-air broadcasting service.

As this committee knows, millions rely on broadcasting for emergency information, school closing, news and public affairs programVerDate 11-MAY-2000 15:15 Apr 21, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 U:\DOCS\48241.TXT KATIE PsN: KATIE
15

ming so necessary for local democratic engagement. We are concerned that the disproportionate impact of this transition will result in a greater divide, between those who have access to vital information and those who do not.

We at the Leadership Conference are concerned that the working

poor, that senior citizens, that a disproportionate number of African-Americans and Latinos, Asian-Americans, people with hearing

or visual limitations, Americans living in rural areas will lose access to the vital lifeline of over-the-air broadcast television.

According to a recent survey conducted by the SmithGeiger Polling firm for the NAB, while African-Americans and Hispanics are

increasingly aware of the digital television transition, they continue

to trail the Nation as a whole. In New York, 91 percent of Hispanics and 79 percent of African-Americans are aware that a transition is taking place, but only 32 percent of Hispanics and 23 percent of African-Americans can correctly identify the transition date.

A majority of both groups do not think the transition will affect

them. And, these are not households who all have cable. Cable penetration in New York is roughly comparable to penetration in the

Nation as a whole. It’s about 58 percent. In Brooklyn, cable subscriptions total on 54 percent of total TV households. Some of our

communities are not clear that this transition will affect them.

Earlier this month, the Leadership Conference completed an extensive report on the challenges regarding the transition to digital

television. We submit that report to this committee, and ask that

it be included as part of the record.

The serious problems with the transition identified by the Leadership Conference include: Lack of viewer awareness; viewer and

retailer confusion; TV converter box program problems and complexities; excessive and unanticipated costs and burdens to viewers

to make the transition; confusion over low-power and community

television stations; reports of unnecessary upselling; difficulties in

procuring the proper digital converters; difficulties with the passthrough by digital converters of captioning and available video description services; and no rapid response plan to deal with the

problems after February 17, 2009.

While the Federal agencies most responsible for managing this

transition—the NTIA—National Telecommunications Information

Administration—and the Federal Communications Commission

[FCC]—and a wide range of private stakeholders are working hard

to address the impact of the transition, LCCR believes that the

challenges involved in preparing Americans for the digital TV transition are of such magnitude that while active congressional oversight is important, strong congressional response is required.

In short, our recommendations are as follows: Improve the organization of the transition. As the General Accounting Office has

recommended, Federal leadership must be better coordinated. Fund

increased consumer outreach, education, and research. Preserve

communities’ access to their low-power analog television stations.

And, prepare for rapid response to the problems.

And, let me close simply by saying this. Finally, the government

can play an important role in conducting the research to identify

those populations who are falling through the cracks. And, there

must be plans in place to respond rapidly to those most vulnerable

16

populations who end up losing service so they can get the education

and, most importantly sometimes, the direct assistance that they

will need.

If low-income households, seniors, minorities, and persons with

disabilities are cutoff because funds run out, Congress must allocate more funds to ensure that all Americans can make the transition to digital television.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lloyd follows:]

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much, Mr. Lloyd. And, I move that

we make the report a part of the record.

[The information referred to follows:]

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

Mr. LLOYD. Thank you.

Mr. TOWNS. So, thank you, so much.

Let me begin by just asking—I know you have to go, so I wanted

to sort of ask you a couple of questions before you depart, Mr. Ritter.

You know, I checked your bio, before this hearing, and I was impressed with all the work you’ve done as an investigative reporter.

So, I feel comfortable asking you this question.

How do you recommend we work together to eliminate fraud and

abuse that I think that could happen, you know, if we’re not careful, in terms of this program? In terms of the converter boxes, you

know, when you ask the price of the converter boxes, and some people will say $49, some people will say $59, some people will say

$79, and then I even heard someone said $125.

So, how do we avoid—and a lot of times, this will be senior citizens. How do we avoid, you know, them from being ripped-off?

That’s a real concern of ours.

Mr. RITTER. That’s a good question, Congressman, and I’m—I

wish I could wave a magic wand.

I mean, Mr. Lloyd, I think, you know—addressed that indirectly

by saying that he’s worried about how it’s going to be implement.

You know, the government could have—I know the government put

a billion and a half dollars into this program, to buy these converters. It could have easily—and I didn’t have a vote, because I wasn’t

a Member of Congress—the government could have said, ‘‘You

know what? We’re going to fund it for two and a half billion, and

we’ll just pay for the whole thing, and all you have to do is go get

it, and make it free.’’

But, that’s not going to happen, and so we are faced with that

situation. I think that’s, you know, that’s part of the educational

program. These cards are worth $40. They give a $40 discount. And

for those people who can find them for $49.99, which I understand

may be the cheapest price, according to the retailers we’ve talked

to, they get a good deal. But, you have to be on the lookout for that.

And, that’s a good suggestion, and we should address that.

And that’s something I think—I’m not so sure that we have—we

have not talked about it in our PSAs yet, because we’re just dealing

with hey, here’s the deadline. But, it’s a concern. It’s a concern to

you, and I think that it’s a concern to a lot of people.

It would have been nice had the government said, ‘‘You know

what? We’re going to make sure that every American has the right

to have over-the-air broadcasts, and this little card we’re going to

give you is going to be worth the cost of the converter,’’ and the

government helps supply it. They didn’t do that. So, we have to be

extra vigilant, to make sure that doesn’t happen.

I think the seniors are most at risk at this, and it’s up to all of

us to say, look, we’ve got to be careful here. This is what the range

of prices are. Shop around for them. There are many retailers—

most of the retailers, I believe, that are participating in this program are not going to try to gouge the public. And, I want to say

that—I should say that first. That’s the headline. You know, most

of these retailers are upstanding, honorable retailers, and they’re

going to offer the fair pricing.

Mr. TOWNS. Right. I yield now to my colleague, Yvette Clarke.

62

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Ritter, you gave us a lot of information about how you personally, along with the organization that you work for, are making

great strides to—I believe, at least bring awareness of the issue of

the conversion that’s imminent.

I want to sort of pick up where Congressman Towns left off, with

respect to the cost, and talk about how that’s framed, in terms of

perhaps a campaign. I think that the awareness campaign could

probably benefit the public best by doing sort of a buyer beware

within it. Oftentimes, you know, there’s sort of a rush because it’s

the campaign and because the deadline is coming. And, you know,

the next thing you know, people will show up in the neighborhood

with a trunk full of converter boxes, you know? And, we don’t want

folks going through that.

So, I’m just thinking in terms of collaboration. You have reputable outlets that will be marketing these converter boxes. Could

there not be a parallel awareness campaign that talks about, you

know, don’t get ripped off, here are the reputable places. And perhaps, give those types of information to places that people trust—

their local post office, their local DMV.

So, what I’m talking about is more of a coordinated campaign

that educates at a point where, you know, folks know about the

rip-off and the flim-flam out there, but we want to be sure that in

their haste to address this, that they don’t get deals that are too

good to be true.

Mr. RITTER. Right, or bad converter boxes, or fake converter

boxes——

Ms. CLARKE. Exactly.

Mr. RITTER [continuing]. That sort of thing.

Mr. TOWNS. Fake, yeah.

Mr. RITTER. We are—as I say, we are ramping up our—we’ve had

a lot of PSAs. I’ve never seen a quarter where so many PSAs—you

know, more than 300—on any one subject. That’s already historic

in its proportions. And, we’re going to do more for this in the next

two quarters.

But, I think that’s something that’s definitely worth consideration and exploration by the NAB and the Coalition for the DTV

Transition, and it’s a point well taken. It’s a point well taken.

Ms. CLARKE. And then, I also thought about, you know, through

the collaborative effort, how we really get business owners to be a

part of the transition. People are coming through their doors each

and every day, and putting some sort of leaflet in their bag that

just says ‘‘remember this date,’’ you know, ‘‘come back, see us soon’’

could be another way of getting the word out and, you know,

through the discussions that are being held, let everyone become

sort of a stakeholder in making this happen. It could be a grocery

store. It could be a shopping mall. It could be so many places where

people gather publically.

It could be cultural institutions. You know, for a station like PBS

that exposes people to so many cultural activities and expressions,

it may be, you know, that Broadway does a day for the digital conversion, or the Brooklyn Museum does a day of digital conversion.

63

I’m just thinking about creative ways that the coalition that has

been formed can include others where it impacts on ultimately

their mission, as well.

Mr. RITTER. Right. That’s a good point. Just from the television

point of view——

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

Mr. RITTER [continuing]. We feel that—and I think we know that

the most effective, most powerful medium that there is is television, and that people who are watching their television sets, who

have analog, who will not get that signal after February 17, 2009,

the most powerful way for us to do this is to—is to send out these

messages throughout the day parts, dawn—you know, around the

clock, getting out those messages that if you do have an analog television, if you can see this, you’re not going to be able to see it on

February 17th, and——

Ms. CLARKE. And the——

Mr. RITTER [continuing]. That overall is the most powerful thing

we can do, I think.

Ms. CLARKE. And then, in closing, Mr. Chairman, I see my time

is winding down there, what about your sponsors? You know, we

have a lot of corporate sponsors. That’s basically how we get TV.

I think they need to be on board here. This is going to be their bottom line, as well.

So, I hope that in the conversations that you have, and the expansion of the coalition, with the help of our sponsors, we can

make this happen for the American people.

Mr. RITTER. I hope so. And, as you said, our sponsors are depending on us to get the message out, because they want to be reaching

all the viewers, as well.

So, we all have a very large self-interest in this. It’s certainly in

our self-interest to make sure that everyone has a television signal.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you very much.

I yield back, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much.

And, let me just ask this, as you get ready to depart. You know,

you made one recommendation that the Congress should have paid

for the whole thing,——

Mr. RITTER. Well, I didn’t—[laughter.]

Mr. TOWNS. Yeah, I——

Mr. RITTER. I was just asking the question.

Mr. TOWNS. Yes.

Ms. CLARKE. Raising the issue.

Mr. TOWNS. Raising the issue, OK. Raising the issue.

Is there anything else that you think that the Congress should

do, even at this point?

Mr. RITTER. You mean about any subject at all? Is this an——

Mr. TOWNS. No, no, no. [Laughter.]

The transition.

Ms. CLARKE. You’ve got to keep it germane.

Mr. TOWNS. Right. The transition.

Mr. RITTER. Because, we could sit here all day.

Mr. TOWNS. No, the transition.

Mr. RITTER. Well, you know, I think having these kind of informational meetings. I think that, you know, this is not some big

64

mystery tunnel that we’re entering into. It’s pretty clear what’s

happening, as clear as you can see that picture.

And, I think the more times we can get the word out, the more

hearings like this we have. As I think the 7-month deadline winds

down, people are going to become more interested in it.

You know, people are deadline-oriented, so we’re going to keep

hammering on this. The cards—some of them have deadlines on

them. I think people are looking at deadlines. And, I think the

more—the closer it gets, we’re going to ramp up our coverage.

The more we get the word out, through hearings like this, and

the town meetings we do, the more public service announcements,

and crawls, and information we get out on the televisions that people are watching, I think people will become aware of it.

You know, you have to deal with some other issues that Mr.

Lloyd talked about. What happens afterwards? But, it’s in our interest to be involved in it, too.

Right now, our focus is trying to figure out how we can get 100

percent of the people on board with this by the time the deadline

ends.

Mr. TOWNS. Right. Well, let me thank you so much for your——

Mr. RITTER. Well, I appreciate the opportunity.

Mr. TOWNS [continuing]. Testimony. And, I think that, you know,

what we need to do is just start having a countdown, you know,

like they’re doing with the election. They have a certain amount of

days before the election. You know, I think we need to have——

Mr. RITTER. 109.

Mr. TOWNS. 109. [Laughter.]

I think we need to have a countdown for the transition, as well,

to just make certain that people are aware, you know, that this is

going to happen, and continue to remind them, because I’m afraid

that—that some people would get a voucher and not get a converter box, sort of procrastinate. And then, all of a sudden, the date

is here and then they find out that they do not have a picture and

then they call our office.

Mr. RITTER. Well, it’s our goal for that not to happen. Seven

months from today, the television set on the right over there will

not be able to get a picture.

Mr. TOWNS. Right.

Mr. RITTER. And that’s very much on the top of our mind.

Mr. TOWNS. Right, thank you. I know you have to depart. So,

thank you very much.

Mr. RITTER. Thank you.

Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Lloyd, will you remain.

Mr. LLOYD. Yes.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you, again.

Mr. RITTER. Thank you. Take care.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much.

So, Mr. Lloyd, let me go to you. Do you think that most viewers

of over-the-air analog television have learned enough about the

transition through the news and commercials they have watched?

Mr. LLOYD. Actually, I think most viewers have some sense that

there is a transition taking place. Again, I’m not convinced that

65

most viewers, particularly in the populations that we are concentrated on, know what the date is going to be for the transition

or understand really how it’s going to have an impact on them.

This is a very complicated set of issues. Analog television, fullpower television will make the transition. Analog low-power television, analog community broadcasters will not necessarily be making this transition.

Ms. CLARKE. Right.

Mr. LLOYD. So there may be, in many communities, even some

in New York, there may be some low-power analog broadcasters

who will continue to put out analog services. So, we have a complicated transition occurring here, and not everything is going to

happen at once.

Mr. TOWNS. You know, my colleague indicated something that I

think we really need to pursue, and maybe this is something you

could help us with.

You know, we talked about, in terms of getting corporations to

participate, to be involved in helping to get the word out. And, that

started the thought about the faith-based community. All of them

have these conferences, you know, where all the clergy folks come

together and they have a major conference.

Have you thought about, in terms of trying to tap into that,

maybe get speaking time, you know, at these events, to sort of

share with them what’s going to happen? Because, they talk to a

lot of people on Sunday morning.

Mr. LLOYD. Oh, yeah. You know, you’re absolutely right. I mean,

that—before I had an opportunity to think about it, there is a

group called the National Black Church Initiative. That’s been

working with Black church groups around the country to make

sure that congregations, that pastors, that ministers work with

folks in their community, including corporations, small businesses,

and large corporations in the community, to get the word out.

This is, really, a fantastic initiative, understanding, particularly

in the Black community, how powerful a voice the church plays.

And so, folks are working on this.

We are working with them. We’re also working with the National

Council of La Raza, we’re working with the National Urban

League, we’re working with the NAACP, a group called the Southeast Asian Action Resource Center. We’re working with AARP, the

American Association of People With Disabilities. We’re working

with a wide variety of groups and communities around the country.

And we’re hearing both successes, about folks understanding this

is happening, and taking some action about the coupon. And, we’re

also hearing some challenges about people not getting the right information when they go into stores, about there being some confusion, not because you get retailers who are trying to do terrible

things in many instances, but just because, again, this is complicated. And, you get a new box, you get a new—and you get the

antenna that you’ve been using, and it doesn’t quite work. Do you

need a new antenna? Maybe you do. The signals are going to be

a little different. Analog and digital signals will be a little bit different.

So, this is a complicated transition. It’s going to take some time

for all the folks in our communities to catch up.

66

Mr. TOWNS. Right. Let me—have you heard of any people expressing concerns about the fact that you might have a voucher but

no place to purchase a converter box? I mean, I’m concerned about

that. I know we can talk about fraud and abuse before, someone

coming in with a truck and saying, you know, you can buy them

here for $40, you know, and they don’t work. You know, I’m concerned about that.

But then, the other one is that I have a voucher but no place to

take my voucher.

Mr. LLOYD. Right.

Mr. TOWNS. You know, just like our housing program. You can

get a voucher but can’t find an apartment.

Mr. LLOYD. Consumers have these patterns of buying things. So,

we tend to go to the same stores over and over again. So, if we’re

used to going to, say, the Radio Shack down the street, and we’re

looking for a certain sort of converter box, and it’s not there. And,

we go away, and we go back the next week, and the converter box

is still not there, you know, I can’t find it, it’s nowhere available.

Many of the converter boxes you can actually get online. It’s

very—and so some of this is a burden on consumers, to sort of understand that there are some things—and, we also understand that

not everybody is online.

So, there are phone calls that folks can make. If you call up and

you say, you know, ‘‘I need to find the closest Radio Shacks, and

Wal-Marts, and Sears,’’ you may need to call those places to find

out if they have the converter box that you are looking for.

So sometimes, it’s going to take a little bit extra effort. But what

we have found, in sort of just doing some digging, actually, just

around here in New York and Brooklyn, is that almost every place

that someone might want to go, you can find the converter box. It

may take you a little bit of time to find it, but you can find the

converter box.

Now, here is the challenge. We have senior citizens. We have

folks who are busy with other things that they’re doing in their

lives and don’t have time to get on the phone, calling up, you know,

hundreds of different retailers to find the right box for them. Some

of these folks will need some assistance to make that transition.

But, in terms of the availability of converter boxes, by and large,

particularly in large urban areas like Brooklyn and New York, you

can find the converter box. You may need to make an extra effort

to get out there and get it, though.

Mr. TOWNS. Right. Let me just—and then I see my time is expired and I want to yield to my colleague. But just before we do

that, you know, we talked about the price of the converter box.

And, I still am thinking about seniors.

You know, will they need to get somebody to hook that converter

box up? That could be a cost. Because, they can’t hook it up themselves, so then they have to get someone to come in to do it. That’s

going to cost them. And, nobody is talking about that.

Mr. LLOYD. No, I mean, that’s what——

Mr. TOWNS. That’s an extra cost.

Mr. LLOYD. I mean, you raise a very important point. One of the

things we’ve been writing about and talking about in our testimony

and conversations with folks is that the coupon—we fully support

67

the coupon program. We think it’s a wonderful program. We think

that Congress was actually fairly generous in creating this pot of

money which is, you know, almost $2 billion, to set aside some

money so people could have it.

But, many Americans, not just senior citizens—there are a number of us who aren’t senior citizens, who aren’t as technologically

facile as others are. We will need some help in setting up these

converter boxes and making sure that they work with our television sets. And, it is not as easy as just plugging the box in and

seeing it work. You may need to work with the antenna, as we’ve

done here, putting an antenna up on top of the exit sign, to make

sure you can get the signal in properly.

So, this will take some work. So, in addition to the education effort, and the PSAs, and the great work that folks are doing, we

need some direct assistance money to go to places like Boys and

Girls Clubs, to go to Meals On Wheels programs, to go to senior

citizens programs, to go to people who direct service providers, who

have direct contact with folks who are most in need and can help

them actually physically connect these boxes and figure out how to

make sure the antenna works in their homes, and in their bedrooms.

And so that—and again, this is not about watching re-runs of

‘‘Friends,’’ or ‘‘American Idol.’’ This is about making sure that—people who depend on television, more than any other source, for

emergency information, for information about tornados, and hurricanes, and terrorist attack. They go to their TV sets. We need to

make sure that all Americans have access to this information.

Mr. TOWNS. Right. I yield to my colleague, Congresswoman

Clarke.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I, Mr. Lloyd, wanted to pick up on a couple of points raised by

the Congressman, and ask, with respect to outreach.

We have talked about clergy in the sense of the Christian community. My concern is also for the other faith-based organizations

out there, and their constituencies, including immigrant communities.

You know, there are a lot of ethnic enclaves here in the city of

New York. And oftentimes, English is not the first language. So,

the campaign, then, has to be penetrable into communities that are

a little bit more insular due to their unique cultural, you know, affinities.

Has your organization talked about how we penetrate immigrant

communities, where English may not be a first language, where

that then compounds the situation with the elderly and newcomers

to our communities?

Mr. LLOYD. I really want to applaud your sensitivity about this

set of issues. It is just so extraordinarily important to understand

that not all Americans who may be watching television, you know,

rely entirely on mainstream television for their news and information or even entertainment programming. It is extraordinarily important to be able to reach communities with people that they

trust, the sources that they trust, and the languages that they rely

on, in the way that they speak.

68

This isn’t just about how you speak Spanish. I mean, you may

speak Spanish in a way that’s a little different than the way other

people speak Spanish. And, I really appreciate your sensitivity

about these sets of issues. And Brooklyn, as you know, is an extraordinarily diverse community, as is the entire New York.

And, I also must applaud NTIA. They put out programs that are

in dozens of languages, to make sure that all Americans have an

opportunity to fill out these coupon programs and the vouchers, so

that they can actually apply in languages that they are comfortable

with. And so, the Federal Government has actually done a fairly

good job about this.

We must do more. We are going to make sure that the folks who

speak Yiddish, that the folks who rely on Russian language, the

folks who rely on all the different languages in our communities,

folks who are speaking Creole——

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

Mr. LLOYD [continuing]. You know, from, you know, immigrants

from Haiti. We need to make sure that these communities also understand this transition is taking place, that it will have an impact

on their services, their needs. We don’t want anyone left behind,

you know, in the case of a terrorist attack or some other sort of,

you know, natural disaster.

We need to be able to make sure that these folks understand this

transition is taking place, and they understand how they can prepare for it.

I thank you for your question.

Ms. CLARKE. And, I wanted to also find out whether utilities are

actually engaged in this process. Because I think, for most people,

generally speaking, they trust their utilities because there’s a constant interaction with them; whether it’s their telephone service,

whether it’s their mobile phone service, whether it’s their computer

link up service, or their cable service. They are all sort of vying in

that same arena to be able to provide information to people.

Are they engaged in this process, as well? Because if I were to

get a call from Cablevision, or a text from Cablevision, that says

to me ‘‘Have you gotten your converter box’’ today, then it would

be on my mind constantly, because that’s a company I trust. I pay

them money every month and, you know, I know they want me to

continue to be their customer.

Have we done any type of collaboration with the utilities?

Mr. LLOYD. Yes. Well, let me—let me say that I sit on the consumer advisory board for Verizon, OK.

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

Mr. LLOYD. And, they provide some service in your community.

And, they are very aware of the transition, and have a team dedicated to make sure that folks who rely on Verizon, whether it’s just

the regular telephone service or, I know, the more advanced fiber

service is coming to the New York area, they are working to make

sure that their customers are aware of this transition, and that

folks are putting things in bill stuffers, and they’re working with

other folks.

If you will allow me, I will sort of try to step aside some of the

challenges with the cable industry.

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

69

Mr. LLOYD. But—but only to say that we are working with the

cable industry. They realize how important it is that this transition

is taking place.

I will say this, though. Over-the-air television is very different

from cable. I think many cable operators are right now sort of not

saying they’re going to charge folks extra money to get a digital

converter box in addition to the cable box that they’ve got now.

But, I think consumers have to be very, very wary, and make sure

that they continue to have that conversation with cable, to make

sure that their rates don’t go up as a result of this transition.

Ms. CLARKE. I agree.

Mr. LLOYD. Just make sure you have that conversation.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. TOWNS. All right. Thank you very much. And, let me thank

you, Mr. Lloyd, for your testimony.

But, before you leave, is there any suggestions or recommendations that you have for us, on things that we might need to be

doing in order to sort of make this transition, you know, a very

smooth one?

Mr. LLOYD. Well, let me—let me both congratulate Congressman

Dingell and Senator Inouye for working with NTIA to make sure

that there were extra moneys available beyond the initial allocation of funds, so they could help get the word out.

And, I would urge Members of Congress to work with NTIA and

the FCC to make sure that money gets to the folks who provide direct service to those communities, whether they speak other languages, whether they are senior citizens, whether they are folks in

low-income neighborhoods. Make sure the direct service providers

get those funds, and get the word out about this transition.

The second thing is, we must have some plans in place, because

there will be viewers who will not be on top of this on February

17th. The coupon program is going to extend beyond February

17th. We need to have a plan in place to identify, and to be able

to contact, and then to assist those communities.

So, we need to put in a rapid response plan for those communities that, for one reason or another, despite all of our best efforts,

may fall through the cracks. And so, I would urge you to work with

NTIA and the FCC to make sure that they put in a rapid response

plan, to make sure that those folks who fall through the cracks are

on board with this transition.

Mr. TOWNS. All right. Thank you very much——

Mr. LLOYD. Thank you very much.

Mr. TOWNS [continuing]. And thank you for the work that you’re

doing.

Mr. LLOYD. Well, thank you. This is so important to bring this

into the community. Thank you.

Mr. TOWNS. All right. It’s a pleasure. Thank you for your testimony.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you.

And now, we will move to our second panel. Please, second panel,

please come forward.

70

I would like to welcome our second panel. As with the first panel,

it is a longstanding policy of this committee that all witnesses are

sworn in.

So, if you would be kind enough to rise and raise your right

hands?

[Witnesses sworn.]

Mr. TOWNS. Please have a seat. Thank you.

Let the record reflect that they answered in the affirmative.

Let me begin with Ms. Meredith Attwell Baker. She is Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and Acting

Administrator of the National Telecommunication Information Administration [NTIA].

NTIA is the President’s principal advisor on telecommunications

and information policy, and is the agency in charge of the DTV converter box coupon program. So, we welcome you.

I would also like to welcome Monica Desai. She is currently Chief

of the Media Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission,

since 1999. She has worked at the Commission in a variety of capacities, including Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, and Interim Legal Advisor to then-Commissioner

Martin on Special and International Issues.

She has extensive knowledge of the FCC’s evaluation of the DTV

transition to date.

I welcome both of you, and let me begin with you, Ms. Baker.

You have 5 minutes to summarize your testimony. Then, after that,

you’ll allow us to raise some questions with you.

So, we will start with you first, Ms. Baker.

STATEMENT OF MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER, ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION,

NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Ms. BAKER. Terrific. Thank you very much. Good morning—almost afternoon—Chairman Towns, Congresswoman Clarke.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify about the process of the

digital television transition and the TV box coupon program which

is administered by NTIA. It’s especially nice to be here in Brooklyn.

Thank you for holding this hearing and helping to get the word out

about the digital transition.

I am pleased to be before you today to discuss NTIA’s successful

launch of the program and our strong commitment to continue public education and outreach efforts so that this historic and important transition can take place and no American television viewer

is unprepared on February 18, 2009.

Consumers throughout this country are becoming well prepared

for the transition. The Deficit Reduction Act established a Digitalto-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program. Under the act, a $1.5

billion program, eligible U.S. households may obtain up to two coupons of $40 each to be applied toward the purchase of converter

boxes that will convert digital broadcast signals for display on analog television sets.

When NTIA sends coupons to the requesting households—they

look like this—NTIA includes a list of participating stores near the

consumer at the bottom of the paper. It is important to note that

71

the coupons expire in 90 days after they are mailed. The 90-day expiration date is a statutory date, and is meant to ensure that if a

consumer buys a digital television, or subscribes to a pay service,

or just retires an unconnected analog television, rather than using

the coupons he or she requested, the value of the coupons can then

be recycled to send coupons to other consumers.

Throughout the past 7 months, the level of consumer participation in the program has been extremely high. As of July 16th,

NTIA has received requests from nearly 11 million households, for

over 20.5 million coupons. Coupon requests continue to average,

very consistently, about 104,000 per day. Over half of the requesting households—50.3 percent—identify themselves as relying exclusively on over-the-air broadcasts to receive television programming.

A coupon ordered today can be expected to be issued and mailed

within 10 to 15 business days.

As distributed but unredeemed coupons expire, funds otherwise

obligated to these coupons will be returned to the coupon program.

The program has anticipated and budgeted for the distribution of

additional coupons beyond 33.5 million, toward which these returned funds will be re-obligated.

The number and unit price of these coupons ultimately will determine the total administrative costs associated with the distribution of these additional coupons. NTIA is working closely with our

contractor, IBM, to ensure that as many coupons as possible can

be distributed.

As of July 16, 2008, consumers have redeemed more than 6 million coupons toward the purchase of coupon eligible converter

boxes. Coupon redemption rates are an important factor in calculating the coupon program spending. Coupons are being redeemed at a rate of 44.4 percent.

NTIA is very pleased with the high level of participation in the

coupon program by converter box manufacturers. As of July 16th,

NTIA has certified 112 converter boxes, of which 37 are analog

pass-through.

The response from America’s retailers has, likewise, been outstanding. As of July 16th, there are more than 2,300 participating

retailers in the coupon program, including seven of the largest consumer electronics retailers, as well as hundreds of regional chains

and small retailers. These retailers represent 26,512 participating

outlets nationwide, including locations in all 50 States, American

Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Additionally, consumers can choose from among 26 online retailers and 13 telephone retailers. In short, consumers, even those in

areas where the closest consumer electronics retailer is 50 or 100

miles away, have ready access to coupon eligible converter boxes.

A list of all participating retail outlets, searchable by State and by

five-digit ZIP Code, can be found on our Web site: Under ‘‘locate

a retailer near you.’’

A member of my staff, Brian Danza, would be pleased to stay

around and show anyone the Web site, or help them order a coupon

afterwards.

Industry and government consumer education efforts are clearly

working, and we are pleased with the continued participation.

72

NTIA has hired IBM to oversee the program. IBM and its subcontractors are tracking coupon redemption rates in real time. This

will help NTIA monitor supply and demand.

Educating consumers about the coupon program is one of NTIA’s

and the Commerce Department’s top priorities, in which both Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and I have been regularly and

actively engaged. In particular, a key message we are delivering to

consumers is that while the analog cutoff date will occur on February 17, 2009, the time for consumers to experience the benefits

of DTV is now. The time to order a coupon and purchase a box is

now.

According to Nielsen, New York City is one of the most prepared

cities for the digital television transition. As of July 17th, over

732,000 coupons have been requested by consumers in the New

York DMA, and over 175,000 have been redeemed.

Locally, we are working with the Harlem Consumer Education

Council to conduct a community event in mid to late September,

providing New Yorkers who have not yet completed an application

the opportunity to do so. NTIA staff has brought you 500 coupon

applications today, and we are happy to provide more if your staff

desires.

We are also happy to organize further town hall meetings. We

compliment you for holding this meeting here today. If we can help

you on mailers to your constituents, we would also like to do that,

or helping with Web site links. Congressional outreach is a very

important and impactful part of this program.

So, working with IBM, NTIA has developed a comprehensive and

rigorous approach to deterring waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. In terms of retail certification, participation and payment,

NTIA has protections in place to minimize opportunities for inappropriate retailer behavior. We are also ensuring that no more

than two coupons are sent to each U.S. household, per the statute,

and that consumers are unable to use the $40 coupon to purchase

ineligible products.

To protect consumers, we have just issued a consumer checklist

in helping consumers navigate the program, and we worked with

the FTC and the FCC on a tip sheet to arm consumers with the

information they need to make the right decisions for their household.

Thank you very much, for the invitation to be here today. And,

I’ll be pleased to take any questions that you have.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Baker follows:]

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

Mr. TOWNS. Right. Thank you very much, Ms. Baker.

Now, Ms. Desai.

STATEMENT OF MONICA SHAH DESAI, CHIEF, MEDIA BUREAU,

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Ms. DESAI. Good morning, Chairman Towns and Congresswoman

Clarke.

On behalf of Chairman Martin, we thank you for inviting us here

to update you on the status of the digital transition and the FCC’s

recent efforts in that regard.

The broadcasters are making significant progress in converting

their facilities to all-digital. Over 90 percent are broadcasting a digital signal, and nearly 1,000 have completed construction and are

providing full service to their viewers. The New York DMA contains 23 full-power stations, and all are currently broadcasting in

digital. Thirteen of those stations are already on their final digital

channel, and the remaining 10 are in progress to convert to their

final channels. They already have their construction permits.

The Commission’s DTV-related enforcement efforts have focused

on protecting consumers through enforcement of our labeling rules,

our tuner requirements, and our V-chip regulations. In addition, as

of July 14th, field agents across the country have visited over 1,200

stores, interviewed over 1,100 store managers in 44 States. And, in

New York City, we have visited eight stores and conducted seven

interviews. To date, we have found that the majority of store managers are well informed of the digital transition and the NTIA converter box program. Our field agents are providing stores with information tip sheets and conducting staff training sessions when

we find those are needed.

With a little less than 7 months to go, the industry, consumer

groups, and the Commission are actively reaching out to consumers

to alert them of the upcoming transition and inform them about

the steps that they’ll need to take.

According to various surveys this spring, the percentage of consumers aware of the transition has grown to between 84 and 90

percent. Notably, as I think others have mentioned, the survey reported that 89 percent of New York households are aware that the

full-power television stations will be switching to an all-digital format.

That the more viewers are aware of the transition is a step in

the right direction. But now, we need to focus on making sure that

those consumers know what they need to do.

Congresswoman Clarke, you mentioned in the earlier panel, that

you would like to look at more creative ways of reaching consumers, various segments of the population. Well, here is a sampling

of what we’re doing now, and if you’ve got other ideas and, you

know, other things that you’d like us to work on, we would welcome your—both of your suggestions.

The Commission has so far conducted over 1,400 DTV awareness

sessions.

Mr. TOWNS. Could you pull the mic just a little closer to you.

Ms. DESAI. Oh, I’m sorry.

Mr. TOWNS. Yeah.

Ms. DESAI. The Commission—is this better?

90

Mr. TOWNS. Yes, much better.

Ms. CLARKE. Much better.

Ms. DESAI. Oh, OK. Sorry.

The Commission had conducted over 1,400 DTV awareness sessions, attended over 280 conferences and events, held 300 partnership meetings, and made over 6,700 visits to various organizations

around the country to disseminate DTV information.

In the New York City area, we have conducted over 50 DTV

awareness sessions and attended 10 conferences and events so far.

We have distributed over 5.6 million pages of our DTV publications nationally to individual consumers, consumer agencies, and to

organizations.

This month, we are mentioned—and I think you had mentioned

wanting to partner with post offices——

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

Ms. DESAI. We are displaying DTV education posters in all

34,000 post offices across the country, including the post offices in

New York City.

In addition, we have distributed another 8,600 posters nationwide, so far.

You mentioned the Department of Motor Vehicles. We have secured commitments so far from 36 States to display DTV materials

in their offices.

We have distributed radio PSAs to all of the radio stations in the

country, including those in the New York City area.

Currently, TV PSAs are in production. So, we’re working on

those and hope to get those rolled out soon.

Our outreach efforts, as do the NTIA’s, recognize that certain

populations are more vulnerable in this transition. Those include

seniors, people with disabilities, people with lower incomes, minorities, non-English speakers, those living in the rural and tribal

areas. And so, our outreach efforts are particularly focused on

those populations.

Just as an example of what we’re doing to try to reach—just to

illustrate what we’re doing with one of those groups, non-English

speakers, as well as with minorities, here are some examples: All

of our DTV publications are available in Spanish. Also, our most

widely DTV one-pager is now available in 18 languages, as well as

braille and audio formats. We’ve brought samples of those, as well

the English/Spanish one-pager, as well the Russian one, as well as

some in braille. And, if you’d like samples of other languages, we’re

happy to pass them along to your staff.

We have conducted 15 DTV awareness sessions and attended

more than 31 conferences or events, and had 8 partnership meetings, all targeting the Hispanic population. In the New York City

area, we have commitments from Casa Puebla, the Puerto Rican

Family Institute, the Community Association of Progressive

Dominicans, and Alianza Dominicana to distribute DTV educational materials to consumers directly.

We have partnered with Univision across the country. In New

York, Univision conducted a presentation for senior citizens in the

Berkeley Heights Senior Group.

We’re exhibiting and presenting DTV information at conventions

and conferences targeting minority communities and umbrella orVerDate 11-MAY-2000 15:15 Apr 21, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00094 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 U:\DOCS\48241.TXT KATIE PsN: KATIE
91

ganizations, such as the National Black Expo, the NAACP Convention in Ohio.

I think you mentioned faith-based organizations. We’re working

with the National Black Church Initiative to target populations.

Like the NTIA, we’re working with the Harlem Consumer Education Council, and we have worked with the Rainbow PUSH Wall

Street Project Conference, as well.

On May 8th, Chairman Martin announced that Wilmington, NC,

would be the first market in the country to make the transition to

digital television. The commercial broadcasters serving that market

voluntarily agreed to lead the Nation with an early transition date

of September 8th. For the past 2 months, we’ve been working with

the local broadcasters, NTIA, industry and community groups to

prepare for the early transition.

This test market will provide us all with an opportunity to assess

the effectiveness of our outreach and technical efforts. And so, it

will be very important and helpful in preparing us for the nationwide transition in February.

In conclusion, the Commission is devoting significant resources to

facilitate a smooth transition. Nearly every bureau and office at the

Commission has been involved in this effort, including our field offices across the country.

We intend to take whatever actions are necessary to minimize

the potential burden the transition could impose, and maximize the

consumers’ ability to benefit from it.

Thank you. I’d be happy to take questions.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Desai follows:]

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very, very much. I want to thank both

of you for your testimony.

But, let me just sort of raise some issues that, you know, I’m

really concerned about. Because I think that as we move forward,

you know, and I’m happy to know that at least there is a test

project in Wilmington, NC. I thought that was wise. I want you to

know that I really, really salute them and applaud them for, you

know, doing that, in terms of having a small pilot program just to

try to work some of the bugs out.

But, let me just raise this question. I know that the voucher lasts

for 90 days. You know I’m thinking about that seniors, you know,

after 50 or 60 days, 65 or 70 days, they go into the hospital. Then,

they have their voucher. When they come out of the hospital, the

voucher has expired.

How do you deal with a situation like that? Because, you know,

I just can envision, you know, these kind of things happening. And,

of course—and, when this occurs, they’re going to come to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s office, and they’re going to come to my

office, you know, and the voucher has expired.

So, is there any way that it can be recycled, or a letter could go

in, to ask for an extension, or any kind of telephone call to you,

that would allow you to extend the time?

Ms. BAKER. I share your concerns. And, I am very sympathetic

to this particular issue.

We have worked with our general counsel, and we do—the 90—

first of all the 90-days is statutory. But, it’s a useful tracking device for us, so that we know how much money we have left on the

coupon program.

One thing that we did to try and help this problem, is that the

coupons are transferable. So, if a friend, or a family, or a neighbor,

if your coupon expires, someone can help you and actually transfer—give you their coupon. While it’s illegal to sell them, they are

transferable.

So, we are encouraging those who have expired coupons to turn

to friends, and neighbors, and church groups for assistance in

this—in getting another coupon.

Also, if you only have one coupon, you can go back in and get

another one. If you just ordered one to start off with, you can also

go and ask for another coupon, and you’ll receive the second coupon.

Mr. TOWNS. The reason I raise this is that, if the coupon would,

you know, pay for the entire converter box, then I don’t think it

would be a problem. But, you will have people waiting for their

check in order to be able to go to buy a converter box. Because,

after all, they have to put money with the coupon. And then, in the

process of that, getting ill, or the process, I mean, so I just think

that we need to try to come up with some kind of—I understand

it’s statutory, but my point is that we need to look at some ways

that we might be able to—to assist them. Because, you know, inasmuch as, you know, they’re not going to get the coupon and go that

day, and—and buy the converter box.

And some people really will have difficulty getting that converter

box, you know, because of the fact that they just don’t have any

extra money. And, the converter boxes that anybody that goes to

100

get the converter box, not—I mean, who have income, that does not

affect them in any kind of way. But, there are some folks that are

really going to have problems putting together the resources to get

that converter box.

Have you thought about, you know, something that might be

done for them? Because, if you give the coupon away, it still doesn’t

solve your problem.

Ms. BAKER. Again, I am sympathetic. And, I think part of our

outreach is to trusted intermediaries of people who work with vulnerable groups, and we’ve been working to get the message out

that they are transferable and that people should look out for, you

know, their—our vulnerable groups, really, as Monica mentioned—

we share them. The elderly, the disabled, the rural, the low-income,

and the minorities. So particularly in these groups, where we’re

working so hard on consumer education, I think getting the word

out that these coupons are transferable and that you—this is something that America really needs to join together and help each

other make this transition is—is the word that we are trying to get

out.

Mr. TOWNS. Uh-huh.

Ms. BAKER. And also, we have changed our messaging to make

sure that people know use your coupon now, don’t wait. You know,

when you get it, do your homework, and go get your converter box.

Mr. TOWNS. How will we get feedback from the Wilmington

project.

You know, how would we know of some of the problems that

you’ve encountered? How will that be shared?

Ms. DESAI. Well, you know, we are going through that process

now. And we’re going to be evaluating as things progress, in making adjustments or publications, adjustments to our Web site. And

so, we’re reacting, you know, now to what’s going on in Wilmington.

And, we anticipate that, at the end of the project—September 8th

is when the switch will happen in Wilmington—we’ll be able to

more comprehensively provide information to everyone about lessons learned and, how we should adjust for the nationwide transition.

But, it will be at some point after September 8th.

Mr. TOWNS. Uh-huh. I yield to my colleague, Yvette Clarke.

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you, Congressman Towns.

I want to tell you that I share your concern about the logistical

challenges. We understand that there is a 90-day statutory expiration, but I think within that we’re going to have to look at some

creativity, because there are going to be unintended consequences

of having that 90-day deadline once you actually receive the coupon. And, there are things that you just can anticipate.

Every individual human being is going to have a different reaction, to why they have actually gone and gotten the coupon to begin

with. That may be driven by the educational campaigns and so, the

educational campaigns are key here.

Once someone gets or then says they want a coupon, the assumption then is that they have the commensurate dollars to add to the

coupon to go ahead and then get the converter box. That may not

101

be the case for everyone, based on how the education campaign is,

if there is a pressure building because things are about to change.

I’ll give you an example. I remember when the Nation was preparing for the year 2000. And, the whole issue of what’s going to

happen with computers, and things of that nature. And then, we

were all asked to sort of get certain provisions in our home, in case,

you know, something—Y2K. Remember that? Does everyone remember Y2K?

Well, I’ll tell you. In my head, I’m saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, this

is all hyped up, Y2K. And, I knew this instinctively, intuitively, but

there was this energy in the community around Y2K. And, I can

remember going to the supermarket at, like, midnight, and getting

the last two bottles of water that were on the shelf. True story.

True story.

We wake up the next day and it’s, like, yeah, 2000, whatever.

Hey, that’s not going to be the case with these converter boxes. I

think that once the coupon expires, that’s when the panic starts.

And so, we have to look at those 90 days and how creatively we

can educate, inform, get those partnerships going, as you said. The

people who would have to transfer over. I mean, that’s real logistics.

And, I don’t know, in terms of the partnership with IBM, how

far it goes in terms of tracking what they put out. Is there something built in that, in 30 days, that could indicate to IBM and,

therefore, NTIA, that a coupon has not been used yet? That’s my

first question.

Ms. BAKER. Yes, yes, absolutely.

Ms. CLARKE. OK.

Ms. BAKER. We track it, because some people are making other—

they’re making the transition in other ways. They are buying—they

might be buying a digital television. They might be getting a pay

service. I mean, some of the expiration—they might decide—they

might have been a cable customer that didn’t understand that they

didn’t need a coupon or a box.

Ms. CLARKE. And so, IBM would be able to tell you if someone

applied for a coupon but has not used it in the past 30 days.

Ms. BAKER. Yes.

Ms. CLARKE. OK. Is there something put in place that could then

alert that person, that their coupon will expire in 60 days if they

don’t use it soon? Do we have something like that built in? A notification process, something that would flag it for that person.

Ms. BAKER. I think it’s a very interesting idea. IBM can do it,

but——

Ms. CLARKE. That’s within the statute time, you know, if we dig

outside——

Ms. BAKER [continuing]. IBM can do it. I think it’s the cost.

Ms. CLARKE [continuing]. The box. Yeah, we’re thinking about

the cost, but the cost to Americans if they don’t move could be even

more tremendous, right? There could be issues of commerce,

healthcare, a whole bunch of things that are implied with this.

So, you know, I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’m just thinking,

that we have to think about what we can do logistically, within

those 90 days, to bring some awareness, and education, and focus

to, you know, what not using the coupon could mean.

102

Because when the 90 days expires, you don’t want people feeling

desperate, because their coupon has expired, and some guy comes

up to them and says, ‘‘I’ve got coupons.’’ You know what I’m saying?

Next, the instinct of the human being is, ‘‘Man, my coupon ran

out. I have no other alternative. This guy’s got coupons.’’ It opens

up the door for some other unintended consequences.

So, I’m urging that we look at how creative we can be with the

statute. And, I understand cost, but I think the cost is going to be

more if, at the end of the day, people are just caught, blind-sided,

notwithstanding the fact that they applied for it themselves. It’s

just the pressure of the environment that’s going to be created

around it, along with whether they used it or not.

Ms. BAKER. I’d be happy to look into it, and come back and visit

with you about that.

Mr. TOWNS. Let—let me——

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you very much, Ms. Baker. I yield back to

the chairman.

Mr. TOWNS. Oh, you yield back.

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

Mr. TOWNS. OK. Well, let me just add to that, that what if

there’s a shortage in early February, due to high demand, that

they—there’s no converter boxes available? I mean, how would you

handle that situation?

I’m sort of adding, as you get back to her, you can sort of put

that on it, too. Because, I think that if there is a high demand, and

people go and they purchase all the converter boxes, here I have

a voucher, and no converter boxes. You know, just like people running around now with vouchers, and no apartments, you know, and

they’ve got a voucher.

Ms. CLARKE. Uh-huh.

Mr. TOWNS. But, the point of that—there is no apartment, so

therefore what good does your voucher do.

And so, I’m saying that if there is a great demand and then

there’s no converter boxes, and I have my voucher but, I can’t get

a converter box, and then it’s sitting and it expires, and then I’m

stuck. I mean, I think we need to sort of look at that.

And, I’m hoping that the Wilmington situation will give an opportunity for you to focus on it, because I think that there is a lot

of things that we need to address. And, I really feel that there

needs to be a little more flexibility because this is major, you know,

I mean, it is major. And, I can envision people waking up, and all

of a sudden they’re seeing cotton, you know, on their televisions,

you know? And that’s going to be, I mean, very chaotic, you know?

And, I guess while I’m on that issue now, I know you had a sort

of negative experience in Puerto Rico. Do you want to just share

that with us for a minute?

Ms. BAKER. Yeah, I’d be happy to. It’s worth—it’s an interesting

situation. I’ll share the concerns in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico, at 39 percent over-the-air, has the highest percentage of over-the-air households of any market. There are 4.1 percent

here in New York.

These consumers are taking action, which is good, so that they—

due to the strong consumer education campaign that’s been under

103

way amongst the broadcaster and consumer groups. Puerto Rico

also has the highest household participation rate of any market in

the coupon program. Over 50 percent of Puerto Rico households

have requested coupons.

So, we’re very aware of the Puerto Rico converter box inventory

situation, and we’ve taken actions to assist the consumers. We’ve

directed our retailer support system to reach out to the retailers

which are in Puerto Rico, to alert them of the consumer concerns,

and to encourage them to stock additional boxes.

We have communicated with the high-level government officials,

including the Representatives of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

as well as the Small Business Committee, Chairman Velasquez’s

staff, regarding the need for retailers to meet the strong demand

in Puerto Rico.

We’re providing real time request data and redemption data to

all officials, retailers, and the community, so that they can get converter boxes into the areas that are requesting coupons.

We have made all coupon program information available in

Spanish. And consumers can also apply for the coupons via Web or

the toll free number, which can also get you a live Spanish operator. So, we’ve actually increased our Spanish language operators,

as well.

The result of the actions is that the retailers have responded to

the consumers’ needs. And, in fact—for example, in the past 10

days, 60,000 coupons have been redeemed in Puerto Rico. They’re

averaging 20,000 a week. And, just putting that in perspective, in

Puerto Rico, 225,000 coupons have been redeemed; and here in

New York, 175,000 coupons have been redeemed. So, there’s just a

very high demand in Puerto Rico, and we hope that the steps that

we are taking have been helping to address the situation.

Mr. TOWNS. All right. I guess my question is this: How often are

you in contact with the retailers regarding the TV converter box

coupon program? Is there some kind of dialog that you’re having

with them, you know, so they will manufacture enough or make

certain that they’re there, based on the amount of coupon requests

that you have.

Is there any kind of discussions? Because, it would seem to me

that there is a little disconnect.

Ms. BAKER. We’re—we’re in constant discussions with the retailers regarding the coupon program. We have, actually, as part our

IBM team, we have a retail support center, CLC—Corporate Lodging Consultants—which provides a range of retailer services. They

include a toll free number and a Web site. And so, there’s a variety

of tools and useful materials, that the retailers can get and we can

answer the retailers’ questions.

We also are monitoring the retailer performance to make sure

that their ability to assist customers is at the highest level. We just

finished a secret shopper exercise, with almost 600 secret shoppers.

And, we revealed that 90 percent of the retail staff are very knowledgeable about the coupon program.

So, we are providing them, again, as much information as we

can, transparent information about the ZIP Code data that the coupons are being requested, so that they can manage their inventories.

104

And it appears from the redemption rates at this point that consumers are finding boxes.

Mr. TOWNS. Good. Congresswoman.

Ms. CLARKE. Sure. Ms. Baker, I’m concerned about how we monitor the program. I’m sure there are lessons being learned in Puerto Rico, as we speak, and then how that transfers to other territories, like the Virgin Islands and Guam, States like, you know,

Alaska and Hawaii.

You know, I think that there certainly has to be a major push

or incentive for retailers, suppliers, wholesalers to really—I mean,

I know it’s a supply and-demand issue, but if we don’t anticipate

that there’s going to be a rush for these boxes, then we are not

going to be successful in what we’re trying to achieve.

And, if there’s a shortage at the end of the day, when that rush

comes, you know, we’re going to be inundated with, you know, why

didn’t we gear up, why didn’t we get enough, you know, of these

converter boxes?

There has to be a monitoring mechanism, and I understand that

it sort of works with the ebbs and flows of this process until we

get to the date. But, I really hope that NTIA is, you know, having

really great conversations with those who are supplying these,

whether it’s on the back end, where they’re being manufactured, or

on the, you know, front end, where they’re going to be handed over

to the consumer. Because, we’re asking people to put a lot of confidence in us.

Sending a coupon that’s government backed, you know what I’m

saying? It says to the consumer, you know, ‘‘We’re with you and

we’re helping you with this transition.’’ If at the end of the day

their coupon expires, because they haven’t been able to find a box,

or they’re on a waiting list for a box, or something of that nature,

we’re going to get slammed for that. You know, we’re really going

to get slammed for that.

So, you know, my question to you is, has NTIA worked out some

sort of working arrangement with the manufacturers, wholesalers,

retailers in this process, to look at what it would take to amp up

production to get these here to us, in stock, in a timely manner?

Ms. BAKER. We have a constant dialog with the manufacturers

and the retailers. What we have not found is any systematic, longterm, or region-wide shortage of boxes at this time. And we have,

you know—and we know what’s coming in, and we feel pretty confident that the—from the—you know, our stream of coupons that

have been applied for is really constant. It is 104,000 a day. Sometimes, 105. Sometimes, 103. But it’s been a very constant application for the coupons received thus far.

So, we’re sharing all of that information. We’re sharing it geographically with the retailers and the manufacturers. And, I encourage all of us to, you know, tell them how important it is. I

think the retailers understand that. They understand now the popularity of the program and have the boxes to supply.

But, I agree with you that we need to continue to have this dialog. It’s very important to——

Ms. CLARKE. And, just sort of——

Ms. BAKER [continuing]. Have that be——

105

Ms. CLARKE [continuing]. Monitor it, be very closely monitoring

it, you know, the trends, in terms of the coupon requests.

Ms. Desai, you know, I listened to your testimony and it looks

as though brilliant minds think alike. [Laughter.]

I want to ask you about how our congressional offices actually tie

into what you’ve asked, and what you’ve already started. You

know, in a place like New York City, in a District like mine. I have

such a diversity of communities, extremely diverse, many for whom

English is not their first language, many of whom, you know, may

interact outside of their communities very infrequently.

Have you, I guess, sort of looked for liaisons in various—in all

of the ethnic communities? Or is it something that my office and

Congressman Towns’ office, and other congressional Representatives should be working with you to identify?

Ms. DESAI. We would be——

Ms. CLARKE. I don’t want anyone to be left out of this. I can go

to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Israel, Jamaica, Haiti, in 1 day in my

District.

Ms. DESAI. And, we would be thrilled to get your help in that effort. We have been working with community organizations. As

you’ve heard, we’ve worked with national government agencies, as

well as State and local governments. But, we would be thrilled to

get more help and work more closely with your office and those of

other congressional offices.

Some of the things that you can do, and that we can help you

with include distributing publications to constituents. If you need

publications in additional languages, let us know, and we will work

with you.

We’ve been working to get publications translated into different

languages. For example, in working with the tribal communities,

we learned that it would be helpful to have a publication in Navajo.

So, we got one and translated it to Navajo.

And, you know, as we move forward, we learn new things and

we try to respond. And so, if there are other languages that would

be helpful, please let us know, and we’ll work with you.

Ms. CLARKE. OK.

Ms. DESAI. So maybe you can—if you know—if you can tell us

which organizations in your District will help us distribute publications, great. We’ll send those publications to those organizations,

and we’ll be thrilled if they would distribute them.

If you’d like to hold a town hall meeting, we can certainly help

you with that. We’ve done some—like teletalk town hall meetings

in some Districts, where we’ve had our staff available on the phone

to answer questions, and we’ve had leadership of different organizations on the call. We’ve had just regular consumers on those

calls, as well.

We can coordinate briefings, you know, with the caucuses that

you’re involved with. And, if you’d like to link to our Web site, I

think we encourage—I think pretty much most of the congressional

offices have a link to our Web site.

And, you can contact our Office of Legislative Affairs for any additional information that you’d like, any publications that you’d

like.

106

Ms. CLARKE. Well, in closing, Mr. Chairman, I just want to, you

know, make sure that it’s on the record that this office is available

to our congressional Members and that we really fully need to be

informed of the process by which the transition takes place, that

we have the intelligence on the ground about where people would

probably have the most difficulty.

And, I would certainly look forward to working with you. We are

on recess in August. I think that’s a good time to ramp up in many

of those communities, and I look forward to working with you.

I want to thank you for your testimony, Ms. Baker and Ms.

Desai. Thank you.

Ms. BAKER. Thank you.

Ms. DESAI. Thank you.

Mr. TOWNS. Thank you very much. And, let me just put it this

way: Why should New Yorkers be excited about this transition? I

mean, why.

Ms. DESAI. Well, you know, I mean, the digital transition brings

opportunities for better picture quality, better quality sound. It

helps the—you know, we’re clearing up the airwaves so that we

can—the spectrum, so that we can get better public safety communications, better coordination among the public safety services,

more advanced wireless services, as well.

But potentially more programming choices, as well as broadcasters have the ability to broadcast multiple programming on

their screens.

Mr. TOWNS. Yes, go ahead.

Ms. BAKER. Well, I do think if anybody that’s in the audience

wants to take a look at it, the digital programming speaks for

itself. I think, on the analog television, you’re receiving 2 fuzzy pictures over there, and in the digital I think you’ve got over 10. So,

I think the picture speaks for itself for consumers, with the clear

picture and more programming.

But, it is really important, and when we’ve done our consumer

groups, this is inconvenient for people and though they might end

up with a better television reception, it still is going to be a problem, and it’s inconvenience.

But, what Monica said is very important. Twenty-four megahertz

of the spectrum is going to public safety interoperability.

Mr. TOWNS. Right.

Ms. BAKER. So then your firefighters are going to be able to talk

to your policemen in an event. And I think here in New York City

that resonates, that people are willing to make the sacrifice of getting a coupon and getting a converter box if it’s going to help our

public safety interoperability.

So, it’s really going to make our Nation stronger, though, as far

as competitiveness goes in the next generation of advanced wireless

services, but really importantly for our interoperability.

Mr. TOWNS. Right. Let me thank both of you for your testimony.

But, I would say to you that we still have a long way to go, in order

to get the word out to people.

And, of course, I think that we have an obligation and a responsibility to do that. Whatever we can do to assist you, in terms of

getting that out, you know, and I say this, you know, that maybe

more resources might need to go into the outreach, in terms of the

107

education process, to make certain that people are really aware of

the fact what’s going on, you know?

And, once they know that, a lot of people, I think, will cooperate

and help you get the word out. But people, the only thing they

know is the transition, and they’re not familiar in terms of, you

know, how it frees up, in terms of emergency numbers and service.

I mean, they—once they hear that, you know, you’ll find that they

can help us get the word out. These are people who are concerned,

committed, heads of organizations, heads of agencies could help us,

you know, spread the word.

So, I want you to know that whatever we can do to assist you

in that effort, we stand ready to do it, because it’s going to be a

situation that once it happens, you know, we’re going to find a lot

of people that had no knowledge of it. And, that’s where we have

to work together, to make certain that they do have information.

So, we’ll probably be calling you back for town hall meetings, you

know, to—and basically town hall meetings would be to get people

that will be able to help us spread the word, you know, that might

not even need a converter box, but will help us to be able to get

the word out to people that might need a converter box. And, I

think that is crucial.

So, I want to thank my colleague, too, Yvette Clarke, for coming

today. And of course you, Ms. Baker, for your testimony, Ms. Desai,

for your testimony. And again, I stand ready to work with you.

On that note, the committee stands adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 12:30 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

Æ