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OVERSIGHT OF THE DTV TRANSITION: 

COUNTDOWN TO FEBRUARY 2009 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, 

SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

( 

(II) 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas, Ranking 

TED STEVENS, Alaska 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine 

GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire 

JIM DEMINT, South Carolina 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 

MARGARET L. CUMMISKY, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

LILA HARPER HELMS, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and Policy Director 

CHRISTINE D. KURTH, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel 

PAUL NAGLE, Republican Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on September 23, 2008 ..................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Dorgan ................................................................................. 48 

Statement of Senator Inouye .................................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 53 

Statement of Senator Wicker .................................................................................. 52 

WITNESSES

Baker, Meredith Attwell, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and 

Information, NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce .......................................... 20 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 22 

Carbonell, Hon. Josefina G., Assistant Secretary for Aging, U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services ........................................................................... 31 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 33 

Goldstein, Mark L., Director, Physical Infrastructure, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) .................................................................................... 36 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 38 

Martin, Hon. Kevin J., Chairman, Federal Communications Commission ........ 2 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 

Saffo, Hon. Bill, Mayor, City of Wilmington, North Carolina .............................. 43 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 46 

APPENDIX

Response to written questions submitted to Meredith Attwell Baker by: 

Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 68 

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 67 

Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Josefina G. Carbonell by: 

Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 66 

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 65 

Response to written questions submitted to Mark L. Goldstein by: 

Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 72 

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 72 

Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Kevin J. Martin by: 

Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 64 

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 63 

Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV ............................................................................ 63 

Response to written question submitted to Hon. Bill Saffo by: 

Hon. Maria Cantwell ........................................................................................ 74 

Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 73 

(1) 

OVERSIGHT OF THE DTV TRANSITION: 

COUNTDOWN TO FEBRUARY 2009 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:36 p.m., in room 

SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Daniel K. Inouye, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII 

The CHAIRMAN. I realize that I am the only one here, but as you 

know, our Nation is faced with a very, very serious financial crisis, 

and both parties have their Senators in conferences at this moment. I excused myself from one of those because I do not want to 

have you waiting too long. But we may not have a full Committee 

here. 

But this DTV transition, which is scheduled for February 17 next 

year, is less than 5 months away. And for the past 18 months, 

Members of this Committee have been consistent in expressing 

their concern that the transition to digital television has not received enough attention or resources to ensure its success. And 

while Federal agencies and the industry have stepped up their efforts, I continue to be concerned that we are not fully prepared for 

the flood of coupon requests and calls that we can expect just before the transition or after the transition. 

The transition is taking place for the best of public policy reasons. Once the transition is complete, we will free up needed spectrum for emergency first responders to use to better serve and protect the American people. In addition, consumers will have higher 

quality pictures and sound and hopefully more channels to chose 

from. 

And February 17 will be the 29th day of the next Administration. 

The transition has the potential to cause serious disruption, not 

just to consumers, but to a new President who is just getting acquainted to the Oval Office. Neither President Obama nor President McCain should have to deal with a failed transition soon after 

coming into office. 

I am deeply concerned that the benefits of the transition may be 

overshadowed by poor implementation. As the recent tests in Wilmington, North Carolina demonstrated, even with a Herculean investment of time and resources that will be impossible to replicate 

throughout the rest of the country, consumers made thousands of 

2 

phone calls seeking help with various aspects of the transition. On 

a national level, this may translate to millions of calls. Unless more 

is done, February 17, 18, and 19 will be very, very long days, indeed. 

We have limited resources, limited time, but I hope to hear from 

our witnesses today the creative ideas they have to overcome these 

limitations and their plans to address the potential flood of calls, 

questions, and coupon requests around the date of the transition. 

And I can tell you that Members of the Congress are beginning to 

receive calls now. 

These are immediate and significant challenges and we must 

find a way to overcome them. I urge the Federal Communications 

Commission and the National Telecommunications Information Administration to make this transition a high priority and not let attention be diverted by pursuing contentious proceedings. As the 

current Administration winds down, both agencies must remain 

vigilant so that the next Administration does not inherit a communications crisis. We have too many crises facing us at this moment. 

So with that, I would like to thank all the witnesses for joining 

us today, and may I call upon our first witness, the Chairman of 

the Federal Communications Commission, the Honorable Kevin 

Martin? 

STATEMENT OF HON. KEVIN J. MARTIN, CHAIRMAN, 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 

Mr. MARTIN. Good afternoon and thank you, Chairman Inouye, 

for inviting me to be here and for continuing to update you on the 

status of the digital transition. 

With the national transition about five months away, much remains to be done. At the same time, since I last appeared before 

you, we have continued to make progress educating viewers and 

helping them prepare for the upcoming transition. In particular, in 

addition to our ongoing consumer and education efforts, we have 

recently gained real-world experience with the challenges facing 

viewers and broadcasters as we approach next February. 

On September 8, Wilmington, North Carolina, became the first 

market in the country to transition from analog to digital television. 

Before I go into the details of the Wilmington transition, I would 

like to start by thanking Commissioner Copps for challenging me 

and the industry to find a community that would be willing to help 

the rest of the country lead this transition. Commissioner Copps 

deserves credit for urging the Commission to engage in a realworld test that would help the broadcasters, viewers, and us prepare for the upcoming transition. 

May I also take a moment to thank Mayor Saffo and the entire 

Wilmington community. I know you will be hearing from him directly in a few moments, but it was the community’s efforts that 

really made this transition possible in Wilmington. 

The Wilmington switch-over was critically important because it 

enabled us to learn what was effective in informing and preparing 

viewers and broadcasters for the transition. And, equally important, it helped us identify what outreach and technical challenges 

still need to be addressed in the months ahead. 

3 

While we hope that the transition in Wilmington went relatively 

smoothly, the measure of success in Wilmington is not what occurred earlier this month. The measure of success in Wilmington 

is what happens next February and whether we are able to learn 

from the experience and apply those lessons as we move this effort 

across the country. 

Now, importantly, the consumer education campaign that was 

conducted appears to have been effective. Consumer calls received 

by the Commission at its call center indicated that a vast majority 

of the 400,000 television viewers in the Wilmington area were 

aware of the transition and prepared for it. As of last Friday, we 

had received 2,272 calls regarding the Wilmington test, representing only about 1.2 percent of the Wilmington households. 

During that same timeframe, following the switch-over, only 100 

callers said they were unaware of the transition, and 186 callers 

said they were aware but did not take any action to prepare for it. 

So, though our consumer education effort appears to have been 

effective, our focus now needs to turn to resolving several of the 

technical challenges. Some of these challenges are easily resolved 

and others are not. 

With respect to the callers who were experiencing difficulty following the switch, I have directed our engineers and our outreach 

staff to work directly with these viewers and assist them in resolving their individual questions and needs. 

For example, as of last Friday, there were 341 calls to our help 

line about converter box problems. Thanks to the Commission staff, 

almost 90 percent of these, almost 300 of the 341 calls that came 

in, have been resolved. Many of these solutions were very simple. 

Consumers needed to rescan for channels on their television set or 

on their converter box or properly hook up their converter box to 

the television. On a going-forward basis, our consumer education 

efforts are going to need to better instruct consumers about how to 

effectively hook up their box and how to rescan. 

Unfortunately, some viewers are experiencing problems that will 

not be as easy for us to resolve. For example, there are a number 

of consumers in the Wilmington area that have lost access to the 

Wilmington NBC affiliate. Prior to the digital switch, the Wilmington NBC affiliate was available to viewers outside the television market as far south as Myrtle Beach and as far north as Raleigh, North Carolina. The Wilmington NBC affiliate’s coverage 

area after the switch no longer includes viewers outside its main 

market. Some of these viewers will be able to watch their local 

NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach and Raleigh. There are some, however, that will not have access to any NBC affiliate. 

Our goal is to ensure that all viewers in the Wilmington area 

and ultimately across the country have access to the same television signals they did prior to the transition. The Commission is 

currently exploring what steps can be taken to address this problem in Wilmington and to help minimize the burden on viewers 

throughout the country. 

Finally, relatively few consumers lost their broadcast channels as 

a result of the cliff effect. Only about 15 percent of viewers receive 

their signals over the air. In the past, I have estimated that less 

than 1 percent of all viewers would need a new antenna due to the 

4 

digital cliff effect. The data from Wilmington suggests a similar 

outcome. We received approximately 549 calls from viewers experiencing antenna or reception issues and were able to resolve approximately 139 of them by asking them to rescan or to adjust 

their antenna’s direction. Only 410 calls, or about .22 percent of the 

Wilmington households, were potentially experiencing this digital 

cliff effect. In short, for stations whose DTV coverage signal was 

designed to replicate their analog coverage signal, complaints about 

the potential cliff effect were well below our estimate of one percent. 

The early switch to digital in Wilmington has been instrumental 

in helping the Commission to identify, understand, and hopefully 

prevent some of these future problems when the rest of the Nation 

transitions in February. 

And, finally, one of the fundamental lessons learned in Wilmington is the importance of educating consumers at a grassroots 

level. To this end, last month I announced a nationwide initiative 

to increase awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television. As part of our efforts to prepare consumers for the transition, the Commission identified those markets in which the largest 

number of viewers will need to take action to be prepared for the 

transition five months from now. My fellow Commissioners and I 

will fan out to these markets to raise awareness and educate consumers in the days leading up to the transition. At each stop, we 

will do public events such as town hall meetings, workshops, and 

round tables with an FCC Commissioner to highlight the transition, be available to local press, and in coordination with these visits, the Commission will work with local broadcasters and radio 

stations to increase the broadcast of radio and TV DTV PSAs. 

As part of the tour, the Commission is also coordinating with the 

broadcasters to explore whether at the same time these stations 

may participate in a temporary turn-off of their analog signals. 

During these so-called soft tests, analog consumers would see a 

message on their screens informing them of the transition and how 

to become prepared. 

The next five months will undoubtedly be challenging. Nevertheless, it is my hope that through the combined efforts of government, industry, advocacy, and grassroots groups, American consumers will reap the rewards that the digital transition has to offer 

and we can continue to try to minimize the burdens that we placed 

on them. 

Thank you, and I look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Martin follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. KEVIN J. MARTIN, CHAIRMAN, 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Good afternoon, Chairman Inouye, Ranking Member Hutchison, and Members of 

the Committee. Thank you for inviting me here today to continue updating you on 

the status of the digital transition. 

The Commission has been hard at work on a number of fronts to minimize the 

potential burden for consumers and to maximize their ability to benefit from the upcoming digital transition. The conversion to digital television promises movie quality 

picture and sound as well as potentially new programming choices. It also will allow 

us to significantly improve public safety communications and usher in a new era 

of advanced wireless services. 

5 

With the national transition about 5 months away, much remains to be done. At 

the same time, since I last appeared before you, we have continued to make 

progress educating viewers and helping them prepare for the upcoming transition. 

In particular, in addition to our ongoing consumer education and outreach efforts, 

we have recently gained real-world experience with the challenges facing viewers 

and broadcasters as we approach February 2009. 

Earlier this month, on September 8, Wilmington, North Carolina became the first 

market in the country to transition from analog to digital television. At noon on that 

day, five local Wilmington stations turned off their analog signals and began broadcasting only digital to the viewers in the five counties that comprise the Wilmington 

television market. This was a historic day and I am pleased that the local broadcasters and the entire community embraced the challenge of helping the country 

prepare for the switch to digital. 

Before I go into the details of the Wilmington transition, I would like to start by 

thanking Commissioner Copps for challenging me and the industry to find a community that would be willing to help the rest of the country lead this transition. 

Commissioner Copps deserves credit for urging the Commission to engage in a realworld test that would help ready the broadcasters, viewers and us for the upcoming 

transition. 

For its part, the Commission worked to educate, inform, and prepare viewers for 

the transition. We had staff on the ground in every county, we attended over 400 

outreach events, including Town Hall meetings, and distributed over 85,000 publications. But it was our partnerships, particularly those at the grassroots level, that 

were critical in enabling us to contact the ‘‘at risk’’ groups that we are focused on 

reaching—senior citizens, non-English speakers and minorities, people with disabilities, low-income consumers, and those living in rural or tribal areas. One of the invaluable lessons we have learned from Wilmington is that DTV outreach success depends on the commitment of the local community, including local industry, governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Community stakeholders must take a 

leadership role for such large-scale messaging to take effect, and tapping into existing grassroots networks is critical. 

The Wilmington Test 

The Wilmington switchover was critically important because it enabled us to learn 

what was effective in informing and preparing viewers and broadcasters for the 

transition. Equally important, it helped us identify what outreach and technical 

challenges still need to be addressed in the months ahead. While we hope that the 

transition in Wilmington went relatively smoothly, the measure of success in Wilmington is not what occurred earlier this month. The measure of success in Wilmington is what happens next February and whether we are able to learn from this 

experience and apply those lessons as we move this effort across the country. 

Majority of Wilmington Viewers Aware and Prepared for Transition 

Based on our current information, it appears that the majority of Wilmington 

viewers were aware of and prepared for the transition. Importantly, the consumer 

education campaign that was conducted appears to have been effective. Prior to the 

transition on September 8, NAB released a survey indicating that 97 percent of Wilmington residents were aware of the switch to digital. Consumer calls received by 

the Commission at its call center also indicated that the vast majority of the 

400,000 television viewers in the Wilmington-area were aware of the transition and 

prepared for it. 

In total we received 2,272 calls regarding the Wilmington test, representing about 

1.2 percent of Wilmington households. See Appendix D. During the first week of the 

transition we received 1,828 calls. That number dropped to 444 calls to the FCC call 

center during the second week. During the first day of the transition, the Commission’s toll-free helpline received 797 calls representing less than one-half of 1 percent of area homes. Last Friday, 72 calls were placed to the call center by Wilmington residents. 

It appears that the residents of Wilmington were generally aware of the early 

transition and generally prepared for it. For the 2 weeks following the switchover 

only 100 callers said they were unaware of the transition and 186 callers were 

aware but did not act to prepare for it. See Appendix D. 

Challenges that Remain 

While we continue to enhance our consumer education efforts which appear to 

have been effective, we must also be focused on resolving technical challenges. Some 

of these challenges are easily resolved and others are not. With respect to the callers 

who are experiencing difficulty following the switch to digital in Wilmington, I have 

6 

directed our engineers and outreach staff to work directly with these viewers and 

assist them in resolving their individual questions and needs. 

For example, as of last Friday, 341 of the calls to our helpline were about converter box problems. We received 301 calls about the converter box program during 

the first week and 40 of those calls in the second week after the transition. Thanks 

to dedicated Commission staff, many of these difficulties have been resolved. Specifically, Commission staff was able to resolve almost 90 percent (299 of the 341) of 

the calls that came in about converter box issues. See Appendix D. The solutions 

were often relatively simple—consumers needed to re-scan the channels on their television set or properly hook up their converter box. Broadly speaking, gaining a better understanding of the challenges being faced by consumers after the real switchover in Wilmington, is enabling us to better focus our messaging and consumer education tools. Specifically, as we go forward, our consumer education efforts will need 

to better instruct consumers about how to effectively hookup their box and the need 

to re-scan. 

Unfortunately, some viewers are experiencing problems that will not be as easy 

for us to resolve. For example, there are a number of consumers in the Wilmingtonarea that have lost access to the Wilmington NBC affiliate, WECT. During the first 

week we received 581 calls from viewers experiencing problems receiving channels 

or calls signs. In week two, 154 such calls were made to the Commission’s helpline. 

(For the 2-weeks, the total number of calls in this category was 735.) Prior to the 

digital switch, the Wilmington NBC affiliate signal was available to viewers outside 

the television market as far south as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and as far north 

as Raleigh, North Carolina. See Appendix B. The Wilmington NBC affiliate’s new 

coverage area, however, no longer includes these out of market communities. Some 

of these viewers will be able to watch their local NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach and 

Raleigh. There may be some, however, that will not have access to any NBC affiliate. See Appendix C. Reception problems for channel 6 were caused by a significant 

reduction in the service contour for WECT channel 6, not the digital cliff effect. 

Our goal is to ensure that all viewers in the Wilmington-area and the country 

have access to the same television signals that they did prior to the transition. The 

Commission is currently exploring what steps can be taken to address this problem 

in Wilmington and minimize the burden on viewers throughout the country. 

Finally, relatively few consumers lost their broadcast channels as a result of the 

‘‘cliff effect.’’ Digital TV experiences what is often referred to as the ‘‘digital cliff effect.’’ Analog TV pictures degrade gradually. As the signals get weaker the picture 

becomes progressively poorer or becomes ‘‘snowy.’’ Yet, viewers may still find these 

pictures watchable. In contrast, digital TV pictures remain crystal clear even with 

relatively weak signal levels. However, once the signal falls below a certain level, 

the picture breaks up or disappears. In such situations, viewers may lose their picture altogether. 

I had previously testified that our engineers estimated that about 5 percent of 

over-the-air viewers may need a new antenna to receive digital television due to the 

digital cliff effect. Only about 15 percent of viewers receive their signals over the 

air, so we estimated that less than 1 percent (5 percent of 15 percent) of all viewers 

would need a new antenna. The data from Wilmington suggests a similar estimate. 

We received 549 calls from viewers experiencing antenna or receptions issues and 

were able to resolve 139 of them. Only 410 calls, then, or .22 percent of Wilmington 

households were potentially experiencing the ‘‘cliff effect.’’ In short, for stations 

whose DTV coverage was designed to replicate their analog coverage, complaints 

about the potential cliff effect were well below our estimate of 1 percent. 

The early switch to digital in Wilmington has been instrumental in helping the 

Commission to identify, understand, and hopefully prevent some future problems 

when the rest of the Nation transitions in February 2009. The measure of success 

in Wilmington is not what happened on September 8. Rather, it is how we are going 

to take what we learned in Wilmington and apply that knowledge to the rest of the 

country. 

We have already learned some very important lessons. For example, the Commission learned from the Wilmington test the importance of emergency preparedness. 

At the time we began outreach in Wilmington 4 months ago there were no battery 

operated converter boxes available. So the broadcasters and some folks down in Wilmington were able to work with one converter box manufacturer, Winegard, who recently introduced a DTV converter box battery pack specifically designed to allow 

its converter boxes to work in power outages. 

We will continue to study the Wilmington experience so that we can best minimize the burdens placed on consumers as the national transition approaches. 

7 

Ongoing DTV Efforts 

In addition to our efforts in the Wilmington test market, the Commission has 

been busy in other areas. Our activities are described in great detail in the monthly 

digital television status reports that we send to Congress. I have attached the most 

recent of these comprehensive reports to my testimony. See Appendix A. I would 

like to highlight a few things we have been working on. 

Broadcasters’ Transition to Digital 

Progress on converting broadcast facilities to all digital is continuing. Based on 

the status reports that we have required broadcasters to make, over 90 percent of 

active full power television stations are either fully operational with digital service 

or are on track to have their full digital service operational by February 17, 2009. 

Slightly over 5 percent of the stations indicate that they will take advantage of the 

flexibility offered by the Commission and serve at least 85 percent of their service 

population on February 17, 2009, with final digital operations beginning sometime 

thereafter. The Commission gave such flexibility if a broadcaster faced unique technical challenges such as weather-related issues, or coordination with other stations. 

Enforcement Activities 

The Commission’s DTV-related enforcement efforts have focused on protecting 

consumers by enforcing our rules as this transition takes place. As of September 18, 

2008, Commission personnel have inspected 4,161 stores and 72 websites to assess 

their compliance with the Commission’s rules requiring labels on analog-only television receivers. We have issued 369 citations for failing to comply with our labeling 

rules. Since October 2007, we have released NALs or consent decrees against 22 retailers, totaling more than $4.74 million. 

We also have been visiting retailers to assess their employee training in the DTV 

transition and the NTIA converter box coupon program. As of September 18, 2008, 

Commission field agents have visited 1,489 stores and conducted 1,438 interviews 

of store managers in 47 states and in Puerto Rico. 

In addition, we are actively enforcing the DTV consumer education requirements 

that the Commission adopted last spring. To this end, we have recently issued a 

Bureau-level NAL in the amount of $51,000 against one company for failing to notify its customers of the transition as required under our rules. We have also circulated a Commission-level order proposing $12.3 million of fines collectively against 

eight companies for notification failures. We are in the midst of reviewing additional 

information submitted by broadcasters, cable operators, and telecommunications 

carriers, and expect to take additional enforcement actions in the near future. 

Consumer Education and Outreach 

Word of the digital transition is spreading quickly throughout the country. I 

would like to highlight a few of our education and outreach activities. 

Nationwide 81-City Tour. Last month, I announced a nationwide initiative to increase awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television. As part of our 

efforts to prepare consumers for the transition, the Commission identified television 

markets in which the largest number of viewers will have to take action to be prepared for the transition 5 months from now. Specifically, we identified 81 target television markets for specific DTV outreach, including all those markets in which 

more than 100,000 households or at least 15 percent of the households rely solely 

on over-the-air signals for television. Within these markets, we are aiming to educate those groups most vulnerable to the transition such as senior citizens and nonEnglish speakers. My fellow Commissioners and I, as well as other Commission 

staff, will fan out to these markets to raise awareness and educate consumers in 

the days leading up to the digital television transition on February 17, 2009. 

At each stop, there will be a public event, such as a town hall meeting, workshop, 

or roundtable with an FCC Commissioner to highlight the digital transition, and be 

available to local press. In coordination with these visits, the Commission will work 

with local broadcasters and radio stations to increase the broadcasts of Radio and 

TV DTV PSAs. The Commission has visited several cities so far including, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Tulsa and San Francisco and plans many more trips in the upcoming weeks. 

As part of this nationwide tour, the Commission is also coordinating with the 

broadcasters to explore whether at the same time these stations may participate in 

a temporary turn off of their analog signals. During these so-called ‘‘soft tests’’ analog customers would see a message on their screens informing them of the transition 

and how to become prepared. 

DTV Awareness Sessions. The Commission has conducted over 1,882 DTV Awareness sessions, attended more than 509 conferences and events, established 514 partVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
8 

nerships, and made over 7,985 visits to various organizations around the country 

to disseminate DTV information. 

Speakers Bureau. Last month, I announced that the Commission has launched a 

Speakers Bureau for groups throughout the country to request speakers to discuss 

the upcoming digital transition. The Speakers Bureau is the latest addition to the 

Commission’s DTV outreach effort. The Commission will provide speakers, without 

cost, to any group requesting one. To date, we have received 61 requests for speakers. The requests are being handled by staff traveling for conferences and events, 

as part of the outreach for our town hall meetings, and by our field agents. 

Grassroots Bid. The Commission just announced that it is seeking contracts from 

grass roots organizations and community-based organizations to assist consumers, 

particularly those consumers that are home-bound or that have limited mobility, 

with the procurement and installation of digital TV converter boxes and related 

equipment. This builds upon the Commission’s work with fire departments in Wilmington where firefighters entered residents’ homes to help with installing converter boxes. These efforts will complement our ongoing work of educating consumers about the migration from analog to digital broadcasting. 

U.S. Postal Service Partnership. We have distributed more than 9,300 posters nationwide. We are displaying DTV education posters in all 34,000 post offices across 

the country. These posters include a dinosaur saying ‘‘Don’t Let Your TV Become 

Extinct.’’ We are working with the U.S. Postal Service to install updated posters beginning November 1, 2008 running through the end of the transition period. The 

new posters are targeted to instill a greater sense of urgency to consumers and will 

use the slogan ‘‘On February 17, 2009 your TV is changing. Are you ready?’’ 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the Commission is devoting significant resources to facilitating a 

smooth transition. Nearly every Bureau and Office at the Commission has been involved in this effort including our field offices throughout the country. 

We intend to take whatever actions are necessary to minimize the potential burden the digital transition could impose on consumers and maximize their ability to 

benefit from it. 

The next 5 months will undoubtedly be challenging. Nevertheless, it is my hope 

that through the combined efforts of government, industry, advocacy, and grassroots 

groups, American consumers will reap the rewards that the digital transition has 

to offer. 

APPENDIX A 

Digital Television Status Update of the 

Federal Communications Commission—September 2008 

Introduction 

This fifth DTV monthly report highlights the Federal Communication Commission’s activities as of August 31, 2008. The full reports and lists of stations are 

available upon request. 

The Commission has three primary areas of focus: (1) developing policies and 

technical rules to ensure a smooth transition for broadcast stations and minimize 

the burden placed on consumers; (2) enforcement of DTV-related Commission rules 

to protect consumers; and (3) coordinating and conducting consumer education outreach on the DTV transition. The Commission is devoting significant resources in 

each of these areas to facilitate a smooth transition. Those efforts are summarized 

below and included in the various attachments. 

Update on Full-Power Broadcasters’ Transition to Digital 

With regard to our efforts to prepare full-power broadcasters for the end of the 

transition, the Commission has in place the necessary rules to allow broadcasters 

to construct digital facilities. Additionally, each station is required to file Form 387 

indicating the current status of construction of its post-transition facility and to update its Form 387 filing to convey changes in status as warranted. It is important 

to note that application and build out status for stations changes daily. The following chart provides a summary of the current status of full-power television 

broadcast stations at the final 5 months of the DTV transition. A full list of stations 

is available upon request. 

In the month of August, 10 stations completed construction of their post-transition 

digital facilities. Thus, as noted in line 2 of the chart below, 1,012 stations indicated 

that they were completely finished with their DTV transition. In other words, those 

stations are on their final post-transition channel, have completed construction, and 

are operating their authorized post-transition digital facility. 

9 

On August 18, 2008, the Media Bureau released a report based on Form 387 filings. In response to the release of the report, the Bureau received updated information from 75 stations regarding their status. The updated filings are reflected in the 

chart below. We note that, based on recently filed Form 387s, approximately 5 percent (97 stations) will take advantage of the flexibility offered by the Commission 

in the Third DTV Periodic Review Report and Order and will be serving at least 

85 percent of their service population on February 17, 2009, with final operations 

beginning sometime thereafter (See line 4 below). Accordingly, line 3 below was adjusted to account for these stations. One station, a satellite of another station, forecasts that it will not be able to complete construction of its digital facility until a 

few days after February 17, 2009 and will be dark for this brief time (See line 5 

below). Finally, 3 stations have not submitted their Form 387s and have not officially reported when they will be ready for the DTV transition, but each station has 

represented to video division staff orally that it is on track to complete digital construction by February 17, 2009 (See line 6 below). In addition, we note that 10 stations were identified as new permittees without current analog facilities and are not 

required to construct before 2/17/2009 (See line 7 below). Finally, the total number 

of full power stations has been adjusted upward to 1,813 (See line 1), as there were 

two additional stations that have recently been granted applications for new digital 

facilities, but do not have post-transition construction permits (See line 8). 

Full Power Station Summary 

July August 

1. Total # of full power stations with DTV channels: 1,811 1,813 

2. Total # of stations with completed post-transition digital facilities: 1,002 1,012 

3. Total # of stations on-track to complete construction by 2/17/09: 736 685 

4. Total # of stations expecting to serve at least 85 percent of their digital population by 2/17/09 (with full construction completed after 2/17/ 

09): 

56 97 

5. Total # of stations expecting to complete construction by approximately 2/21/09: 1 1 

6. Total # of stations not filing Form 387: 3 3 

7. Total # of new DTV stations with construction deadlines after 2/17/09 

(4/3/2009, 4/10/2009, 6/28/2009, 8/11/2009, 8/24/2009, 9/20/2009, 12/6/ 

2009, 1/10/2010, and 7/20/2010): 

10 10 

8. Total # of recently granted applications for new digital stations: 3 5 

Update on Technical and Policy Actions 

The Media Bureau continues to process maximization applications and requests 

for new channels. As of August 31, 2008, 253 maximization applications have been 

granted, and 34 Notices of Proposed Rulemaking for new channels have been released, with 4 dismissed. Additionally, as reported by the Media Bureau in August, 

106 stations indicate they plan to reduce analog service and 88 stations plan to terminate analog transmissions prior to 2/17/2009. As of August 31, 2008, 49 stations 

have been granted permission to reduce analog service with 28 having already reduced analog service. Additionally, as of August 31, 2008, 18 stations have been 

granted permission to turn off their analog stations with 8 stations already shutting 

down their analog operations. 

Below is a summary of the other technical and policy actions taken with regard 

to the DTV transition in August 2008. A complete Policy and Technical Actions document is available upon request. 

Policy and Technical Actions 

August 2008 Updates 

• Applications for DTV Facilities—In August 2008, the Video Division of the 

Media Bureau processed 141 modification and license applications for DTV facilities. As of August 31, 2008, the total number of modification and license applications processed by the Video Division since 1997 is 5471. 

10 

• Applications for Construction Permits—In August 2008, the Commission received approximately 6 construction permit applications from stations implementing their post-transition facilities. As of August 31 2008, the total number 

of applications to implement post-transition facilities received is 706. 

• DTV Build Out—In August 2008, the Media Bureau released a report on the 

status of the digital build out by full power television stations. The report 

showed that over 96 percent of active full power television stations are either 

fully operational with digital service or are on track to have their full digital 

service operational by February 17, 2009. 

• NTIA Certified Converter Boxes—In August 2008, NTIA announced certification 

of 20 converter boxes including 20 that are capable of analog pass though. In 

total, as of August 31, 2008, NTIA has certified 149 converter boxes including 

75 that are capable of analog pass through. 

Update on Low-power Broadcasters’ Transition to Digital 

The Commission continues to process digital companion channel and digital flash 

cut applications for low power stations. As of August 31, 2008, 236 low power stations are operating in digital, with 5 new stations licensed in July. The chart below 

summarizes the current information related to Class A, low power, and TV translator stations. Additional information by station type and a full list of low power 

stations is available upon request. 

Low Power Station Summary 

[As of 8.31.2008] 

July August 

Total # of Class A, LPTV & TV Translator Stations: 7,088 7,088 

Total # of licensed digital Low Power stations (both ‘‘Digital Companion 

Channel’’ and ‘‘Digital Flash Cut’’ stations): 231 236 

Total # of stations with granted digital applications: 1,860 1,900 

Total # of stations with accepted/pending digital applications: 186 199 

Total # of stations with no digital application filed or application dismissed: 4,811 4,753 

Industry Outreach Efforts 

Broadcast stations must electronically report their consumer education efforts to 

the Commission on a quarterly basis by filing Form 388 electronically in a database 

that is publicly available. These reports must also be placed in the broadcaster’s 

public file and on their website. Broadcasters will file the next Form 388 on October 

10, 2008, reporting data for the previous quarter. A summary of that data will be 

provided in November, when we report data from October 2008. 

Enforcement 

The Commission’s DTV-related enforcement efforts have focused on protecting 

consumers from unknowingly buying televisions that will not receive full-power 

broadcast stations following the transition. There are three specific areas of enforcement: (1) the labeling of analog-only televisions; (2) the prohibition on importing and 

shipment of analog-only televisions; (3) the V-Chip requirement for digital televisions. In addition, we have begun conducting informational interviews of store 

managers to assess the employee training and consumer education efforts of retailers participating in the NTIA converter box coupon program. 

A. Labeling Enforcement 

Labeling Inspections 

August Total to Date 

Retail Stores 129 3,978 

Websites 33 72 

Citations 3 369 

Note: Due to the fact that generally retailers are not FCC licensees, citations must be issued prior to proposing monetary penalty via a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL). 

11 

B. DTV Tuner Mandate 

The Enforcement Bureau continues to ensure that no manufacturers import and 

ship analog-only television receivers and equipment. In August, two new NALs for 

apparent violation were issued to Hannspree North America, Inc., and Invision Industries, Inc., for a total of $336,450. These NALs bring the total to date to five. 

Previous NALs were issued to Precor, Syntax Brillian Corp., and Regent USA, Inc. 

Precor and Regent have paid $421,550 combined, but Syntax Brillian has declared 

Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Department of Justice must now file a proof of claim 

at the appropriate time in the company’s bankruptcy proceeding to establish a claim 

for collection purposes. 

C. V-Chip Requirements 

The Commission’s rules require digital television manufacturers to include the VChip in their equipment and to ensure that their devices can adjust to changes in 

the content advisory system. We began investigating allegations that some manufacturers were not complying with our rules. We have released three NALs and eight 

consent decrees with manufacturers to resolve our investigations. The voluntary 

contributions from these orders totaled over $3.7 million and payment has already 

been made to the U.S. Treasury. In addition, the manufacturers agreeing to consent 

decrees have undertaken significant compliance measures to remedy their past violations and prevent future ones. 

D. Retail Interviews 

As part of our follow-up on the requirements of the recent DTV Consumer Education Order, field agents across the country have been interviewing store managers 

at retail establishments offering digital-toanalog converter boxes. Below is a summary of those efforts. 

Retail Interviews 

August Total to Date 

Visits 111 1,446 

Interviews 106 1,397 

To date, as reflected graphically below, the Bureau has found that the majority 

of store managers interviewed are well-informed of the digital transition and the 

NTIA converter box coupon program. Some managers, however, appear to need additional training in certain areas, e.g., the need of some customers for new antenna 

equipment, the fact that many low-power television stations will not convert to digital broadcasting on February 17, 2009. Where such training issues arise, field 

agents are providing information tip sheets and conducting supplemental training 

sessions. 

The Commission also has reviewed 35 retailer websites and contacted ten retailers selling converter boxes by telephone to assess whether they are providing accurate information to the public. We also are conducting compliance reviews of telecommunications carriers, manufacturers, and cable and satellite companies to verify 

that they have met our consumer education requirements. In addition, we are reviewing hundreds of broadcaster filings to determine whether they have complied 

with the DTV outreach requirements in the DTV Consumer Education Order. 

Swift enforcement of all our DTV-related rules is critical to protecting consumers 

and reducing potential confusion. Our activities in this area will continue to be a 


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priority. Please see Attachment A for a list of enforcement actions and a summary 

of our retailer interview responses through August 2008. 

National Consumer Education and Outreach 

The Commission is actively and directly promoting consumer awareness through 

our own education and outreach efforts. Our efforts emphasize outreach to over-theair consumers and other ‘‘hard to reach’’ populations, including senior citizens; nonEnglish speaking and minority communities; people with disabilities; low-income individuals; and people living in rural and tribal areas. Commission staff has been 

working to form partnerships and commitments from a wide variety of sources—including other Federal Agencies, as well as Tribal, State and Local governments. 

Below is a summary of outreach efforts of the Commission on a national level for 

the month of August. A complete report of national outreach efforts is available 

upon request. 

A. Information Distribution 

A key part of the Commission’s education and outreach efforts has been the development and distribution of consumer literature. These tools are a cost-effective 

means to provide information about the transition. In August, over 94,500 pages of 

DTV-related publications and posters were distributed. Additionally, as part of an 

agreement with the U.S. Postal Service, thousands of DTV transition posters were 

distributed to the U.S. Postal Service and are being displayed for the public at Post 

Offices nationwide. The chart below summarizes the Commission’s distribution efforts. 

Distribution of Materials and Information 

August Total to Date 

Publications Distributed (Pages) 94,552 Over 5.6 million 

Posters Distributed 25 41,251 

Website Hits 6,397,784 35,298,312 

Call Center Calls 146,107 1,188,873 

Further, the number of website rose again in August, reflecting an increasing demand for Internet access to information on the DTV transition. Total call volume 

to the FCC in August 2008 was 146,107, which is a 336 percent increase since December 2007. The graphs below illustrate the call center calls and website hits since 

October 2007. 

In addition, our most widely distributed DTV one-pager is available in 20 languages in addition to English, including: Spanish, Chinese, French, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hmong, Japanese, Arabic, Cambodian, Navajo, Somali, 

Amharic, Yupik, Portuguese, Laotian, Creole, Kurdish, and Polish, as well as Braille 

and audio formats. The public can obtain copies of our various DTV publications, 

as well as access other information resources, by visiting our www.DTV.gov web 

page or by calling our Consumer Center toll-free at 1–888–CALL FCC. 

B. Media Outreach 

Billboards: Ketchum rolled out highway billboards on outdoor advertising space 

in five additional markets in August, and has now made agreements for donated 

space in a total of 55 markets. The new billboards went up in Duluth, MN; Springfield, MO; Yuma (El Centro), AZ; Kansas City, MO; and Dayton, OH. 


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Public Service Announcements: Ketchum has produced 18 English and Spanish 

radio public service announcements, of varying lengths, featuring FCC Commissioners. Ketchum distributed the PSAs to all full-power radio stations nationwide 

and the PSAs are available on DTV.gov as broadcast-quality downloads. Based on 

preliminary data, Ketchum indicates that, as of August 31, 2008, a total of 180 radio 

stations aired the PSA, resulting in over 36,000,000 audience impressions. This preliminary data translates into an estimated greater than 6 percent airing rate nationwide—or over 155,000,000 audience impressions nationwide. Ketchum has produced 12 English and Spanish television PSAs, of varying lengths, also featuring 

FCC Commissioners. They are being distributed to broadcasters and public access 

cable programmers nationwide. Ketchum has also produced a longer-form educational video. The television PSAs and educational video are viewable on 

www.DTV.gov and broadcast-quality versions are available, upon request, from the 

Commission. 

C. Participation in Events and Conferences and Utilization of FCC Field Offices 

Cumulative National Outreach Summary 

August Total to Date 

Visits 632 7,732 

Awareness Sessions 163 1,765 

Conferences, Events, & Meetings 113 482 

Media Interviews 15 101 

Partnerships 82 516 

As a subset of the numbers above of, in August, FCC field agents have visited 

274 senior centers and 327 community centers, which frequently include large numbers of seniors, and gave 95 presentations. Thus far, Field Agents have visited 5,082 

senior centers and 2,704 community centers and have given 1,221 presentations. 

D. Coordination with Federal, State, Tribal and Local entities and Community 

Stakeholders 

The Commission’s ongoing collaboration with public and private sector agencies 

and organizations continues to produce positive results. Eighty-two DTV outreach 

commitments were obtained as a result of partnership activities in August 2008. A 

list of these commitments is available upon request. 

State-by-State Consumer Education and Outreach 

The Commission continues its active outreach on the DTV Transition with a focus 

on over-the-air households with a particular emphasis on the hard to reach constituencies, including senior citizens, non-English speaking and minority communities; 

people with disabilities; low-income individuals; and people living in rural and tribal 

areas. 

On August 18, 2008, Chairman Kevin Martin announced a new initiative to increase awareness about the upcoming transition to digital television in target television markets, including all those markets in which more than 100,000 households 

(or at least 15 percent of the households) rely solely on over-the-air signals for television. The five FCC Commissioners and other Commission staff will fan out to 

these and other markets to raise awareness and educate consumers in the days 

leading up to the digital television transition on February 17, 2009. At each stop, 

there will be a public event, such as a town hall meeting, workshop, or roundtable 

with an FCC Commissioner, to highlight the digital transition. In coordination with 

these visits, the FCC will work with local broadcasters and radio stations to increase the broadcasts of Radio and TV DTV Public Service Announcements. Particular emphasis is being placed on those groups that are most vulnerable in the 

transition: Seniors, People Living in Tribal and Rural Areas, People with Disabilities, Individuals with Low-Incomes, Minorities and Non-English Speakers. 

Additionally, the FCC launched a ‘‘Speakers Bureau’’ to provide groups and organizations throughout the country a convenient way to request speakers to discuss 

the upcoming transition to Digital Television (DTV) at their meetings and events. 

The Speakers Bureau is the latest addition to the FCC’s DTV outreach effort. The 

Commission will provide speakers, without cost, to any group requesting one. To 

date, we have received over 40 requests for speakers. The requests are being hanVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
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dled by staff traveling for conferences and events, as part of the outreach for our 

town hall meetings, and by our field agents. 

Taking all of these new initiatives and the existing outreach effort into account, 

for September and October, there are 90 Awareness Sessions planned, with FCC 

staff attending 30 Conferences, Events or Meetings. Additionally, FCC Field Offices 

have 145 presentations scheduled in the days ahead. Please see Attachment B for 

detailed information on the public education efforts of the Commission on a stateby-state basis. 

The Early Transition in Wilmington, North Carolina 

The stations in Wilmington, North Carolina transitioned to digital on September 

8, 2008. Over the last month, Commission staff continued to focus on at risk constituencies and key messaging in Wilmington. Additional events during this time 

period included presentations at rotary clubs, pantries, meals on wheels facilities, 

fire departments and an exhibit at a Wilmington Sharks game. The Commission’s 

outreach efforts also focused on continuing efforts to help at risk constituencies 

order and install the digital to analog converter box. Outreach highlights include 

numerous converter box coupon sign up events at libraries, churches and social 

services agencies. The FCC sponsored a town hall event focused on educating consumers about closed captioning in the digital television era. Also during August, 

broadcasters conducted two ‘‘soft tests’’ to assess consumer awareness. 

Attachment C provides an overview and analysis of the consumer calls received 

through the first 5 days of the transition. Additional information on the Wilmington 

transition will be provided in next month’s report. 

Below is a summary of activities taken in Wilmington during the early transition 

period. Additional detail regarding the outreach is listed in Attachment D. 

Wilmington, North Carolina Outreach Summary 

August Total 

Visits 88 427 

Awareness Sessions 90 343 

Conferences, Events, & Meetings 1 75 

Media Interviews 12 24 

Partnerships 0 102 

FCC Consumer Advisories 

Commission staff are continually updating and creating new Consumer Advisories 

as we become aware of new issues and questions from the public. Recently, based 

on questions and comments from consumers, the Commission prepared a Consumer 

Advisory on select features in 41 digital-to-analog converter boxes purchased by the 

Commission. The features described in the advisory include features of particular 

interest to the disabilities community, as recommended by the Commission’s Consumer Advisory Committee. All of the boxes listed in the advisory are certified 

under NTIA’s converter box coupon program and, therefore, are eligible for purchase 

using a free converter box coupon issued by NTIA. The advisory will be updated as 

more NTIA-approved converter boxes become available at retail stores and online. 

A copy of the Converter Box Features Consumer Advisory is included in 

Attachment E. 

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APPENDIX B 

APPENDIX C 


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APPENDIX D 


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923MART7.eps 923MART8.eps
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Wilmington, NC DTV Transition 

Overview of DTV Calls 

Wilmington, NC Transition Calls by Week 

Overview/Analysis of Wilmington Transition Test DTV Calls (adjusted) 

Category Week 

1 

Week 

2 Total 

CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION 

They were not aware of the switch to DTV 23 4 27 

They were unaware of the correct transition date 26 1 27 

They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital 42 4 46 

Subtotal: 91 9 100 

CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT 

They forgot to upgrade 56 5 61 

They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade 11 0 11 

They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 7 4 11 

They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 70 9 79 

They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 19 5 24 

Subtotal: 163 23 186 

CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM 

A coupon did not arrive in time 64 10 74 

Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 119 44 163 

The retail store was out of boxes 2 0 2 

Subtotal: 185 54 239 

CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES 

Setting up converter boxes was too hard 57 14 71 

They didn’t understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 66 5 71 

Their converter box ‘‘didn’t work’’ 178 21 199 

Subtotal: 301* 40 341 

CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS 

Their antenna didn’t work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn’t connected 114 39 153 

Problem with channel or call sign 157 62 219 

Weak or spotty signal 136 41 177 

Subtotal: 407 142 549 

CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS 

Problem with channel 6/44 581 154 735 

Subtotal: 581** 154 735 

OTHER PROBLEMS 

Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV—did not subscribe to local 

package 53 18 71 

They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite 22 3 25 

They were waiting for cable or satellite installation 13 0 13 

Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them 12 1 13 

Subtotal: 100 22 122 

Total 1,828 444 2,272 

*This number reflects the reduction of 28 calls previously reported as converter box problems that were subsequently determined to be channel 6/44 reception issues. **This number reflects an increase of 28 calls previously reported as converter box problems that were subsequently determined to be channel 6/44 reception issues. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Our next witness is the Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

for Communications and Information, National Telecommunications Information Administration, Meredith Attwell Baker. Secretary Baker? 

20 

STATEMENT OF MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER, ACTING 

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND 

INFORMATION, NTIA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Ms. BAKER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. And 

thank you for the opportunity to testify today. 

For more than 2 years, NTIA’s top priority has been to educate 

Americans about their options for the DTV transition and to administer an efficient and consumer-friendly coupon program. With 

147 days to go, we remain committed to doing all that we can to 

assist Americans to prepare for this historic evolution in television 

broadcasting technology. 

From January 1, when we first launched the coupon program, 

through September 17, the volume of coupon applications has been 

strong: more than 27 million coupons requested from over 14.5 million households. This is equivalent to 105,000 average household 

requests each day of the 260 days of the program. In the last 30 

days, the average household requests were up to 112,000 per day. 

The rate of coupon redemptions has likewise been strong. Over 

10 million coupons have been redeemed through September 17, a 

rate of 49.3 percent for all coupons and 55.5 percent for coupons 

used by over-the-air-only households. 

The cooperation of the converter box manufacturers and the retailers has greatly contributed to the consumer-friendly objective of 

the program and we really appreciate their partnership. As of September 17, we have certified 158 converter boxes, including 83 

boxes with an analog pass-through feature, and at least one, 

Winegard, that works with a battery pack. The program also now 

includes more than 2,300 participating retailers with over 29,400 

outlets in all 50 states and territories. There are now 35 online retailers, which includes the recently added Amazon.com, and 13 

telephone retailers. 

As for NTIA’s progress, GAO’s report and testimony of September 16, concluded that NTIA is effectively implementing the 

coupon program. GAO acknowledges that this encompasses our 

comprehensive systems to process application requests, produce 

and distribute coupons, and process coupons for retailer reimbursement. 

Complementing the GAO finding, consumer satisfaction with the 

program is high. A recent survey by the Consumer Electronics Association found that 90 percent of consumers who used the coupon 

website to request coupons rates the experience as good or excellent. 

With the goal of increasing coupon participation by over-the-air 

households and to better target our consumer education efforts, 

NTIA correlated coupon redemption information with industry data 

to analyze each U.S. television market. Based on our analysis, we 

estimate that 79 percent of over-the-air households that are potential purchasers of converter boxes have requested coupons as of 

September 1st. In other words, coupon program participation by 

over-the-air households is on track in 187 out of the Nation’s 210 

television markets. NTIA is working very hard to implement outreach in the 23 markets where participation rates are lower than 

expected. 

21 

We believe that our consumer education efforts are working. 

Based on the Wilmington test pilot of September 8, we learned that 

strong and steady demand for coupons and boxes can stem a rush 

at the end of the program in the final days. We also learned that 

it is important for consumers to act early so that they have ample 

time to address any technical issues that arise from installing a 

converter box. 

NTIA has, thus, tailored its consumer education messaging to 

‘‘apply, buy, and try.’’ Consumers should apply for a box, buy a box, 

and try the box to ensure that it works and can troubleshoot for 

any issues that they may experience. We are also urging consumers 

to apply, buy, and try by the end of this year, well in advance of 

the transition date. 

The success of the Wilmington test pilot shows that when government, industry and nonprofit groups coordinate closely, the 

whole truly does become greater than the sum of its parts. 

To enhance the Government component, 24 Federal agencies convened at the White House on September 12. It was encouraging to 

hear how USDA, the VA, HHS, and the IRS, among others are 

helping millions of vulnerable Americans prepare for the digital 

transition. We continue to explore adopting the practices that other 

Federal agencies are using to expand the reach to a broader cross 

section of over-the-air households. 

I want to thank the Committee for the enactment of the DTV 

Transition Assistance Act, which will enhance our consumer education efforts. This legislation provided NTIA with the flexibility to 

use surplus funds from the conversion program for lower-power television and translator stations for DTV-related public education 

and technical assistance. 

I would like to turn now briefly to how NTIA is responding to 

a couple of key challenges we have faced in administering the coupon program. This past Friday, on September 19, the Federal Register published NTIA’s final rule to enable coupon program participation by residents of licensed nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, and assisted living facilities, as well as households that use 

a post office box for residential mail delivery. This rule will take 

effect on Monday, October 20. We are pleased to be taking the 

steps to make this coupon program more inclusive. 

In the same vein, the Department of Commerce recently submitted draft legislation to Congress to be able to maximize the 

number of coupons NTIA can distribute, while not exceeding the 

$1.5 billion in total funds authorized for the coupon program. The 

proposed legislation provides NTIA with needed flexibility to cover 

any incremental increases in administrative costs associated with 

distributing coupons through the end of the program, including expected increased demand as the transition date approaches. 

Assuming that consumer requests for coupons will increase as 

the February 17 transition date nears—and we do—NTIA wants to 

be as prepared as it possibly can to maximize consumer participation in the coupon program. Without the flexibility to increase administrative spending, if needed, NTIA will be able to distribute 

44.5 million coupons. With the flexibility, NTIA will be able to distribute about 50.5 million coupons. 

22 

We believe that the draft legislation is a responsible and prudent 

approach to address potential additional demand for coupons, and 

I urge its immediate consideration. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I will be 

happy to answer any questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Baker follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER, ACTING ASSISTANT

SECRETARY FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION, NTIA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

COMMERCE

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 

testify before you today on behalf of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) regarding the transition to digital television (DTV) and 

NTIA’s implementation of the TV Converter Box Coupon Program (Coupon Program). Educating Americans about their options when full-power television stations 

cease analog broadcasting on February 17, 2009, and administering an efficient and 

consumer friendly Coupon Program have been top priorities for NTIA over the past 

2 years. NTIA has already served millions of Americans who have requested, received, and redeemed coupons with the purchase of a coupon-eligible converter box 

(CECB) from among the Program’s participating retailers, and we are well poised 

to assist millions more. With 147 days to go until the DTV switch occurs, the significant progress NTIA has made in meeting the Coupon Program’s objectives is 

matched only by our determination to ensure that as many consumers as possible 

are aware and prepared for the DTV transition, and that NTIA is able to maximize 

opportunities for households to participate in the Coupon Program. 

My testimony today will focus chiefly on the status of activities and consumer 

education efforts of NTIA’s Coupon Program; the experience gained by the September 8, 2008, DTV switch in Wilmington, North Carolina; and the actions taken 

by, and in process, at NTIA to maximize opportunities for over-the-air households 

to participate in the Coupon Program. 

Current Coupon Activities 

As you know, Title III of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, known as the ‘‘Digital 

Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005’’ (the Act), directs the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC) to require full-power television stations to cease 

analog broadcasting on February 17, 2009. The Act directs NTIA to implement and 

administer the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon for the purpose of assisting 

consumers who opt to keep their existing analog TV’s working to view over-the-air 

broadcasts using a converter box. 

As required by the Act, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 

and Information must ensure that requesting households receive a maximum of two 

$40 coupons, via U.S. mail, each to be applied toward the purchase of a digital-toanalog converter box. The Act authorizes NTIA to use up to $990 million to carry 

out the program, including up to $100 million for expenses incurred for program administration, of which $5 million may be used for consumer education. It also authorizes an additional $510 million in funding to be available upon 60 days advance 

notice to Congress, $60 million of which may be used for program administration 

expenses. 

Leading up to the launch of the TV Converter Box Coupon Program on January 

1, 2008, NTIA undertook extensive preparations beginning with a comprehensive 

rulemaking proceeding and Request for Proposal (RFP). Through a competitive procurement process, NTIA selected IBM to develop fully operational systems for the 

application, processing, distribution, and redemption of coupons; and to certify retailers for participation in the program. Working with the FCC, NTIA established 

a procedure to test and certify coupon-eligible convert boxes (CECBs). The Contract 

with IBM has all of the elements necessary for a fully operational and well-functioning program through its conclusion, including the ability to scale the Program 

as needed to maximize customer participation. Simply stated, the implementation 

of this Program is without precedent and has presented unique opportunities and 

challenges along with way. The effectiveness of our efforts in this planning phase, 

I submit, can be measured best by the results of the Program’s implementation. 

Coupons Requests, Issuance, and Redemptions 

Since January 1, 2008, the Coupon Program has received requests from 

14,630,166 households for 27,457,404 coupons through September 17, 2008. This is 

equivalent to 105,601 average household requests for each of the 267 days the CouVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
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pon Program has been operational. Over the past 30 days, the average daily household request rate was slightly higher, at 112,360 average requests, consistent with 

a trend of slight increases in requests rates experienced by the Program over the 

course of the past few months. 

NTIA began processing requests for coupons from OTA households using contingent funds on August 1, 2008, while continuing to process coupon requests from 

other eligible households from recycled base funds that become available when 

unredeemed coupons expire. NTIA received the $510 million in contingent funds on 

June 25, 2008, subsequent to our April 25, 2008, notification to the House Energy 

and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation 

Committee. Based on the number of redeemed coupons and coupons that are still 

active and have not reached the end of their 90-day expiration, 74 percent of the 

$890 million in initial funding has been committed, and 25 percent of the $450 million in contingent funding has been committed as of September 17, 2008. 

Applications for coupons have been received primarily through the Coupon Program website at www.DTV2009.gov (56.9 percent), and our toll-free telephone number, 1–888–DTV–2009 (40.6 percent); a much smaller percentage of coupon applications (2.5 percent) has been received by fax and by mail. Consumers can expect that 

coupons will be issued and mailed within 10 to 15 business days from the date in 

which a coupon application is received. Consumers are able to check on the status 

of their coupon applications on the Program’s web page (https://www.dtv2009.gov/ 

CheckStatus.aspx). NTIA continues to work closely with our contractor, IBM, to ensure that coupon requests are processed in a timely fashion. We were pleased to 

learn that in a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association, 

90 percent of consumers who used the website to request coupons rated the experience as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘excellent.’’ NTIA is in the process of streamlining its phone system to facilitate consumer coupon requests through its Interactive Voice Response 

(IVR) and to refer consumer questions to appropriate third parties, such as the FCC 

and local television stations. 

In addition to the high volume of applications, the appeal of the Coupon Program 

to consumers is demonstrated by the rate of coupon redemptions. Through September 17, 2008, more than 10 million coupons have been redeemed, an overall redemption rate of 49.3 percent for coupons that have reached the end of the 90-day 

expiration period. For OTA households, the redemption rate is even higher; 55.5 

percent of the coupons that have reached the end of the 90-day expiration period 

have been redeemed. Since June 2008, NTIA has posted online a Weekly Redemption Report for easy access by retailers, converter box manufacturers, and the public 

that presents data on overall weekly coupon redemption rates and a breakdown of 

coupon redemption rates by OTA households. (https://www.ntiadtv.gov/docs/ 

WeeklyRedemptionsReport.pdf) 

Using the estimate of the Consumer Electronics Association that 60 percent of 

OTA households are potential purchasers of converter boxes, and of the Nielsen 

Company that there were 14 million OTA households on January 1, 2008, NTIA has 

estimated that 79 percent of this target audience—TV households who rely on television with an antenna and expected to purchase a converter box—have already requested coupons as of September 1, 2008. Further, our analysis confirms that Coupon Program participation by OTA households is on track in 187 of the country’s 

210 Designated Market Areas (DMAs). Based on our analysis, NTIA is developing 

and will implement specific outreach plans in the 23 DMAs where participation 

rates seem to be lower than average participation rates seem to be lower than average. Appendix A of this testimony provides a listing of Coupon Program participation rates of OTA households in each of the Nation’s 210 television markets. 

Coupon-Eligible Converter Boxes and Participating Retailers 

A critical factor in the Coupon Program’s progress has been the voluntary participation of converter box manufacturers and retailers. NTIA is extremely gratified 

that we have been able to certify 158 CECBs submitted for testing and certification 

by manufacturers through September 17, 2008. Each of these converter boxes was 

designed for the statutory purpose of enabling a consumer to view digital signals 

on analog television sets. 

NTIA continues to certify boxes and is expediting those that have the capability 

to pass-through analog signals that will continue to be transmitted by many low 

power television and translator stations after February 17, 2009. As of September 

17, 2008, NTIA has certified 83 CECBs with an analog pass-through capability. We 

appreciate the responsiveness of manufacturers—such as RCA, Craig, Philco, Magnavox, Memorex, and Zenith, among others—to serve consumers’ needs for this simple solution to view both digital and analog signals on analog television sets. 

24 

From the Nation’s largest consumer electronics retailers—Best Buy, Circuit City, 

Radio Shack, Sears, Target, and Walmart—to the hundreds of regional chains and 

smaller firms, we are likewise pleased that retailers have made converter boxes 

widely available. Through September 17, 2008, 2,362 retailers are participating in 

the Coupon Program, with over 29,400 retail outlets nationwide, including locations 

in all 50 states, all DMAs, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Among these are 35 retailers redeeming coupons online, and 13 retailers that 

will redeem coupons by phone. We are pleased that Amazon.com and Office Depot 

are the latest to join the ranks of the Coupon Program’s participating retailers. 

To achieve the status as a ‘‘participating retailer’’ in the Coupon Program, retailers must certify that their employees are trained, that stores have an inventory of 

converter boxes, and that their systems are prepared to redeem coupons. Working 

with IBM, NTIA has made employee training materials available to participating 

retailers so that they are able to answer consumers’ questions about converter boxes 

and coupon use. To better support the management of CECB inventory, NTIA 

makes available coupon request data to retailers on a per state basis, as well as 

by 3-digit and 5-digit zip code. The cooperation of retailers and box manufacturers 

alike have greatly contributed to consumers’ satisfaction with the Coupon Program, 

and NTIA is truly grateful for their partnership. 

Consumer Education 

Educating consumers about the DTV transition and the converter box coupon option has been an integral part of NTIA’s Coupon Program. Our efforts have focused 

on raising awareness among households disproportionately reliant on OTA broadcasting for their television services, namely seniors, minorities, the disabled, low-income, and rural households. NTIA’s messaging encourages these and other OTA 

households to know their options and, if the converter box is their preferred option 

for making the transition, to request a coupon and purchase a converter box now 

rather than delay and contend with a possible rush for boxes closer to the transition 

date. Consumers should plan at least 6 weeks in advance to ‘‘apply, buy and try’’— 

that is, ‘‘apply’’ for their coupons, ‘‘buy’’ their preferred converter box and ‘‘try’’ it 

to make sure they can receive their favorite channels—to be ready well in advance 

of February 17, 2009. As a practical matter, consumers should request coupons now 

to ensure a smooth transition and begin enjoying digital television service. 

A recent national survey sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters 

(NAB) shows that knowledge about the DTV transition is nearly universal. In a telephone survey of 21,436 households, conducted between the end of March and midMay, 2008, 90 percent of respondents said they were aware of the February 17, 

2009, DTV transition, up from 83 percent in a January 2008 NAB survey. These 

results reflect the success of the nationwide public education campaigns undertaken 

by the broadcasting and cable industries, as well as our own public education efforts 

and those of the 300 Federal, national, regional, and local organizations that have 

partnered with NTIA to arm consumers with the information they need to be prepared on February 17, 2009. 

NTIA’s Outreach and Partnerships 

For its part, NTIA participates in meetings, conferences, and other fora on an ongoing basis, often with one or more of our partners to educate audiences about the 

DTV transition and the Coupon Program. For example, in recent months, NTIA attended events held by the American Council on the Blind, the Community Action 

Partnership of Chicago, Self-Help for the Elderly of San Francisco, and the General 

Federation of Women’s Clubs. We have jointly hosted and participated in coupon application completion events with organizations such as SeniorSource in Dallas/Ft. 

Worth, Texas; the Maryland Department of General Services in Baltimore, Maryland; JobStarts in Englewood, California; and KNME–PBS in Albuquerque, New 

Mexico. 

NTIA’s consumer education efforts do not begin and end with Coupon Program 

staff. Rather, my staff and I, along with others in the Department of Commerce 

have participated in numerous events, including town hall meetings convened in the 

districts of Members of Congress, such as Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, Senator 

Gordon Smith of Oregon, Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, Representative John Dingell 

of Michigan, and Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois. As you know, Commerce Secretary 

Carlos Gutierrez has likewise been extremely active in helping educate Americans 

about the DTV transition and the Coupon Program. He continues to conduct media 

interviews in both Spanish and English, and speaks to audiences throughout the 

country to help raise public awareness. Most recently, Secretary Gutierrez participated in a public education event held at a Circuit City retail store in Atlanta, accompanied by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. 

25 

As I noted earlier, NTIA analyzed Coupon Program participation by DMA, enabling us to better target consumer education efforts and reach out to media in markets with high rates of OTA households and/or key demographic populations. For 

example, in July and August 2008, NTIA staff conducted 117 media interviews, including outlets such as The Maui News (Honolulu, HI), Eureka Reporter (Eureka, 

CA), KBBIAM/KDLL–FM (Anchorage, AK), Star News (Wilmington, NC), AARP 

Bulletin (seniors), Sister 2 Sister (African American magazine), KOVR–TV (Sacramento, CA), KBOW–AM (Butte-Bozeman, MT), and Alaska Public Radio. 

Working with the communications firm, Ketchum, NTIA continues to track media 

impressions regarding the DTV transition and the Coupon Program. The following 

chart shows the cumulative number of print circulation, online unique visits, and 

broadcast impressions from September 10, 2007, through August 31, 2008. 

TV Converter Box Coupon Program: Cumulative Media Impressions 

September 10, 2007–August 31, 2008 

Period Print Circulation 

Online 

Unique 

Visits 

Broadcast 

Impressions 

As of January 31, 2008 55,287,903 790,968,896 61,930,084 

As of February 29, 2008 86,704,470 1,461,800,861 77,976,320 

As of March 31, 2008 101,948,865 1,831,462,304 97,279,716 

As of April 30, 2008 133,133,069 2,475,646,251 133,325,921 

As of May 31, 2008 149,212,817 2,738,704,788 176,597,506 

As of June 30, 2008 162,552,550 2,951,814,191 242,916,367 

As of July 31, 2008 183,117,820 3,097,501,422 292,567,681 

As of August 31, 2008 197,260,220 3,285,822,971 332,884,358 

NTIA is now working with over 24 Federal departments and agencies with direct 

communications to vulnerable populations to expand the reach of our consumer education efforts. On September 12, 2008, the Office of Management and Budget, the 

Office of Science and Technology Policy, NTIA, and the FCC, spearheaded an interagency Federal DTV Awareness meeting to discuss strategies to better coordinate 

activities across Executive branch agencies to enhance consumer education and assistance to our target populations. It was very encouraging to hear how the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health 

and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service, among others, are helping 

millions of vulnerable Americans prepare for the digital transition. We continue to 

explore how these good practices can be applied to other Federal agencies to reach 

a broader cross-section of Americans who rely on over-the-air television. 

Statutory Flexibility to Expand Consumer Education 

NTIA appreciates the flexibility provided by the ‘‘DTV Transition Assistance Act’’ 

(Pub. L. 110–295) (Assistance Act), signed into law by President Bush on July 30, 

2008, which will provide an additional mechanism to expand our public education 

efforts. As you know, there are two key provisions of the Assistance Act: (1) enabling 

NTIA to more immediately begin providing grant support for the digital upgrade of 

low power television and translator stations; and (2) authorizing NTIA to utilize 

surplus funds in the Low Power Television and Translator Station Conversion Program (providing grant support to low power television and translator stations for 

the purchase a digital-toanalog conversion device) for purposes of consumer education and technical assistance related to the DTV transition and the Coupon Program. 

Pursuant to the Assistance Act, NTIA issued a notice on August 28, 2008, confirming a determination that only $3.5 million of the full funding amount for the 

Conversion Program ($8 million) would be necessary. This allows for $4.5 million 

of these funds to become available for consumer education and technical assistance 

related to the DTV transition and the Coupon Program. This determination was 

based on the number of potential eligible Conversion Program applicants, the number of grant applications received through July 31, 2008, and the number of facilities receiving authorization from the FCC to upgrade to digital transmission via 

flash-cut. 

We have already received expressions of interest, and encourage the submission 

of other proposals, to provide consumer education and technical assistance as provided for in the Assistance Act. NTIA will act as expeditiously as possible to formalize agreements for these purposes. 

26 

Wilmington DTV Transition Test Pilot 

Leveraging the awareness-building activities of the variety of partners that participated in the Wilmington DTV transition test pilot on September 8, 2008, not only 

contributed to Wilmington’s success, but it also demonstrates early preparation and 

mobilizing of existing assets by communities can help ensure that their citizens experience a smooth transition to digital television. I commend the people of Wilmington and the many Wilmington area volunteers and community leaders, television broadcasters, and participating retailers, as well as the FCC, and all other 

involved stakeholders for their efforts to ensure that Wilmington households were 

prepared and that the test pilot was a success. 

Among the steps taken in Wilmington contributing to this success, broadcasters 

were nimble in modifying their messaging to increase awareness of the early transition date and reduce confusion among Wilmington consumers about their need to 

act early. The minute-long test run by Wilmington broadcasters in advance of the 

September 8 switch also proved to be a useful way to help consumers pinpoint 

whether they really needed a converter box. The consumer electronics industry and 

box manufacturers also stepped up to support this effort to make converter boxes 

widely available in stores to meet high demand. I especially appreciate their willingness to donate boxes to nursing homes and troubleshooting advice for consumers. 

Local firefighters and community groups provided helpful technical assistance to 

households, including converter box installation for the more vulnerable among Wilmington’s citizens. 

The Wilmington test pilot was an important opportunity for NTIA to gauge consumer awareness and participation in the Coupon Program. Through September 7, 

NTIA received requests for more than 69,000 coupons from 37,500 households in the 

Wilmington DMA, 47 percent of which were from OTA households. Of the coupons 

issued and mailed, over 28,000 were redeemed as of September 7. We were pleased 

with the strong response for coupons from Wilmington households; requests for coupons increased 300 percent since the May 8, 2008, FCC announcement of the test 

pilot. Strong and steady demand for coupons and boxes over the past 4 months 

stemmed a rush in the final days leading up to the September 8 switch. 

The primary lesson NTIA gained from Wilmington is that we must emphasize to 

an even greater extent the need for consumers that rely on OTA broadcasts for 

viewing on analog television sets to apply for a coupon and purchase a converter 

box well in advance of the transition date. It is essential that consumers are aware 

that it will take several weeks to make adequate preparations—to apply for and receive a coupon, and to purchase and install a converter box—to ensure that all of 

the analog televisions in their household are prepared when the transition occurs. 

Responding to Coupon Program Challenges 

Rulemaking on Nursing Home and Post Office Box Program Eligibility 

The final rule on participation of Coupon Program applicants living in licensed 

nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, and assisted living facilities, and households that use a post office box for residential mail delivery was published in the 

Federal Register on September 19, 2008. The final rule will take effect on October 

20, 2008. 

Under the waiver provisions of the new regulations, residents of licensed nursing 

homes, intermediate care facilities, and assisted living facilities are required to provide their name and the address of the facility, and whether they receive television 

exclusively with an antenna, or through cable, satellite or other pay television service. The nursing home resident, a family member, or a representative from the licensed facility may apply for one coupon for the resident, and the coupon will be 

mailed directly to the nursing home resident. A special application will be made 

available for nursing home residents to complete once the rule becomes effective. 

Also, applicants who utilize a post office box for residential mail delivery will be 

able to request two coupons through the normal application process after the rule 

change goes into effect. Applicants will be required to provide the address of their 

physical residence in addition to their post office box address. NTIA is pleased to 

take this step in making the Coupon Program more inclusive. 

Coupon Reissuance 

NTIA has been extremely sensitive to concerns, questions, and requests made for 

the reissuance of coupons to households that did not, or were unable to, redeem previously requested coupons prior to their expiration date. However, we do not believe 

the Act sets out clear authority for NTIA to issue any additional coupons to households that have already requested and received coupons, even if the coupons were 

not redeemed in advance of their expiration. 

27 

We also do not believe that making such a change to the Program at this time 

is advisable. The reissuance of coupons would necessitate, we believe, the undertaking and completion of numerous additional actions. The added—and potentially 

substantial—costs and delays that would accompany each of these actions could 

jeopardize the Program’s ability to achieve its core mission of facilitating a smooth 

DTV transition. 

For example, such a change would require a rulemaking proceeding, similar to 

NTIA’s pending proposed rule amending the eligibility of individuals residing in 

nursing homes as discussed above. Such a rulemaking, even if conducted on an expedited basis, would not likely be completed before early 2009. A change would also 

impact NTIA’s current contract with IBM to administer the Coupon Program, requiring revision in the operational systems and procedures of the Program. Likewise 

changes would be needed to materials currently utilized in Program administration 

(e.g., online, phone and paper application forms and processes) and consumer education. 

Moreover, such a change could seriously compromise NTIA’s emphasis on the 

need for prompt action by consumers to apply for and redeem their coupons, and 

could cause a last-minute rush on—and potential product shortages of—converter 

boxes in the latest stages of the DTV transition. Finally, it would be unfair to consumers who redeemed coupons in a timely manner, consistent with the statutory 

90-day expiration deadline requirement and existing Coupon Program regulations. 

Maximizing Coupon Distribution 

As you know, the Act authorizes a total of $1.34 billion for the Coupon Program 

from both the base ($890 million) and contingent ($450 million) funding levels, an 

amount sufficient to cover the value of up to 33.5 million redeemed coupons. The 

remaining $160 million from both base and contingent funding is authorized for administrative expenses which includes, but is not limited to, those costs associated 

with the distribution and processing (i.e., not the underlying value) of each coupon. 

As noted earlier, the Coupon Program received over 105,000 average daily requests from households for coupons, and the overall coupon redemption rate currently stands at just under 50 percent. Assuming that consumer requests for coupons will increase as the February 17, 2009, transition date nears, and that the redemption rate remains constant, NTIA could distribute more than 50 million coupons in total over the life of the Program. Without legislation providing NTIA with 

greater flexibility, NTIA will be unable to fully meet this consumer demand and 

costs associated with expected changes to the Program. 

On September 11, 2008, the Department of Commerce submitted to Congress 

draft legislation that would provide NTIA with the statutory flexibility, if needed, 

to use available balances in certain Digital Television and Public Safety programs 

to cover administrative expenses of the Coupon Program above the authorized $160 

million. The proposal would enable NTIA to continue coupon distribution to requesting eligible American households in the event that coupon demand exceeds the level 

of administrative resources presently authorized for the Coupon Program while still 

ensuring that overall program costs do not exceed $1.5 billion as established in the 

Act. Under the draft legislation, $7 million would be available upon enactment and 

additional funds as needed would be available upon approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director and upon 15-day notice to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation. 

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse 

NTIA remains vigilant in monitoring operations for waste, fraud, and abuse 

across all components of the Coupon Program. The agency meets regularly with the 

Department of Commerce Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, 

and Department of Commerce auditors to monitor all aspects of the Coupon Program, from household requests for coupons to retailer payment for coupon redemptions. 

Working with IBM, NTIA has developed a comprehensive and rigorous approach 

to deterring and detecting waste, fraud and abuse in the Program. In terms of retailer certification, participation and payment, NTIA has protections in place to minimize opportunities for inappropriate retailer behavior. 

To date, no egregious instances of waste, fraud, and abuse have been discovered 

in the Coupon Program. However, several retailers have been decertified for a variety of violations of program rules. In these cases, NTIA has also taken swift action 

to the extent possible to ensure that retailers remedy any adverse effects suffered 

by consumers. While the number of decertified retailers is a very small percentage 

28 

of the total number of certified retailers, NTIA remains committed to taking swift 

action to avoid any and all waste, fraud, and abuse in the Program. 

We are also ensuring that no more than two coupons are sent to each U.S. household, as specified in the Act, and that consumers are unable to use the $40 coupon 

to purchase ineligible products. To protect consumers we have just issued a ‘‘consumer checklist,’’ helping them navigate the Coupon Program. We have also worked 

with the Federal Trade Commission and the FCC on a tip-sheet to arm consumers 

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

Preparedness for a Surge 

NTIA is aware of the potential for a surge in coupon applications as the February 

17, 2009, transition date draws closer. Although the coupon application rate has 

spiked only rarely over the past eight and one-half months, we recognize that consumer education will intensify in the coming months and that coupon applications 

could reach more consistently high levels than has been our experience to date. 

NTIA has designed and administered the Coupon Program in a manner that strives 

to assure that no Americans lose their television service as a result of the DTV transition. This commitment underlies the Program regulations, as well as NTIA’s proposal to expand coupon eligibility to residents of nursing homes and citizens that 

utilize a post office box, and the draft legislation to maximize household participation in the Coupon Program. 

Again, this underscores the emphasis of the Coupon Program’s key consumer education messaging that consumers should act now to apply for coupons and to redeem 

them at a participating retailer as soon as possible after their receipt. As noted 

above, our experience in Wilmington confirms that encouraging people to act now 

will help avoid lengthy periods of extremely high volumes of coupon requests as the 

Program draws to an end. 

In conclusion, I want to thank the Committee for the opportunity to testify before 

you today. I will be happy to answer your questions. 

APPENDIX A: OVER-THE-AIR HOUSEHOLD PARTICIPATION RATES IN COUPON PROGRAM

BY DESIGNATED MARKET AREA (DMA) AS OF SEPT. 1, 2008 

Over-the-Air Household Participation Rates in Coupon Program 

by Designated Market Area (DMA) as of Sept. 1, 2008 

Number of 

Over-the-Air 

Households with 

Approved 

Requests 

Over-the-Air 

Household 

Participation 

Rate *

JUNEAU, AK 218 13% 

GLENDIVE, MT 61 30% 

ANCHORAGE, AK 6,441 38% 

EUREKA, CA 2,023 38% 

HONOLULU, HI 5,381 39% 

FAIRBANKS, AK 2,903 40% 

SEATTLE TACOMA, WA 53,923 43% 

BUTTE BOZEMAN, MT 3,123 44% 

HELENA, MT 1,466 45% 

MISSOULA, MT 5,631 46% 

BILLINGS, MT 4,913 48% 

GRAND JUNCTION MONTROSE, CO 3,183 51% 

GREAT FALLS, MT 2,888 51% 

ODESSA MIDLAND, TX 3,783 52% 

SAN DIEGO, CA 28,207 52% 

BURLINGTON PLATTSBURGH, VT—NY 13,102 53% 

MANKATO, MN 2,108 54% 

MONROE ELDORADO, LA—AR 7,625 54% 

SPOKANE, WA 21,362 55% 

SANTA BARBARA SANTA MARIA SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 5,424 56% 

SALT LAKE CITY, UT 68,522 56% 

LAS VEGAS, NV 25,382 56% 

IDAHO FALLS POCATELLO, ID 7,931 57% 

LAFAYETTE, IN 2,455 58% 

SACRAMENTO STOCKTON MODESTO, CA 64,735 58% 

CASPER RIVERTON, WY 2,064 58% 

MONTEREY SALINAS, CA 9,541 58% 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 4,085 58% 

YAKIMA PASCO RICHLAND KENNEWICK, WA 13,657 59% 

TWIN FALLS, ID 3,642 59% 

HARTFORD NEW HAVEN, CT 21,384 60% 

29 

Over-the-Air Household Participation Rates in Coupon Program 

by Designated Market Area (DMA) as of Sept. 1, 2008—Continued 

Number of 

Over-the-Air 

Households with 

Approved 

Requests 

Over-the-Air 

Household 

Participation Rate *

COLORADO SPRINGS PUEBLO, CO 21,197 60% 

SAN ANGELO, TX 1,144 60% 

AMARILLO, TX 8,551 61% 

BATON ROUGE, LA 9,145 61% 

SPRINGFIELD HOLYOKE, MA 8,085 61% 

CHICO REDDING, CA 12,646 62% 

TOPEKA, KS 8,164 62% 

YUMA EL CENTRO, CA 9,668 62% 

DENVER, CO 75,299 63% 

BOISE, ID 27,165 63% 

JOPLIN PITTSBURGH, MO—KS 13,192 63% 

MEDFORD KLAMATH FALLS, OR 7,018 63% 

ALBUQUERQUE SANTA FE, NM 45,363 63% 

TUCSON SIERRA VISTA, AZ 27,342 64% 

MINOT BISMARCK DICKINSON, ND 6,465 64% 

ELMIRA, NY 2,779 65% 

BALTIMORE, MD 58,822 65% 

SHREVEPORT, LA 17,782 65% 

PHOENIX, AZ 96,688 65% 

ABILENE SWEETWATER, TX 5,081 65% 

CHAMPAIGN SPRINGFIELD DECATUR, IL 16,681 65% 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN 68,555 66% 

FARGO VALLEY CITY, ND 12,488 66% 

TALLAHASSEE THOMASVILLE, FL 9,747 67% 

ST. JOSEPH, MO 2,619 68% 

DALLAS FT. WORTH, TX 210,358 68% 

BAKERSFIELD, CA 14,345 68% 

WICHITA FALLS LAWTON, TX—OK 7,278 68% 

SYRACUSE, NY 18,063 68% 

NASHVILLE, TN 46,413 68% 

MINNEAPOLIS ST. PAUL, MN 159,383 69% 

PORTLAND AUBURN, ME 21,994 69% 

WICHITA HUTCHINSON, KS 24,347 69% 

WASHINGTON, DC 82,489 70% 

ROCHESTER, NY 27,466 70% 

PROVIDENCE NEW BEDFORD, RI—MA 25,012 70% 

LOS ANGELES, CA 412,401 70% 

RAPID CITY, SD 4,222 70% 

MEMPHIS, TN 39,403 71% 

HARRISONBURG, VA 3,667 71% 

ROCKFORD, IL 10,524 71% 

CHEYENNE SCOTTSBLUFF, WY—NE 2,211 72% 

CLEVELAND AKRON CANTON, OH 87,590 72% 

PEORIA BLOOMINGTON, IL 13,955 72% 

BEND, OR 4,275 73% 

TYLER LONGVIEW LUFKIN NACOGDOCHES, TX 13,631 73% 

JOHNSTOWN ALTOONA, PA 7,971 73% 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 9,594 73% 

BLUEFIELD BECKLEY OAK HILL, WV 3,997 74% 

HOUSTON, TX 200,611 74% 

LUBBOCK, TX 14,143 74% 

LITTLE ROCK PINE BLUFF, AR 29,502 74% 

CINCINNATI, OH 73,066 74% 

PADUCAH CAPE GIRARDEAU MARION CARBONDALE 

MCLEANSBORO POPULAR BLUFF MT. VERNON, KY—MO—IL 24,139 75% 

ALPENA, MI 939 75% 

HARLINGEN MCALLEN BROWNSVILLE, TX 55,083 76% 

SIOUX FALLS MITCHELL, SD 13,406 77% 

TOLEDO, OH 34,668 77% 

PORTLAND, OR 97,950 77% 

SAVANNAH, GA 10,489 77% 

YOUNGSTOWN, OH 17,297 78% 

LINCOLN HASTINGS KEARNY, NE 16,233 78% 

EUGENE, OR 17,439 78% 

MARQUETTE, MI 3,659 78% 

NORTH PLATTE, NE 780 79% 

ATLANTA, GA 80,154 79% 

WACO TEMPLE BRYAN, TX 18,389 79% 

30 

Over-the-Air Household Participation Rates in Coupon Program 

by Designated Market Area (DMA) as of Sept. 1, 2008—Continued 

Number of 

Over-the-Air 

Households with 

Approved 

Requests 

Over-the-Air 

Household 

Participation Rate *

MADISON, WI 34,371 79% 

AUSTIN, TX 38,632 79% 

RENO, NV 13,292 79% 

ALBANY SCHENECTADY TROY, NY 24,020 79% 

LA CROSSE EAU CLAIRE, WI 17,091 79% 

SAN FRANCISCO OAKLAND SAN JOSE, CA 121,651 79% 

BIRMINGHAM ANNISTON TUSCALOOSA, AL 30,040 80% 

COLUMBUS, OH 54,278 80% 

GREENVILLE NEW BERN WASHINGTON, NC 17,718 80% 

FRESNO VISALIA, CA 60,300 80% 

JACKSONVILLE BRUNSWICK, FL—GA 30,881 81% 

EVANSVILLE, IN 16,695 81% 

COLUMBIA JEFFERSON CITY, MO 14,196 81% 

KANSAS CITY, KS—MO 61,754 81% 

ROANOKE LYNCHBURG, VA 26,907 81% 

NORFOLK PORTSMOUTH NEWPORT NEWS, VA 31,324 81% 

JACKSON, MS 17,325 82% 

LEXINGTON, KY 21,316 82% 

ALBANY, GA 5,630 82% 

ST. LOUIS, MO 114,595 82% 

SIOUX CITY, IA 11,985 82% 

BEAUMONT PORT ARTHUR, TX 8,861 82% 

HUNTSVILLE DECATUR FLORENCE, AL 17,338 82% 

TULSA, OK 42,588 82% 

GRAND RAPIDS KALAMAZOO BATTLE CREEK, MI 63,294 83% 

OTTUMWA KIRKSVILLE, IA—MO 3,615 83% 

TAMPA ST. PETERSBURG SARASOTA, FL 76,147 83% 

MILWAUKEE, WI 93,592 83% 

COLUMBUS TUPELO WEST POINT, MS 11,222 84% 

DAYTON, OH 43,697 84% 

CHARLESTON, SC 17,521 85% 

ERIE, PA 13,140 85% 

DAVENPORT ROCK ISLAND MOLINE, IA—IL 23,055 85% 

KNOXVILLE, TN 29,600 85% 

LANSING, MI 22,141 85% 

DES MOINES AMES, IA 45,064 86% 

BANGOR, ME 13,739 87% 

LOUISVILLE, KY 45,425 87% 

CLARKSBURG WESTON, WV 3,365 87% 

MIAMI FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 66,009 87% 

COLUMBUS, GA 8,574 87% 

WEST PALM BEACH FT. PIERCE, FL 16,230 88% 

TERRE HAUTE, IN 10,605 88% 

BOSTON MANCHESTER, MA—NH 65,215 88% 

ROCHSTER MASON CITY AUSTIN, IA 11,255 89% 

SPRINGFIELD, MO 47,016 89% 

RALEIGH DURHAM FAYETTEVILLE, NC 67,682 89% 

CHARLOTTE, NC 58,139 89% 

DULUTH SUPERIOR, MN 20,784 89% 

CHICAGO, IL 282,376 90% 

PALM SPRINGS, CA 4,275 90% 

JACKSON, TN 4,881 90% 

BUFFALO, NY 33,625 90% 

LAKE CHARLES, LA 4,791 91% 

GREENSBORO HIGH POINT WINSTON SALEM, NC 40,230 91% 

MACON, GA 11,698 91% 

WILKES BARRE SCRANTON, PA 23,047 92% 

TRAVERSE CITY CADILLAC, MI 22,321 92% 

DETROIT, MI 121,971 93% 

CEDAR RAPIDS WATERLOO DUBUQUE, IA 28,865 94% 

MERIDIAN, MS 5,035 94% 

EL PASO, TX 49,724 94% 

BOWLING GREEN, KY 5,078 94% 

PANAMA CITY, FL 8,203 94% 

GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG ASHVILLE ANDERSON, NC—SC 55,624 94% 

HARRISBURG LANCASTER LEBANON YORK, PA 35,543 94% 

FT. SMITH FAYETTEVILLE SPRINGDALE, AR+A197 16,074 95% 

PITTSBURGH, PA 54,574 95% 

31 

Over-the-Air Household Participation Rates in Coupon Program 

by Designated Market Area (DMA) as of Sept. 1, 2008—Continued 

Number of 

Over-the-Air 

Households with 

Approved 

Requests 

Over-the-Air 

Household 

Participation 

Rate *

FT. WAYNE, IN 36,578 96% 

AUGUSTA, GA 15,859 96% 

DOTHAN, AL 4,327 97% 

CHATTANOOGA, TN 20,182 97% 

SAN ANTONIO, TX 67,784 99% 

FLINT SAGINAW BAY CITY, MI 40,319 99% 

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 62,116 100% 

GREENWOOD GREENVILLE, MS 2,986 100% 

RICHMOND PETERSBURG, VA 31,768 100% 

GREEN BAY APPLETON, WI 58,686 100% 

PARKERSBURG, WV 2,618 100% 

LAFAYETTE, LA 11,598 101% 

SHERMAN ADA, TX—OK 10,460 101% 

PHILADELPHIA, PA 134,008 101% 

NEW YORK, NY 228,786 101% 

ALEXANDRIA, LA 3,829 102% 

LAREDO, TX 9,358 103% 

WHEELING STEUBENVILLE, WV 6,701 103% 

MOBILE PENSACOLA, AL—FL 30,484 103% 

JONESBORO, AR 5,266 103% 

FT. MYERS NAPLES, FL 18,194 107% 

UTICA, NY 5,207 108% 

ORLANDO DAYTONA BEACH MELBOURNE, FL 63,115 108% 

NEW ORLEANS, LA 26,098 108% 

BINGHAMTON, NY 6,929 109% 

TRI CITIES, VA—TN 15,642 109% 

GAINESVILLE, FL 6,828 109% 

LIMA, OH 3,600 110% 

WATERTOWN, NY 5,506 110% 

HATTIESBURG LAUREL, MS 8,169 110% 

ZANESVILLE, OH 1,619 110% 

OMAHA, NE 30,484 110% 

VICTORIA, TX 2,073 111% 

SOUTH BEND ELKHART BENTON HARBOR, IN 50,712 112% 

MONTGOMERY SELMA, AL 13,770 119% 

WAUSAU RHINELANDER, WI 25,094 121% 

COLUMBIA, SC 36,979 123% 

BILOXI GULFPORT, MS 7,026 123% 

MYRTLE BEACH FLORENCE, SC 23,155 132% 

CHARLESTON HUNTINGTON, WV 24,384 133% 

PRESQUE ISLE, ME 2,860 138% 

QUINCY HANNIBAL KEOKUK—MO—IA 13,360 148% 

SALISBURY, MD 8,276 158% 

WILMINGTON, NC 16,726 203% 

* According to the Consumer Electronics Association, about 60% of over-the-air (OTA) consumers are potential 

purchasers of converter boxes. The participation rate is the number of OTA requests divided by CEA’s estimated 

market. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. I now call upon the Assistant Secretary for Aging, Department of Health and Human 

Services, the Honorable Josefina Carbonell. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEFINA G. CARBONELL, ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY FOR AGING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Ms. CARBONELL. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Members of the 

Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. 

I am pleased to report that the U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services has been working in partnership with the FCC 

and NTIA to ensure that the people that we serve receive the information and assistance they need to make the transition from analog to digital broadcast on February 17, 2009. 

32 

Earlier this year, Secretary Leavitt established a work group to 

ensure that HHS is doing everything it can to get that message 

out. Many of the people that we serve at the Department, the elderly, people with disabilities, low-income, minorities, geographically isolated, homebound, and limited English-speaking, are the 

primary audiences for whom the impact will be most challenging. 

HHS has participated in events throughout the country to make 

our respective networks aware of the DTV transition and what we 

can do to make it successful. My written testimony has several examples and details of these efforts, but I would like to highlight 

those of my agency, the Administration on Aging. 

I am proud to report that we were one of the first agencies that 

FCC and NTIA approached to ensure that as the transition progressed, the unique needs of older Americans were being addressed. AoA has communicated information about the DTV transition to our national aging services network, which is comprised of 

56 State Units on Aging; 655 local planning and service entities 

called Area Agencies on Aging; 239 tribal and native organizations, 

representing more than 300 tribes; 29,000 local community service 

provider organizations; and more than half a million volunteers. 

These organizations are disseminating the information further 

down to their respective partners, staff, and volunteer networks at 

the community level where it counts. 

We accomplish our mission through the provision of critical services to more than 10.7 million older individuals and family caregivers, and we are in contact with older adults every day. 

Our community service provider organizations are visible and 

trusted sources of information and are most often the place where 

older adults turn for help. Data indicates that seniors are more 

likely to have older analog television sets and are less likely to 

have cable television service. Some may face physical, financial, or 

transportation issues that limit their ability to successfully make 

the transition to digital TV. Additionally, many may not be familiar 

or, frankly, comfortable with the technology involved with this conversion. 

Building on the success of the network in the implementation of 

the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, we recognized 

early on that the network, the aging network, represented a perfect 

access point for reaching older and disabled adults. We have developed a very important coalition of national aging services organizations that represent a cross section of our local network. We have 

developed unique coordination efforts and meetings between NTIA 

and FCC and this coalition to really maximize their hands-on experience with the hard-to-reach. The coalition continues to fine-tune 

strategies and local plans for more targeted efforts in line with 

what the Assistant Secretary and the Chairman have mentioned, 

in providing direct education, one-on-one information, assistance in 

purchasing and acquiring converter boxes, as well help with installation of the boxes so that vulnerable older adults can successfully 

manage the DTV transition. 

AoA has also participated in several FCC and NTIA forums on 

DTV, and we applaud them for being responsive to the issues that 

we have raised. We were pleased that Secretary Gutierrez has announced that residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, 

33 

and households that use a post office box will be able to request 

coupons. 

We will continue to work in partnership with FCC and NTIA to 

distribute materials and information to our stakeholders and partners, as well as through our grantee and communication networks. 

This includes disseminating information through our electronic 

newsletter which reaches over 22,000 subscribers from national, 

State and local programs. 

While we have done op-ed articles in English and Spanish, we 

stand ready to do more articles, PSAs, television shows, to use all 

means that the Department has available to get the word out. 

We have had NTIA and FCC participate in many important and 

big national and State aging conferences and events, which reach 

thousands of providers, seniors, and family caregivers. 

At the community level, local senior centers, nutrition sites, 

adult day care programs, and Meals on Wheels programs are holding DTV information sessions. Many are working with the National 

Association of Broadcasters that has local TV broadcasters available to speak and participate in these events. At these events, seniors are provided not only with the critical information, but a 

hands-on demonstration in how to hook up the converter box. 

Our aging network in North Carolina was very involved in the 

Wilmington pilot test and has indicated that they have been working very closely with FCC representatives to help ensure a smooth 

transition, particularly for vulnerable individuals. 

Finally, HHS will continue to explore ways to reach out to our 

constituents to help ensure that no one is left out in the dark, and 

we are working together to help make this transition as successful 

as possible. 

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Carbonell follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEFINA CARBONELL, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

AGING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Chairman Inouye, Ranking Member Hutchison, and Members of the Committee, 

thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I am pleased to report that 

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been working in 

partnership with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ensure that the people we serve receive the information and assistance they need to make the transition from analog to digital TV broadcasts on February 17, 2009. Earlier this year 

in response to a request from FCC, Secretary Michael O. Leavitt established a work 

group of his operating divisions to encourage them to make special efforts to ensure 

that HHS was doing everything it could to get the message out. Many of the people 

we serve—the elderly, people who have disabilities, or are low-income, minorities, 

geographically isolated, homebound, or limited English speaking—are the primary 

audiences for whom the impact will be most challenging. 

HHS staff have participated in forums and meetings throughout the country in 

order to make our respective networks aware of the DTV transition and what our 

agencies can do to help make it successful. I would like to share with you just a 

few examples of what we are doing. 

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable. HRSA has forwarded FCC DTV information 

to approximately 4,000 grantee organizations who serve approximately 16 million 

low-income people. They have also worked with organizations such as the State Primary Care Offices, the Primary Care Associations and the National Association for 

Community Health Centers. These organizations which represent many more nonVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
34 

federally funded health centers and clinics nationwide were asked to post and distribute DTV flyers in their clinics and to distribute information to patients. 

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is responsible for Federal 

programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. Information has been distributed to their 1,600 Head 

Start grantees and Community Action Agencies, covering more than 18,000 centers 

around the country as well as through their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The Office of Community Services (OCS) within ACF promotes the TV 

Converter Box Coupon Program during public engagements and conferences and encourages grantees and partner associations to invite FCC representatives to their 

activities to help educate the public about the DTV transition. More specifically, 

OCS has distributed English and Spanish DTV Transition: February 17, 2009, ‘‘Are 

You Ready?’’ flyers to over 100 State Community Service Block Grant, 600 Community Action Agency and 500 Weatherization and Low-Income Energy Assistance Program staff; posted information on the websites of partner associations that represent 

over 1,000 Community Action Agencies; and facilitated coupon sign-up events with 

over 100 Social Services Block Grant and Community Services Block Grant grantees. The Child Care Bureau conducted several outreach activities to inform the child 

care community serving low-income children and families. Activities include disseminating the flyers at the 14th National American Indian/Alaska Native Child 

Care Conference which was attended by over 500 tribal organizations; and e-mailing 

the flyer to the 50 State and 5 territory Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) 

administrators with the request that the flyer be disseminated to the families 

served by the program. Approximately 1 million families are served in an average 

month with CCDF funds. The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) informed 

all State child support enforcement programs of the DTV initiative, prominently displayed the DTV transition logo and link on the OCSE website, and invited child 

support agencies to either download or order hard copies through OCSE of the material to share with their clientele. OCSE filled many requests for the material from 

various agencies. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has 

focused its mission on building resilience and facilitating recovery for people with 

or at risk for mental or substance use disorders. They are using their call center 

that responds to requests for information from approximately 50,000 individuals 

each month as a means of informing people about the DTV transition. 

The Indian Health Service (IHS) has distributed information to their 120 health 

facilities and worked with Tribes to distribute consumer information to an additional 300 tribally managed health facilities. 

Finally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will embark on 

its fall Open Enrollment period from November 15 to December 31, 2008 where they 

will be reaching out to 44 million people with Medicare through approximately 

10,000 events to enroll in a drug plan, review their health care and drug coverage, 

and make changes. CMS has agreed to share information with partner organizations about the DTV transition as a part of their outreach efforts using information 

provided by the NTIA. 

I am proud to report that my agency, the Administration on Aging (AoA), was one 

of the first agencies in the Federal Government that FCC and NTIA approached to 

work in partnership with them because they wanted to ensure that as the transition 

progressed the special and unique needs of older Americans were being addressed. 

As you know, AoA oversees the national aging services network (the network) which 

is comprised of 56 State Units on Aging designated by each Governor; 655 local 

planning and service entities in geographic regions in the states known as Area 

Agencies on Aging; 239 tribal and native organizations, representing more than 300 

Tribes; 29,000 local community service provider organizations; and more than 

500,000 volunteers. We accomplish our mission through the provision of critical 

services to more than 10.7 million older individuals and family caregivers; 3 million 

of whom require intensive home care services; the provision of an array of health 

and social supports through 13 million information and referral contacts and by providing over 20 million people with outreach and information about services; by providing over 28 million rides to meal sites, doctor’s offices and other critical activities; 

and by serving 237 million meals to prevent and manage chronic diseases. So you 

can see that we are in contact with older adults everyday. The community service 

provider organizations in our network consist of local community-based and faithbased organizations who are the visible and trusted source of information in the 

community and most often the place were older adults will turn for help. 

Data indicate that seniors are more likely to have older analog television sets and 

are less likely to have cable television service. Many face physical, financial or 

transportation limitations that will impact their ability to successfully make the 

35 

transition to digital television. Additionally, many may not be familiar or comfortable with the technology involved with the conversion. Although consumer education efforts are important, we also recognize the need to safeguard against up selling as well as fraud and abuse and the need to address the impact of requiring 

physical assistance related to installation, repairs and service of converter boxes. 

Providing consumer education and information does not produce access to converter 

boxes nor does it produce appropriate installation of them for a frail, mobility challenged population who rely on television as a primary source of critical information 

such as weather and emergency announcements; for a sense of connectedness and 

for entertainment. Building on the successful outreach, education and individual assistance provided by the network in the implementation of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage and Preventive Benefits, we recognized early on that the 

network represented a perfect access point for reaching the older adults who would 

be most affected by the digital television conversion. 

When NTIA reached out to us in the summer of 2007, we immediately agreed to 

help them with this effort. One of the first things that we did was to reach out to 

a coalition of national aging services organizations and advocacy groups representing the network. AoA granted access to and facilitated meetings and discussions with NTIA and FCC. Each of the 11 organizations in the coalition have a focus 

on the needs of older adults, particularly those most in need of services and supports as they age and/or those in diverse communities. They have experience in developing approaches to reach out and assist the most at-risk older adults and their 

caregivers. They have experience in reaching the hard-to-reach; such as rural, isolated and limited English-speaking older individuals. And they have well-established aging-related communications channels and networks. 

Currently, the coalition is working toward providing direct education; one-on-one 

information; assistance in purchasing and acquiring converter boxes; as well as installation of the boxes so that vulnerable older adults can successfully manage the 

DTV transition. The members of the coalition communicate on a regular basis and 

we are working with them to identify ways in which they could use the strengths 

of each group to maximize and leverage their resources at the local level. 

AoA has participated in several FCC and NTIA forums on DTV and we applaud 

them for listening to our recommendations and being responsive to the issues we 

raised. We will continue to work in partnership with FCC and NTIA to provide information at aging conferences and exhibits occurring through the balance of the 

year. We will continue to distribute materials and information through our grantee 

and communications networks, such as our electronic newsletter that has 22,000 

subscribers, as well as to our stakeholders and partners. Finally, we will refresh or 

update our website to ensure that links remain in a prominent location. 

Currently at the community level, local senior centers, nutrition sites and other 

agencies are holding DTV information sessions. Many are working in partnership 

with the National Association of Broadcasters that has a DTV Speakers Bureau 

made up of local TV station broadcasters and others who are available to speak at 

local events. At these events, seniors are provided not only with information, but 

a hands-on demonstration on how to hook-up the converter box. 

Additionally, Wilmington, North Carolina was the first market to test the transition to digital television (DTV) in advance of the nationwide transition to DTV on 

February 17, 2009. The commercial broadcasters serving the Wilmington television 

market voluntarily agreed to turn off their analog signals at noon on September 8, 

2008. Our State and local aging agencies in North Carolina were very involved in 

the Wilmington test and have indicated that they have been working very closely 

with FCC representatives to help ensure a smooth transition. 

We were pleased to learn that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez announced last Tuesday that residents of licensed nursing homes, intermediate care 

facilities, assisted living facilities and households that use a post office box for mail 

delivery will be eligible to request coupons from the DTV Converter Box Coupon 

Program. This was an issue raised early on by aging advocates and this ruling demonstrates we are all working together to help make this transition as successful as 

possible. 

Finally, the Department of Health and Human Services will continue to explore 

ways that we can reach out to our constituents to help ensure that no one is left 

in the dark on February 18, 2009. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be pleased to answer any 

questions you may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. I thank you very much, Madam Secretary. 

36 

And may I now call upon the Director of the Physical Infrastructure Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office, Mr. Mark 

Goldstein? 

STATEMENT OF MARK L. GOLDSTEIN, DIRECTOR, PHYSICAL 

INFRASTRUCTURE, U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

OFFICE (GAO) 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Dorgan. 

Good afternoon. I am pleased to be here today to discuss the GAO’s 

recent issuance of a report last week on NTIA’s implementation of 

the mandated converter box subsidy program. 

The Federal Government and the private sector have taken many 

steps to prepare for the DTV transition. NTIA created and implemented a digital-to-analog converter box subsidy program. Additionally, the Government, the television broadcast industry, cable, 

and satellite providers and other carriers with broadcast signals 

have established several educational efforts informing consumers 

about the transition and the subsidy program. 

However, the success of the DTV transition and the subsidy program requires consumers understanding about the transition and 

the steps needed to continue receiving a television signal. In addition, consumers will rely on retailers to provide information, as 

well as to supply eligible converter boxes for the program. 

In my testimony today, I discuss, number one, what consumer 

education efforts have been undertaken by private and Federal 

stakeholders and, number two, how effective NTIA has been in implementing the converter box subsidy program and to what extent 

consumers are participating in the program. 

First, private sector and Federal stakeholders have undertaken 

various consumer education efforts to raise awareness about the 

transition. For example, the National Association of Broadcasters 

and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association have 

committed over $1.4 billion to educate consumers about the transition. This funding has supported the development of public service 

announcements, education programs for broadcast, websites and 

other activities. 

In addition, most national retailers participating in the converter 

box subsidy program have developed consumer education campaigns to raise awareness of the transition and the subsidy program. 

Federal stakeholders, FCC and NTIA, have developed consumer 

education plans that target those populations most likely to be affected by the transition, and particularly they have focused their 

outreach efforts on certain demographic groups, including seniors, 

low-income, minority, and non-English-speaking, rural households, 

and persons with disabilities. 

Second, NTIA is effectively implementing the converter box subsidy program, but plans to address the likely increase in coupon demand as the transition nears remain unclear. As of August 31, 

2008, NTIA had issued approximately 24 million coupons, and as 

of that date, approximately 13 percent of U.S. households had requested coupons. As found in our recent consumer survey, however, 

up to 35 percent of U.S. households could be affected by the transition because they have at least one television not connected to a 

37 

subscription service, such as cable or satellite. In U.S. households 

relying solely on over-the-air broadcasts, approximately 15 percent, 

of those who intend to purchase a converter box, 100 percent of our 

survey respondents said they were likely to request a coupon. 

Therefore, a spike in demand for converter box coupons is likely as 

the transition date nears. 

According to NTIA, an increase in requests around the transition 

date may cause a delay in issuing coupons. However, we found that 

NTIA had no specific plans to address an increase in demand and 

that it has encountered challenges in issuing coupons within its requirement of 10 to 15 days from the date the coupon application 

was approved. 

Given the challenges to meet this requirement and its lack of a 

clear plan to address a potential spike in demand, consumers might 

incur significant wait times to receive their coupons and might lose 

television service if their wait time lasts beyond February 17, 2009. 

In terms of participation in the converter box subsidy program, 

we analyzed coupon data in the areas of the country comprised of 

predominantly minority and senior populations and found that participation varies. For example, we found that ZIP codes with a high 

concentration of Latino or Hispanic households had noticeably 

higher coupon request rates, 28 percent, when compared to areas 

with predominantly non-Latino or non-Hispanic households, about 

12 percent. We also found households in both predominantly black 

and Hispanic or Latino areas were less likely, compared to households outside those areas, to redeem their coupons once they receive them. 

Additionally, we analyzed participation in the converter box subsidy program in the 45 areas of the country on which NTIA and 

FCC focus their consumer education efforts and found coupon requests to be roughly the same for ZIP codes within the 45 targeted 

areas compared with areas that were not targeted. 

NTIA estimates that it will see a large increase in the number 

of coupon requests in the first quarter of 2009, and our analysis 

confirms that. As the transition nears, a spike in coupon requests 

is likely. However, NTIA has not developed a plan for managing 

that potential spike or the sustained increase. The time required 

for processing coupons has improved since consumers incurred significant wait times to receive their coupons at the beginning of the 

program, but until recently, NTIA fell short of this requirement for 

processing coupons within the allotted time. Consequently, consumers may still face potential risks. 

To help NTIA prepare for potential increase in demand for converter box coupons and so that consumers are not left waiting a 

lengthy period of time for requested coupons, the report we released last week recommended that the Secretary of Commerce direct NTIA to develop a plan to manage volatility in coupon requests so that coupons will be processed within the allotted time 

period. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be 

happy to respond to any questions you or the Committee may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Goldstein follows:] 

38 

1GAO, Digital Television Transition: Implementation of the Converter Box Subsidy Program 

Is Under Way, but Preparedness to Manage an Increase in Subsidy Demand Is Unclear, GAO– 

08–1040 (Washington, D.C.: September 16, 2008). 2 Eligible converter boxes range in price from $40 to over $90. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARK L. GOLDSTEIN, DIRECTOR, PHYSICAL

INFRASTRUCTURE, U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE (GAO) 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: 

I am pleased to be here today to discuss our recently issued report on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) implementation of the mandated converter box subsidy program.1

Federal law requires all full power television stations in the United States to 

cease analog broadcasting and broadcast digital-only transmissions after 

February 17, 2009—often referred to as the digital television (DTV) transition. Currently, most television broadcasters transmit over-the-air signals in both an analog 

and digital format to television households. After the transition, consumers who rely 

exclusively on over-the-air television signals viewed on analog sets will not be able 

to view broadcast programming, which could include important news information or 

emergency alerts, unless they take action. In particular, these consumers could: (1) 

purchase a television capable of processing digital signals, (2) purchase a digital-toanalog converter box that converts the digital signals to analog signals and enables 

their display on an analog set, or (3) subscribe to cable, satellite, or other service. 

The Federal Government and the private sector have taken several steps to prepare for the DTV transition. NTIA, a bureau within the U.S. Department of Commerce, created and implemented a digital-to-analog converter box subsidy program 

to provide households with up to two $40 coupons toward the purchase of converter 

boxes that allow consumers to continue viewing over-the-air signals on analog television sets.2 Additionally, the government, television broadcast industry, cable and 

satellite providers, and other carriers of broadcast signals have established several 

educational efforts informing consumers about the DTV transition and the subsidy 

program. However, the success of the DTV transition and the subsidy program requires consumers’ understanding about the transition and the steps needed to continue receiving a television signal. In addition, consumers will rely on retailers to 

provide information, as well as supply eligible converter boxes, for the subsidy program. 

In my testimony today, I will discuss: (1) what consumer education efforts have 

been undertaken by private and Federal stakeholders and (2) how effective NTIA 

has been in implementing the converter box subsidy program and to what extent 

consumers are participating in the program. 

To meet these objectives, we interviewed agency officials from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and NTIA and reviewed their consumer education 

documents, orders, rules and proposed rules. We also interviewed private sector 

stakeholders representing the broadcasting, retailer, manufacturing, and cable industries and reviewed publicly available information on their consumer education 

planning. Further, we discussed the effectiveness of consumer education efforts with 

various advocacy groups identified as NTIA partners that represent hard-to-reach 

populations. We also analyzed date-specific data from NTIA on coupon requests, 

issuance, redemptions, and expirations, and examined NTIA timeliness in issuing 

coupons from the beginning of the converter box subsidy program in January 

through August 2008. Due to report processing constraints the report this testimony 

is primarily based on only analyzed data from January through June 2008. We conducted data reliability testing and determined that the data used in this report were 

sufficiently reliable for our purposes. We conducted a ‘‘mystery shopper’’ study—i.e., 

discussing the transition with randomly selected retailers without identifying ourselves as government employees—to determine retailer preparedness for the converter box subsidy program including the level of retailer knowledge about the program and availability of converter boxes. The study, in which we visited 132 store 

locations in 12 cities, was conducted from April to early May 2008. We performed 

our review from February to September 2008 in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform 

the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 

our findings and conclusions based on our review objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based 

on our audit objectives. 

39 

3GAO, Digital Television Transition: Broadcasters’ Transition Status, Low-Power Station 

Issues, and Information on Consumer Awareness of the DTV Transition, GAO–08–881T (Washington, D.C.: June 10, 2008). 

Summary 

• Private sector and Federal stakeholders have undertaken various consumer 

education efforts to raise awareness about the DTV transition. For example, the 

National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association have committed over $1.4 billion to educate consumers about the transition. This funding has supported the development of 

public service announcements, education programs for broadcast, websites, and 

other activities. In addition, most national retailers participating in the converter box subsidy program have developed consumer education campaigns to 

raise awareness of the DTV transition and the subsidy program. Federal stakeholders (FCC and NTIA) have developed consumer education plans that target 

those populations most likely to be affected by the DTV transition. In particular, they focused their outreach efforts on certain demographic groups, including seniors, low-income, minority and non-English speaking, rural households, and persons with disabilities. 

• NTIA is effectively implementing the converter box subsidy program, but plans 

to address the likely increase in coupon demand as the transition nears remain 

unclear. As of August 31, 2008, NTIA had issued approximately 24 million coupons and as of that date approximately 13 percent of U.S. households had requested coupons. As found in our consumer survey, up to 35 percent of U.S. 

households could be affected by the transition because they have at least one 

television not connected to a subscription service, such as cable or satellite.3 In 

U.S. households relying solely on over-the-air broadcasts (approximately 15 percent), of those who intend to purchase a converter box, 100 percent of survey 

respondents said they were likely to request a coupon. Therefore, a spike in demand for converter box coupons is likely as the transition date nears. According 

to NTIA, an increase in requests around the transition date may cause a delay 

in issuing coupons. However, we found NTIA has no specific plans to address 

an increase in demand and that it has encountered challenges in issuing coupons within its requirement of 10 to 15 days from the date the coupon application was approved. Given the challenges to meet this requirement and its lack 

of a clear plan to address a potential spike in demand, consumers might incur 

significant wait time to receive their coupons and might lose television service 

if their wait time lasts beyond February 17, 2009. In terms of participation in 

the converter box subsidy program, we analyzed coupon data in areas of the 

country comprised of predominantly minority and senior populations and found 

that participation varies. For example, we found that ZIP codes with a high concentration of Latino or Hispanic households had noticeably higher coupon request rates (28 percent) when compared to areas with predominantly nonLatino or non-Hispanic households (12 percent). We also found households in 

both predominantly black and Hispanic or Latino areas were less likely, compared to households outside these areas, to redeem their coupons once they received them. Additionally, we analyzed participation in the converter box subsidy program in the 45 areas of the country on which NTIA and FCC focused 

their consumer education efforts and found coupon requests to be roughly the 

same for zip codes within the 45 targeted areas compared with areas that were 

not targeted. 

Background 

The DTV transition will require citizens to understand the transition and the actions that some might have to take to maintain television service. For those households with subscription video service on all televisions or with all televisions capable 

of processing a digital signal, no action is required. However, households with analog televisions that rely solely on over-the-air television signals received through 

rooftop or indoor antennas must take action to be able to view digital broadcast signals after analog broadcasting ceases. The Digital Television Transition and Public 

Safety Act of 2005 addresses the responsibilities of two Federal agencies—FCC and 

NTIA—related to the DTV transition. The act directs FCC to require full-power television stations to cease analog broadcasting after February 17, 2009. The act also 

directed NTIA to establish a $1.5 billion subsidy program through which households 

can obtain coupons toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes. In August 2007, NTIA selected International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) as the 

contractor to provide certain services for the program. On January 1, 2008, NTIA, 

40 

4With the additional $510 million, total program funding is $1.5 billion, which includes up 

to $1.34 billion in coupon funds and up to $160 million in administrative funds. 

in conjunction with IBM and in accordance with the act, began accepting applications for up to two $40 coupons per household that can apply toward the purchase 

of eligible digital-to-analog converter boxes and, in mid-February 2008, began mailing the coupons. Initially, during the first phase of the program any household is 

eligible to request and receive the coupons, but once $890 million worth of coupons 

has been redeemed, and issued but not expired, NTIA must certify to Congress that 

the program’s initial allocation of funds is insufficient to fulfill coupon requests. 

NTIA will then receive $510 million in additional program funds, but households 

requesting coupons during this second phase must certify that they do not receive 

cable, satellite, or any other pay television service. As of June 24, 2008, in response 

to NTIA’s statement certifying that the initial allocation of funds would be insufficient, all appropriated coupon funds were made available to the program.4 Consumers can request coupons up to March 31, 2009, and coupons can be redeemed 

through July 9, 2009. As required by law, all coupons expire 90 days after issuance. 

As unredeemed coupons expire, the funds obligated for those coupons are returned 

to the converter box subsidy program. 

Retailer participation in the converter box subsidy program is voluntary, but participating retailers are required to follow specific program rules to ensure the proper 

use and processing of converter box coupons. Retailers are obligated to, among other 

things, establish systems capable of electronically processing coupons for redemption 

and payment and tracking transactions. Retailers must also train their employees 

on the purpose and operation of the subsidy program. According to NTIA officials, 

NTIA initially explored the idea of setting requirements for training content, but decided to allow retailers the flexibility of developing their own training programs and 

provided retailers with sample training materials. Certification requires retailers to 

have completed an application form by March 31, 2008, and to attest that they have 

been engaged in the consumer electronics retail business for at least one year. Retailers must also register in the government’s Central Contractor Registration data 

base, have systems or procedures that can be easily audited and that can provide 

adequate data to minimize fraud and abuse, agree to be audited at any time, and 

provide data tracking each coupon with a corresponding converter box purchase. 

NTIA may revoke retailers’ certification if they fail to comply with these regulations 

or if any of their actions are deemed inconsistent with the subsidy program. Converter boxes can also be purchased by telephone or online and be shipped directly 

to a customer’s home from participating retailers. At the time of our review, 29 online retailers were participating in the converter box subsidy program. Additionally, 

13 telephone retailers were listed as participating in the program, 2 of which are 

associated with national retailers. 

Private and Federal Stakeholders Have Undertaken a Myriad of Activities 

Aimed at Increasing the Public’s Awareness of the Transition 

Private sector stakeholders, such as broadcasters and cable providers, have undertaken various education efforts to increase public awareness about the DTV transition. The NAB and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association initiated DTV transition consumer education campaigns in late 2007 at an estimated 

value of $1.4 billion combined. NAB has produced six versions of a public service 

announcement, including 15-second and 30-second versions in both English and 

Spanish and close-captioned versions. Private sector stakeholders have also produced DTV transition educational programs for broadcast and distribution, developed websites that provide information on the transition, and engaged in various 

other forms of outreach to raise awareness. Additionally, most of the national retailers participating in the NTIA converter box subsidy program are providing materials to help inform their customers of the DTV transition and the subsidy program. 

Examples of these materials include informational brochures in English and Spanish, educational videos and in-store displays in English and Spanish, informational 

content on retailer websites, and information provided in retailer advertising in 

Sunday circulars. 

FCC and NTIA also have ongoing DTV consumer education efforts, which target 

populations most likely to be affected by the DTV transition. Specifically, they focused their efforts on 45 areas of the country that have at least 1 of the following 

population groups: (1) more than 150,000 over the-air households, (2) more than 20 

percent of all households relying on over-the-air broadcasts, or (3) a top 10 City of 

residence for the largest target demographic groups. The target demographic groups 

include seniors, low-income, minority and non-English speaking, rural households, 

and persons with disabilities. According to NTIA, its consumer education efforts will 

41 

5Our redemption rate was calculated by dividing the number of redeemed coupons by the 

total number of issued coupons as of August 31, 2008. The total number of issued coupons includes coupons which had been redeemed, had expired, and had not yet expired as of that date. 6For the purposes of our analysis, we assumed that all coupons were issued in the order they 

were received. According to NTIA, coupon issuance was to begin 1 year from the transition. 

Therefore the processing time between coupon requests and issuance was calculated beginning 

on February 17, 2008. 

specifically target these 45 areas by leveraging partnerships and earned media spots 

(such as news stories or opinion editorials) to better reach the targeted populations. 

FCC indicated that while its outreach efforts focus on the targeted hard-to-reach 

populations, the only effort specifically targeting the 45 locations has been to place 

billboards in these communities. According to FCC, contracts exist for billboards in 

26 of the 45 markets, and it is working to place billboards in the other 19 markets. 

Furthermore, FCC and NTIA have developed partnerships with some Federal, state, 

and local organizations that serve the targeted hard-toreach populations. 

NTIA is Effectively Implementing the Converter Box Subsidy Program, But 

Concerns Exist about NTIA’s Ability to Manage a Potential Spike in 

Demand 

NTIA has processed and issued coupons to millions of consumers, but a sharp increase in demand might affect NTIA’s ability to respond to coupon requests in a 

timely manner. NTIA and its contractors have implemented systems: (1) to process 

coupon applications, (2) to produce and distribute coupons to consumers, and (3) for 

retailers to process coupons and receive reimbursement for the coupons from the 

government. Millions of consumers have requested converter box coupons and most 

of the requested coupons have been issued. Through August 2008, households had 

requested approximately 26 million coupons. NTIA had issued over 94 percent of all 

coupon requests, for more than 24 million coupons. Of those coupons issued, about 

9.5 million (39 percent) had been redeemed and 31 percent had expired.5 After an 

initial spike at the beginning of the program, coupon requests have remained steady 

and have averaged over 105,000 requests per day. Coupon redemptions, since coupons were first issued in February 2008, have averaged over 48,000 per day. 

In our consumer survey, we found that 35 percent of U.S. households are at risk 

of losing some television service because they have at least one television not connected to a subscription service, such as cable or satellite. However, through August 

2008, only 13 percent of U.S. households had requested converter box coupons, and 

less than 5 percent had redeemed these coupons. As the transition date nears, there 

is the potential that many affected households that have not taken action might 

begin requesting coupons. Our consumer survey found that of those at risk of losing 

some television service and intending to purchase a converter box, most will likely 

request a coupon. In fact, in households relying solely on over-the-air broadcasts 

(approximately 15 percent), of those who intend to purchase a converter box, 100 

percent of survey respondents said they were likely to request a coupon. 

Consumers have incurred significant wait times in the processing of their coupon 

requests, but the processing time from receiving requests to issuing coupons is improving. NTIA requires that 98 percent of all coupon requests be issued within 10 

days, and the remainder be issued within 15 days. From February 17 through August 31, 2008, our analysis shows that the average duration between coupon request 

and issuance was over 16 days.6 In aggregate, 53 percent of all coupon requests had 

been issued within 10 days, and 39 percent of all coupon requests had been issued 

more than 15 days after being requested. From May 1 through August 31, 2008, the 

average processing time from coupon request to issuance was 9 days. 

Given the processing time required in issuing coupons, NTIA’s preparedness to 

handle volatility in coupon demand is unclear. Fluctuation in coupon requests, including the potential for a spike in requests as the transition date approaches, could 

adversely affect consumers. When NTIA faced a deluge of coupon requests in the 

early days of the converter box subsidy program, it took weeks to bring down the 

deficit of coupons issued to coupons requested. According to NTIA, it expects a similar increase in requests around the transition date, and such an increase may cause 

a delay in issuing coupons. As a result, consumers might incur significant wait time 

before they receive their coupons and might lose television service during the time 

they are waiting for the coupons. While NTIA and its contractors have demonstrated the capacity to process and issue large numbers of coupon requests over 

short periods, they have yet to establish specific plans to manage a potential spike 

or a sustained increase in demand leading up to the transition. 

We analyzed data to compare areas of the country that comprise predominantly 

minority and elderly populations with the rest of the U.S. population and found 

some differences in the coupon request, redemption, and expiration rates for HisVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
42 

panic, black, and senior households compared with the rest of the U.S. population. 

For example, ZIP codes with a high concentration of Latino or Hispanic households 

had noticeably higher request rates (28 percent) when compared with non-Latino or 

non-Hispanic zip codes (12 percent). However, households in predominantly black 

and Latino or Hispanic zip codes were less likely, compared with households outside 

these areas, to redeem their coupons once they received them. As shown in table 

1, the overall rate of redemption for the converter box subsidy program is 39 percent. Approximately 37 percent of coupons have been redeemed in predominantly 

Latino or Hispanic areas. In predominantly black areas, 32 percent of coupons have 

been redeemed. We found that in areas of the country with a high concentration 

of seniors, fewer coupons were requested (9 percent) compared with areas of the 

country that did not have a high concentration of seniors (13 percent). Redemption 

rates for the senior population were lower than the redemption rates in the rest of 

the country. Regarding coupon expirations, we found that the areas comprising 

Latino or Hispanic households allowed 27 percent of their coupons to expire, while 

areas with predominantly senior populations allowed 43 percent of their coupons to 

expire. 

Table 1.—Request, Redemption, and Expiration Rates of Converter Box Coupons through August 2008 

Request rate Redemption rate Expiration rate 

U.S. population 12.5 39.0 30.5 

Latino or Hispanic 27.5 36.6 26.8 

Black 13.4 31.5 30.3 

Seniors 8.7 34.0 43.2 

Source: GAO analysis of NTIA data. 

To determine participation in the converter box subsidy program in the 45 areas 

of the country receiving targeted outreach by NTIA and FCC, we analyzed NTIA 

coupon data (including requests, redemptions, and expirations) in the 45 areas compared to the rest of the country not targeted by NTIA and FCC. We found participation levels were about the same in the targeted areas when compared to the rest 

of the country. For example, we found in the 45 targeted areas, 12.2 percent of 

households have requested coupons compared with 12.8 percent for the rest of the 

country not targeted by NTIA and FCC. According to NTIA, similarities in request, 

redemption, and expiration rates between the 45 targeted areas and the rest of the 

country is viewed as a success. 

As the sellers of the converter boxes, retailers play a crucial role in the converter 

box subsidy program and are counted on to inform consumers about it. At the time 

of our review, seven national retailers were certified to participate in the subsidy 

program. Participating retailers are obligated to, among other things, train employees on the purpose and operation of the subsidy program. All of the retailers with 

whom we spoke told us they were training employees on the DTV transition and 

the subsidy program, although the retailers varied in which staff must complete 

training. 

As part of our work, we conducted a ‘‘mystery shopper’’ study by visiting 132 randomly selected retail locations in 12 cities across the United States that were listed 

as participating in the converter box subsidy program. We did not alert retailers 

that we were visiting their stores or identify ourselves as government employees. 

During our visits, we engaged the retailers in conversation about the DTV transition 

and the subsidy program to determine whether the information they were providing 

to customers was accurate and whether individual stores had coupon-eligible converter boxes available. While not required to do so, some stores we visited had informational material available and others had signs describing the DTV transition and 

the subsidy program. We also determined whether the information that retailers 

were providing to customers was accurate and whether individual stores had coupon-eligible converter boxes available. At most retailers (118) we visited, a representative was able to correctly identify that the DTV transition would occur in 

February 2009. Additionally, nearly all (126) retailers identified a coupon-eligible 

converter box as an option available to consumers to continue watching television 

after the transition. Besides coupon eligible converter boxes, representatives identified other options to continue viewing television after the transition, including purchasing a digital television (67) or subscribing to cable or satellite service (77). However, in rare instances, we heard erroneous information from the retailers, including 

one representative who told us that an option for continuing to watch television 

after the transition was to obtain a ‘‘cable converter box’’ from a cable company and 

43 

another representative who recommended buying an ‘‘HD tuner.’’ Since participating 

retailers are obligated to train their employees on the purpose and operation of the 

subsidy program, we observed whether the representative was able to explain various aspects about the subsidy program. A vast majority of the representatives were 

able to explain how to receive or apply for a coupon and the value of the coupon. 

Although we could obtain information from the majority of the stores that we visited and that were listed as participating in the subsidy program, in a few instances, we were not able to ask questions and observe whether the information provided was accurate. In two instances, there was no retailer at the store location listed as a participating retailer on NTIA’s website (https://www.dtv2009.gov/ 

VendorSearch.aspx). In another instance, the location listed was under construction 

and had not yet opened. In two additional instances, the locations listed were private residences—one was an in-home electronics store, and the other was a satellite 

television installer working from a house. We asked NTIA how it ensured the accuracy of the list of participating retailers on its website, and according to NTIA, ensuring the accuracy of the list is the responsibility of the retailers. NTIA said it provides a list of locations to each retailer prior to placing the list on the website, and 

retailers can update addresses or add new listings as warranted. 

Conclusions and Recommendation 

NTIA estimates that it will see a large increase in the number of coupon requests 

in the first quarter of 2009 and our analysis confirms that, as the transition nears, 

a spike in coupon requests is likely. However, NTIA has not developed a plan for 

managing that potential spike or sustained increase in coupon demand. The time 

required for processing coupons has improved since consumers incurred significant 

wait times to receive their coupons at the beginning of the program, but until recently NTIA fell short of its requirement for processing coupons within 10 to 15 

days. Given the relatively low participation rates to date and the amount of time 

it took to process the spike in coupon requests in the early days of the program, 

NTIA’s ability to handle volatility in coupon demand without a plan is uncertain. 

Consequently, consumers face potential risks that they might not receive their coupons before the transition and might lose their television service. 

To help NTIA prepare for a potential increase in demand for converter box coupons and so that consumers are not left waiting a lengthy amount of time for requested coupons, the report we issued September 16, 2008, recommended that the 

Secretary of Commerce direct the Administrator of the NTIA to develop a plan to 

manage volatility in coupon requests so that coupons will be processed and mailed 

within 10–15 days from the day the coupon applications are approved, per NTIA’s 

stated requirement. 

In reviewing a draft of the report, the Department of Commerce (which contains 

NTIA) did not state whether it agreed or disagreed with our recommendation, but 

did say the Department shares our concern about an increase in coupon demand as 

the transition nears. Further, its letter stated it is committed to doing all that it 

can within its statutory authority and existing resources to ensure that all Americans are ready for the DTV transition. In its letter, FCC noted consumer outreach 

efforts it has taken related to the DTV transition. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions you or other Members of the Committee may have at this 

time. 

The CHAIRMAN. I thank you very much, Mr. Director. 

And our final witness is the Mayor of Wilmington, the Honorable 

Bill Saffo. Mr. Mayor? 

STATEMENT OF HON. BILL SAFFO, MAYOR, 

CITY OF WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 

Mr. SAFFO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, members of 

the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to share the City of 

Wilmington’s perspective on being the first in the country to make 

the DTV switch. It is an honor to be invited here to speak. My 

name is Bill Saffo, and I am the Mayor of the City of Wilmington, 

North Carolina. 

My office was contacted on May 6, 2008, by Mr. Gary McNair, 

General Manager for WECT TV, the NBC affiliate in Wilmington, 

44 

inviting me to attend the press conference here in Washington on 

May the 8th announcing that the City of Wilmington was chosen 

by the FCC to be the first in the country to switch from analog to 

digital television. While I was excited for this historical event to 

occur in our great city, I was also concerned and apprehensive 

about being the first. Would the FCC make available to us the necessary resources to inform, educate, and to provide converter boxes 

for our residents by the big switch date of September 8? 

I am proud to say that those concerns were quickly diminished 

as meetings and conversations began immediately between my office and members of the FCC, Chairman Martin, and the staff of 

Mr. Louis Sigalos, Chief of Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division. It was clear to me that the staff at the FCC had all intentions 

to be by our side through this transition, even setting up a local 

office in our Chamber of Commerce. They outlined their plan to 

have an FCC staff person assigned to each of the five counties involved in this digital transition. That representative then worked 

with local government officials, broadcasters, community and business leaders, and the public at large to saturate each county with 

information on this coming event. Through their resources, they set 

up informational events at our local festivals, farmers’ markets, 

senior centers, churches, civic organizations, low-income apartments, and the Department of Social Services. They truly seemed 

to be everywhere educating our residents and answering their 

questions. 

I also want to thank the various retailers who planned accordingly to have plenty of converter boxes in stock and staff members 

who were knowledgeable and able to assist the public with answers 

to their questions. Our local broadcasters also played another key 

role as they frequently advertised informative commercials reminding the viewers of the big switch date happening in Wilmington on 

September 8. I feel that the collaborative effort of this private-public partnership was a key component to the success of this event. 

Another important segment in our community that they met 

with was the emergency management teams. Being in hurricane 

alley, it was vital that this group was informed and their concerns 

addressed. Many residents depend on the use of battery-powered 

analog TVs as their means of obtaining critical information after a 

hurricane event. Both residents and emergency management personnel expressed apprehension about turning off the analog signal 

while in the middle of our hurricane season. The FCC addressed 

those concerns by telling us that in the event of an approaching 

hurricane, first, they would not make the switch, and second, that 

they would give our local broadcasters the ability to switch over to 

an analog signal in the event of a hurricane. I must compliment 

the FCC and especially Chairman Kevin Martin for their foresight 

as these two things eased the concerns of our emergency management folks, as well as our citizens. 

The other main concern in our area was making contact with the 

elderly and those who depend solely on the over-the-air TV signals 

through the use of rabbit ears and/or roof-top antennas. The overall 

education and public awareness by our local broadcasters and the 

FCC was outstanding and yet, for all of the public outreach and 

45 

education, we still had residents that went dark after 12 o’clock on 

September 8, at noon. 

It was reported to me that predominantly the vast majority of 

the calls first received right after the switch were seniors who either did not want to even try to install the converter box or they 

attempted to install the box but were not finding success. It also 

appears that many of these callers were not scanning the channels 

after they installed their box or they would need to perform an additional scan after the big switch at noon in order to receive all of 

the channels. Many sons, daughters, and neighbors have been calling to request assistance for an elderly community member. 

As of September 15, the City of Wilmington had over 300 calls. 

80 percent needed technical assistance with their boxes over the 

telephone, while the other 20 percent needed more in-depth help of 

a home visit from the fire department. We have also been very successful using our fire personnel to help those needing technical assistance with their converter boxes and at the same time having 

our fire personnel check for working smoke alarms. We found most 

residents, who might be apprehensive with a stranger, were willing 

to let the firemen into their homes. 

Another surprise to us was that, in fact, after some time, many 

of our callers were not the elderly or the disabled looking for assistance, but were coming from the general public at large. 

A key component, I believe, to our success was conducting soft 

tests within our market. One was a 1-minute test, and the other 

was a 5-minute test, which alerted viewers if they were not 

equipped to view digital programming. Getting the information out 

to the public early on was very important. Having information 

available to the general public through many resources and at various locations throughout our community and throughout the fivecounty area was very important. Collaborative efforts from all 

areas of the marketplace, broadcasters, the FCC staff, retailers, 

government officials, were extremely important. And in conjunction 

with New Hanover County, a television and computer recycling day 

was held on August 30, which was also very beneficial. 

Problems experienced in Wilmington post switch were that we 

had too many callers for one staff person in the City of Wilmington. 

Most callers had properly installed the converter boxes, yet were 

unaware of the need to run the autoscan, which is a very important 

item. Callers were contacting the one designated help line to request assistance in setting up their secondary televisions within 

their residence, resulting in calls that were not an immediate priority, unlike the households who were not receiving any reception 

at all. 

And in a small sector of our population, there were still some 

that could not afford the converter box even with a coupon. The 

FCC grant money was designated for specific use and was not 

available to be used at the discretion of the local municipalities to 

assist this very small group of the population that could not even 

afford the converter box. 

Suggestions to other markets. My suggestion would be to inform 

the public to act early and not to wait as coupons take time to receive. Have a staff of individuals trained in both the technology 

and the installation of the converter boxes ready to handle the inVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
46 

flux of calls. The general public wanted to speak directly to someone immediately, not a voice mail or busy signal resulting in frustration, as you can imagine. 

And encourage local government offices to apply for grant funding through the FCC to be used for fuel and other costs associated 

with resolving problems after the switch to digital signals. We have 

had tremendous success with our local fire departments in getting 

personnel out to those properties and to those people that needed 

to have that assistance, especially the elderly and low-income 

neighborhoods that really treasured that assistance from our local 

fire department. And it was a great initiative on our behalf to get 

those folks out there. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Saffo follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BILL SAFFO, MAYOR, 

CITY OF WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the 

opportunity to share the City of Wilmington’s perspective on being the first in the 

country to make the DTV switch. It is an honor to be invited here to speak today. 

My name is Bill Saffo and I am the Mayor of the City of Wilmington, North Carolina. 

My office was contacted on May 6, 2008, by Mr. Gary McNair, General Manager 

for WECT TV in Wilmington, inviting me to attend the press conference here in 

Washington on May 8 announcing that the City of Wilmington was chosen by the 

FCC to be the first in the country to switch from analog to digital television. While 

I was excited for this historical event to occur in our great city, I was also concerned 

that being the first, would the FCC make available to us the necessary resources 

to inform, educate and to provide converter boxes to our residents by the Big Switch 

date of September 8? 

I am proud to say that those concerns were quickly diminished as meetings and 

conversations began immediately between my office and members of the FCC, 

Chairman Martin, and the staff of Mr. Louis Sigalos, Chief of Consumer Affairs & 

Outreach Division. It was clear to me that the staff of the FCC had all intentions 

to be by our side through this transition, even setting up a local office in our Chamber of Commerce. They outlined their plan to have a FCC staff person assigned to 

each of the five counties involved in this digital transition. That representative then 

worked with local government officials, broadcasters, community and business leaders, and the public at large to saturate each county with information on this coming 

event. Through their resources, they set up informational events at our local festivals, farmer’s market, senior centers, churches, civic organizations, low-income 

apartments and the department of social services. They truly seemed to be everywhere educating our residents and answering their questions. 

I also want to thank the various retailers who planned accordingly to have plenty 

of converter boxes in stock and staff members who were knowledgeable and able to 

assist the public with answers to their questions. Our local broadcasters also played 

another key role as they frequently advertised informative commercials reminding 

their viewers of the Big Switch date happening in Wilmington on September 8. I 

feel that the collaborative effort of this private—public partnership was a key component to the success of this event. 

Another important segment in our community that they met with was our emergency management teams. Being in hurricane alley, it was vital that this group was 

also informed and their concerns addressed. Many residents depend on the use of 

battery powered analog TV’s as their means of obtaining critical information after 

a hurricane event. Both residents and emergency management personnel expressed 

apprehension about turning off the analog signal while in the middle of our hurricane season. The FCC addressed those concerns by telling us that in the event of 

an approaching hurricane—— 

First they would not make the switch and second that they would give our local 

broadcasters the ability to switch over to analog signal. I must compliment the FCC 

and Chairman Martin for their foresight as these two things eased the concerns of 

our emergency management folks as well as our citizens. 

47 

The other main concern in our area was making contact with the elderly and 

those who depend solely on over-the-air TV signals through the use of rabbit ears 

and roof-top antennas. The overall education and public awareness by our local 

broadcasters and the FCC was outstanding and yet, for all of the public outreach 

and education, we still had residents that went dark on September 8 at noon. It 

was reported to me that predominately the vast majority of the calls first received 

right after the switch were seniors who either did not want to even try to install 

the converter box or they attempted to install the box but were not finding success. 

It also appears that many of these callers were not scanning the channels after they 

installed their box or, that they would need to perform an additional scan after the 

Big Switch at noon in order to receive all the channels. Many sons, daughters, and 

neighbors have been calling to request assistance for an elderly community member. 

As of September 15, the City of Wilmington had over 300 calls, 80 percent needed 

technical assistance with their boxes over the phone, while the other 20 percent 

needed more in-depth help of a home visit from the fire department. We have also 

been very successful using our fire personnel to help those needing technical assistance with their converter boxes and at the same time, having our fire personnel 

check for working smoke alarms. We found most residents, who might be apprehensive with a stranger, were willing to let firemen into their homes. Another surprise 

to us was that, in fact, after some time, many of our callers were not the elderly 

or disabled looking for assistance but were the general public at large. 

Key components to our success were: 

• Conducting soft tests within our market—one was a 1 minute test and the other 

was a 5 minute test—which alerted viewers if they were not equipped to view 

digital programming. 

• Getting the information out to the public early on. 

• Having information available to the general public through many resources and 

at various locations. 

• Collaborative efforts from all areas of the marketplace—broadcasters, FCC staff, 

retailers, government officials. 

• In conjunction with New Hanover County, a ‘‘Television and Computer Recycling Day’’ was held on August 30. 

Problems Experienced in Wilmington: 

• Post Switch—too many callers for one staff person. 

• Most callers had properly installed the converter boxes yet were unaware of the 

need to run autoscan. 

• Callers were contacting the one designated helpline to request assistance in setting up their ‘‘secondary televisions’’ within their residence; resulting in calls 

that were not an immediate priority unlike the households who were not receiving any reception at all. 

• In a small sector of our population, there were still some that could not afford 

the converter box even with a coupon. 

• The FCC grant money was designated for specific use and was not available to 

be used at the discretion of the local municipalities to assist this small group 

of the population. 

Suggestions to other markets: 

• Inform the public to act early not to wait as coupons take time to receive. 

• Have a staff of individuals trained in both the technology and the installation 

of the converter boxes ready to handle the influx of calls. 

• The general public wanted to speak directly to someone immediately, not a 

voice mail or busy signal; resulting in frustration. 

• Encourage local governmental offices to apply for grant funding through the 

FCC to be used for fuel and other costs associated with resolving problems after 

the switch to digital signals. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. 

I now recognize Senator Dorgan. 

48 

STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA 

Senator DORGAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and let 

me thank all five of you. I was not here for Chairman Martin’s 

presentation, but thank you for the work you are all doing with respect to the transition. 

I confess I am pretty nervous about this transition. They did this 

in England, as you know, over a rather lengthy period of time, 

staged it over a long period of time. 

And I want to ask you a couple of questions about Wilmington, 

if I might, described I think, Mr. Mayor, as a success. But just on 

one day just with a snap of the fingers, we are converting in this 

country. And in Wilmington, which was a test area, 4 months prior 

to the test, the FCC, the NTIA, and the industry began preparing. 

Chairman Martin, you indicated you had staff on the ground in 

every county. They attended more than 400 outreach events, distributed 85,000 publications. I think you made five personal visits 

to the Wilmington area to raise public awareness. 

The fact is that will not happen anywhere else in the country, 

and I think while it appears that Wilmington succeeded with that 

major kind of effort, nowhere else in America will that effort exist. 

And still you had nearly 2,000 telephone calls in the several days 

afterwards, which I assume would overwhelm anything that we 

have established on a national scale. 

So, Chairman Martin, do you see the test area—and I think this 

is the only one you are going to do this way. I think maybe there 

should be more, but do you see this test area as a success that 

demonstrates the potential for success early next year when we 

convert? 

Mr. MARTIN. Well, first, I think it is important—and as I said in 

my testimony, I do not think you can judge the success of what occurred in Wilmington based on what happened last week. Ultimately, whether this is a success or not is whether we are going 

to learn lessons that we can put in place so that it is successful 

next February. So the success in Wilmington or not will be judged 

by what happens next February. 

So, on the one hand, I would say that we may not be able to completely replicate everything that occurred in Wilmington, but we 

are going to be able to do a significant amount. We have already 

visited thousands of senior centers around the country. We have 

made thousands of presentations around the country. In addition, 

I think you have to put in context that what we were doing to educate the people in Wilmington was unique because the folks in Wilmington were not able to take advantage of any of the nationwide 

education efforts that are being put forth by the industry, the 

broadcasters, the cable industry, the consumer electronics industry. 

All of those educational efforts were geared toward next February. 

So those are efforts that the rest of the country is going to be able 

to take advantage of. 

Senator DORGAN. If you were to estimate today, when we do the 

transition at that moment, how many people in this country will 

essentially go dark and not have gotten a converter box or not be 

able to get a signal—as I understand it, we also have some digital 

cliff issues, which I will ask you about in a moment. But if you 

49 

were to estimate the number of Americans that you think we will 

not reach or will not take appropriate action to get a converter box, 

do you have any notion of how many Americans that will be? 

Mr. MARTIN. I think it is very difficult to estimate. The awareness among consumers today has increased dramatically, from 

about 35 to 40 percent a year ago to over 80 percent today. Some 

estimate over 90. In Wilmington, as we were approaching the transition, the NAB had done a survey and they said that 97 percent 

of the people were aware of the transition. The number of people 

who were unaware was very low in Wilmington as a result of the 

education efforts, and I think that the education efforts hopefully 

will be as successful around the country. There will always be some 

few number of people who may not be aware. 

Senator DORGAN. I think the issue is to drill down on awareness. 

Being aware and understanding are two very different concepts. I 

mean, somebody might be aware of something happening, but understanding what is going to happen and what they might be required to do to respond to it is something different. 

Let me ask on the issue of the converter boxes. We have put out 

$40 certificates. My understanding is most converter boxes are 

costing $60, although there is a $40 converter box on the market 

I am told that is not widely available. Tell me if there is a $40 box 

on the market, why is it not widely available. 

Mr. MARTIN. It took a little while for the $40 box to become 

available. But I agree with you. I think the consumer electronics 

retailer outlets need to be carrying the lowest available box that is 

currently on the market, that is available in the marketplace. And 

I have written to the consumer electronics companies and their 

representatives and said that they need to be carrying the $40 

boxes. I do not understand why they would not be carrying that as 

an option for consumers on the low end. 

Senator DORGAN. What percent of them are now carrying the 

boxes? I understand it is hard to find. 

Mr. MARTIN. None of them are carrying them. 

Senator DORGAN. None of them. So, again, I do not understand that. If we are giving out $40 coupons and most people are having 

to pay $60 for a converter box, and yet there is a $40 box available 

but not made available in the marketplace, why? 

Ms. BAKER. I will speak to that. Actually the box is available in 

169 stores, according to our contractor, as of this week. I think you 

are right. It is an important market pressure to bring the market 

prices of the other boxes down as well, and it is important to have 

it available in the marketplace. We are pleased to see it. 

The boxes have several different permissive features, and so I 

think this is an important one on the price feature. But there are 

34 analog pass-through boxes that are available, widely available 

in the market, that many consumers will want to purchase. There 

are some that have a smart antenna, which I also think is an important interface. There are some that have enhanced closed captions for the hearing impaired and some that have a video description which are to assist visually impaired customers. There are 150 

boxes out there. I think it is important for all of these boxes to be 

out there, and I am pleased to see the market working and the 

prices of these things coming down. 

50 

Senator DORGAN. Well, but are they coming down? If most of them are being sold at $60, that is 50 percent more than the $40 

box that most Americans do not have access to. 

Ms. BAKER. There are some now that are available at $44. There 

are some at $59. There are some that are free shipping when you 

use the phone option. If you order them on the phone, they will 

ship them to you for free. There are various market aspects that 

are covering various parts of the constituencies. 

Senator DORGAN. Let me just give you a North Dakota example. 

In North Dakota, 52,900 coupons have been requested, 21,000 have 

been used, and 13,000 have expired. Almost 14,000 have expired. 

What is going to happen with the expired coupons, and why do you 

think so few of the many coupons, 52,000 requested, 21,000 redeemed? Why so few redeemed and what is going to happen to the 

expired coupons? 

Ms. BAKER. We are actually pleased with the redemption rate of 

coupons. Many coupon programs you see are in the single-digit redemption rate. So we are pleased with the redemption rates and 

they do seem to be creeping up, which we also think is important. 

I have actually sat out at our call center, and when people call 

for coupons, they typically order two. We might have thought that 

they might have ordered one, but they typically order two. And it 

is more about ‘‘how many can I have’’, as opposed to ‘‘how many 

do I need?’’ So I think that may attribute to why we are seeing two 

being ordered instead of just one. 

Senator DORGAN. I would encourage you to do some review of 

that, perhaps some surveys and so on, to try to understand that 

number because my understanding is that the coupons that have 

expired will not be renewed. Is that correct? 

Ms. BAKER. They will not be reissued, but importantly, the 

money for those coupons is put back into the pot of money that will 

be recycled and more coupons will be sent out from those coupons 

that are not redeemed. 

Senator DORGAN. Mr. Goldstein, if you are among those of us 

who are worried about coming up to a date and just turning the 

switch—they did not do that in England, as I said, and I have read 

some about what the experience was in England. If you are one of 

those that is worried about problems in the days following that, 

what do you estimate to be the problems that will be most confronted? 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Senator Dorgan, we have talked, in the last couple of months as we have issued reports, about a number of different problems. One, of course, is awareness and the number of 

OTA households. 

You asked a few minutes ago about the difference between Wilmington and the United States as a whole. Wilmington has an 

over-the-air population of only about 7 percent, where the Nation 

is at about 15 percent based on our consumer survey. So roughly 

double. So you have to extrapolate to some extent the amount of 

problems that were faced in Wilmington and imagine what that 

might mean to the United States overall. 

We have reported about consumer problems, even though there 

is a considerable range of consumer awareness efforts ongoing from 

the private and the public sector. We have also talked about some 

51 

technical issues over time, including issues related to the same 

kinds of things that have occurred in Wilmington, coverage areas, 

inability to get the boxes up and running, need of assistance, inability to understand what is happening and when. We found a variety of problems of those kinds of nature. Antenna problems also 

we have raised. 

There is a lot of different problems that are going to affect both 

the consumer side and the broadcast side as we get closer to the 

date. Not all parts of the country, not all broadcasters at this point 

have their towers in the order that they need to be. There are still 

many issues that are unresolved. 

Senator DORGAN. I am just curious. Has anybody on the panel 

hooked up a converter box? 

Ms. BAKER. I have. A lot of them. 

Senator DORGAN. You have? 

Ms. BAKER. Yes, sir. 

Senator DORGAN. Successfully? 

Ms. BAKER. They are actually very simple. 

Senator DORGAN. Are they simple? 

Ms. BAKER. They are designed to be very simple. I understand 

that they can be technically challenging, but you know, putting 

batteries in a remote control can sometimes be technically challenging. So TV is personal and a lot of the communities, the vulnerable communities that we are reaching out to, the elderly, the 

rural, the disabled, the minorities, the low-incomes, these folks are 

not technically savvy and they do need assistance. It is a challenge. 

That is why we encourage people to really act early and try these 

boxes out, try to hook them up early. 

Senator DORGAN. One of the reasons I ask the question is I was 

asked to unplug a dishwasher at home last evening, and the instruction manual said that was easy as well. I am lucky I am still 

not working on it. 

Mr. SAFFO. Senator? 

Senator DORGAN. Yes? 

Mr. SAFFO. One thing we did experience when we did have the 

boxes that were connected successfully, sometimes the antennas, if 

they had antennas on the roof, had to be adjusted. Now, obviously, 

since Wilmington is a pretty flat area—it is in the coastal plain of 

southeastern North Carolina—if you get into a mountainous area, 

you get into an area which is a highly urbanized area with a lot 

of buildings or a hilly area, you might have some difficulty in the 

adjustment of those antennas. 

Senator DORGAN. Would the FCC provide for the Committee’s 

benefit the digital cliff areas? Or do you know where the cliff areas 

are where there will be some areas where the antenna will simply 

fail to pick up a signal once the conversion happens? 

Mr. MARTIN. One of the benefits of doing the test in Wilmington 

was to identify exactly where that digital cliff is and the impact of 

where viewers used to be able to get a signal and then were no 

longer able to. 

I think that there are two different issues that occurred in Wilmington that people should be aware of. 

I should just say, Senator, for the record I am nervous about 

what is going to occur in February as well. We are doing all that 

52 

we can to minimize that burden, but that does not mean I do not 

think everyone up here is nervous and concerned about it. 

But the bigger problem in Wilmington was not actually the result of the digital cliff. It was actually a result of one of the analog 

stations shrinking its coverage area and resulting in viewers who 

used to be able to have coverage no longer having it because of the 

shrinking of that coverage area. That was a much more significant 

problem in Wilmington than the digital cliff. It was only several 

hundred people in Wilmington, but the people that were impacted 

by the shrinking of the coverage was a much more significant problem. 

Senator DORGAN. The reason I ask that question is the topography of Wilmington is rather flat. In many parts of the country, 

you are going to have contoured land, and I am just curious whether that is going to affect what is called the digital cliff. 

But if you will submit whatever information the FCC can to us, 

that would be very helpful, with respect to this digital cliff. 

Mr. MARTIN. Of course. 

Senator DORGAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Senator Wicker? 

STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER F. WICKER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI 

Senator WICKER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Obviously, there has been quite a bit of testimony that I have 

missed. 

I appreciate the fact that we have concerns today about the elderly and their ability to participate in this transition. I am mindful of the fact that they rely, I think to a greater extent, on television for much of their information and much of it is over-the-air. 

I also appreciate the benefit of the experience that we received 

from Wilmington. 

Wilmington is a medium-sized city. What would the population 

of Wilmington be? 

Mr. SAFFO. Mr. Wicker, it is 100,000 within the city limits and 

187,000 total within the county of New Hanover, which is the second smallest county in North Carolina. 

Senator WICKER. Was the entire county part of this experiment? 

Mr. SAFFO. Yes, sir. Not only including New Hanover County, 

but also Brunswick County, Pender County, Columbus, and Bladen 

County. There were five counties all together. 

Senator WICKER. Well, I am sure that experience will be instructive to us. 

I wonder, Secretary Carbonell, if you have any information specific to the elderly in rural communities and if there is anything 

you can share with the Committee about that. 

Ms. CARBONELL. Well, particularly our experience on the 

ground—obviously, the aging services network which are the actual 

providers that are on the ground, over 29,000 organizations, are 

very knowledgeable of the area that they serve, know the clients, 

serve them in the majority of instances every day. 

We went through a similar historic experience, just in numbers 

of people, with the Medicare Part D prescription drug roll-out. And 

53 

it was a complicated matter in which people needed to look at the 

options available and choose the plans that best met their needs, 

which is similar to this situation because it is particular to the television set that they own right now, whether they have rabbit ears 

or they have a roof antenna. 

So the issues that we have been seeing across the country in 

those that have requested—we are prioritizing to make sure that 

our network prioritizes and serves and reaches out to those that 

are homebound, people that we are serving right now, providing 

home care, home-delivered meals. And that we are not only taking 

that information out, but that we are asking some of the actual 

home care workers to look at the kind of television set that these 

people have and assist them as they need to get the coupons, complete the application, and then make sure that when that box 

comes, if that person needs additional assistance, that there will be 

somebody, either a staff person that goes into the home to do the 

home care or a volunteer that delivers the meal or a volunteer from 

the community, just like you had in Wilmington where you had the 

fire department, the firemen actually helping, emergency rescue. 

These are folks that are working with our aging network day in 

and day out in our communities. 

But the most important thing is to make sure that we identify 

those pockets and target those people. So the work that we are fine 

tuning now, in coordination with the NTIA and FCC, really focuses 

on those target areas that are identified as either low enrollment 

or high concentrations of elderly people, similar to the mapping 

that we did for low-income subsidy under Medicare in areas where 

the enrollment efforts were much lower. So we are targeting, trying 

to sift that information together, and matching it with our community providers, and being able to get that assistance on the ground 

with the rest of the coalition members that are present in the community, which encompass the Rotary Club, other civic organizations. And actually, there has been a lot of participation with local 

television stations and broadcasters and also retailers in assisting 

with this. 

Senator WICKER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. 

Senator Klobuchar? 

STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Thank you for holding this hearing. 

And thank you, Mr. Mayor, for having this experiment occur in 

your city. I am sure it was not easy. And I am glad you have some 

good things to report. 

I just wanted to follow up what Senator Wicker was saying. It 

is my understanding of the houses that just had the traditional 

rabbit ears, something like 14,000—is that right? 

Mr. SAFFO. That is about right in the five-county area. Yes, 

ma’am. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And there were about 700—and we can talk 

with Chairman Martin about this, but 700 concerns raised or complaints afterward. Is that right? 

54 

Mr. SAFFO. In the jurisdiction that I represent, the calls that we 

received there at the fire department—and that was the folks that 

we used to address the issues—was about 300. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. So 300. 

Mr. SAFFO. Yes, ma’am. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And do you know where that number 700 

came from? 

Mr. MARTIN. The 700 number was the first-day calls we received. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. The first day calls. 

Mr. MARTIN. We received about 2,000 in total, but 700 on the 

first day. That is probably where you got that number. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. Thank you. And while the number seems small, when you look at my State, there are 430,000 

households that rely exclusively on over-the-air television. That is 

more than 20 percent of the households in my State. So you can 

see if you add that up, it is more than just hundreds where there 

is going to be an issue. 

And I appreciate, Chairman Martin, you saying that you are concerned about the fact that it is going to be less than 150 days from 

today we are going to be converting over. 

So I just want to follow up—I know you talked about this briefly, 

Chairman Martin—about some of the issues that went wrong that 

need to be fixed. And I remember at the earlier hearing we talked 

about this digital cliff, and I am just picturing in February in Minnesota—have you ever been on a roof with an antenna in February 

in Minnesota, Chairman Martin? 

Mr. MARTIN. Not in February. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. It is going to be just a little bit different 

than the mayor’s jurisdiction. So it is not an optimal time to suddenly learn that you have to upgrade your antenna. 

So could you talk a little bit about the digital cliff? And then we 

will go to this other issue of the analog signal contours. But if you 

could talk first about that and what we need to do about that and 

what it means. 

Mr. MARTIN. What it means is that in general most people, when 

you switch from analog to digital, will receive a better picture, an 

improved quality picture. Digital pictures are either on or off, 

whereas analog signals fade gradually over distance. So if you get 

a digital signal, it is a clearer picture, but there are certain people 

who would have gotten a fuzzy analog picture before, but will be 

unable to get a digital signal as a result. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And that is the digital cliff? 

Mr. MARTIN. That is right. And in general, when people talk 

about the differences in topography or whether it is an urban area 

with the urban canyons or mountains, if you are getting a clear signal today, a clear analog signal, you should be able to get a clear 

digital signal. Our engineers estimate that the digital cliff will impact about one percent of people, but that is still not an insignificant amount when you talk about a significant number of people 

throughout the country. When we talked about this the last time, 

that was my estimate. It is about one percent of households that 

we estimate, based upon what happened in the U.K. and our engineering estimates, that will suffer from this digital cliff. 

55 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And how do they know they are going to be 

one of those people? 

Mr. MARTIN. Unfortunately, they are all going to be on the edges 

of the contours. So if you are receiving an analog signal that is 

fuzzy today on certain channels, then that would be a channel you 

might not be able to receive. 

But one of the difficult things about the digital cliff effect is that 

today—and it will be the same case after the switch—each broadcaster’s footprint is different. So you may have the digital cliff effect for one channel but not for the other. So if you receive four 

broadcast channels over the air, you may be subject to a digital cliff 

for one but not the other three. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And so then how do we fix it besides having 

you come to Minnesota and stand on the roofs? 

Mr. MARTIN. Unfortunately, I think that is where you get into 

both what Mayor Saffo testified to and Assistant Secretary Baker 

testified. It is important for people, particularly those in areas 

where it is going to be more difficult for them to switch antennas 

later, to try to make the transition early so they can see whether 

or not they are going to be required to get a new antenna. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Oh, I see. So you are saying make that 

switch early so that you can see if it is a problem so you are not 

suddenly stuck with it. 

Mr. MARTIN. Unfortunately. We can identify where the edges of 

those contours are, but we are not going to be able to predict specifically. And even in those cases, it will vary channel by channel. 

But we will not be able to do it with as much specificity as any 

individual would need to say we can pinpoint it to this address will 

be subject to a digital cliff and this address will not. It will be on 

the edges of those contours. 

And it will also be outside technically of where they are required 

to be serving. The circle that they are required to serve they will 

still be serving. It will be the people that are just outside those 

edges who used to get the signal before but who are no longer able 

to. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. Then to move on to the next topic. You 

said about 15 percent of the markets around the country will experience a significant shrinkage of analog signal contours post transition. Could you explain that to us? 

Mr. MARTIN. What we have found was a much more significant 

problem in Wilmington from a viewer perspective was that one of 

the channels had reached as far north from Wilmington, all the 

way to Raleigh, North Carolina, and as far south as Myrtle Beach. 

Just to give you a sense of distances, it would be the same as if 

the Richmond signals were reaching Baltimore. After the channels 

were converted from analog to digital, they were no longer going 

to reach as far as they had before. That was actually by design. 

That is what the broadcaster wanted. He no longer wanted to be 

serving all the way up that far. 

And as a result, the people that were in the Raleigh area and 

in the Myrtle Beach area were still going to be able to get an NBC 

affiliate from their Raleigh station or from their Myrtle Beach station, but there are people in between those areas, in between the 

two, that were then left out. And that is what is estimated will be 

56 

the folks who are unserved. It will be about 15 percent of the markets in the country that will have a broadcaster who is having 

some kind of a significant change like this where they are diminishing—— 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. So they might again get some of the channels and then not certain ones where they had this larger contour—— 

Mr. MARTIN. Exactly. Fortunately, on that, what we are trying 

to identify now is a way to be able to—and what I have asked our 

engineers to do, based upon what we did in Wilmington, is both in 

Wilmington and throughout the rest of the country, identify ways 

in which you can put either translator or repeater antennas to 

make sure that there is no one who used to get a signal from an 

NBC affiliate, for example, in Wilmington, who is no longer going 

to get any kind of a coverage. So it is not that we will be able to 

carry the signal all the way to Raleigh or all the way from Richmond to Baltimore in every instance, but we can make sure that 

there are not pockets of places, like there were in Wilmington that 

received no coverage afterwards. And that is why we need to identify where those pockets will be throughout the country and how 

we authorize those broadcasters to put in repeater antennas so 

they can make sure they are covered. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. So this is kind of like when my family used 

to drive out to Wyoming on vacation and we could still get WCCO 

radio and hear the Twins game. We would keep moving it and it 

would go longer and longer. And what would happen here is—this 

was a radio station, but you are going to have it within the contours, but they could pick up like a sister affiliate that they did not 

have before. Is that what it will be? 

Mr. MARTIN. It could be. It is an interesting analogy. The switch 

from analog to digital in radio is going to also eliminate the ability 

to get those long distance AM signals as well. They can no longer 

bounce off the atmosphere and you cannot get those distance signals. That is one of the down sides of the switch from analog to 

digital radio that will occur. So in that sense, it is very similar. 

But as is in this case, the people in Raleigh and in Myrtle Beach 

will be able to get the NBC affiliate there. But the people that are 

in between those three markets will be left out. And we need to 

find a way to get a repeater for one of those other signals there so 

they still do not lose access to—— 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. So, would they have to pay extra for that, 

or is it just trying to change the technology so we can—— 

Mr. MARTIN. Oh, the consumer would not have to. I am talking 

about getting the broadcasters to put a repeater antenna. The 

broadcaster would end up having to pay extra to put a repeater antenna there. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. So, Assistant Secretary Baker—is that 

your correct title? 

Ms. BAKER. Acting. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Acting Assistant Secretary Baker, with 

what you have learned from Wilmington, can you target the advertising more or the information we give to people more as we know 

where this—you know, I use the number 700 because that is what 

came in the first day or 300 complaints. We know these two issues 

57 

that are going on, the digital cliff and the contour issue. Is there 

a way to tailor some of the communications with consumers in addition to what we are doing today? 

Ms. BAKER. I think the entire DTV coalition agrees that the 

problems that we see in this area need an awful lot more consumer 

education. So certainly we will be working with our partners. 

Again, I think the most important from our perspective is to get 

your box early and try it out to make sure that it works, and if 

you have any technical challenges, then you will have time to—I 

mean, it is important both from a technical standpoint as well as 

a programmatic standpoint. We want to see people getting their 

boxes now. For those that are not in this area, they will enjoy digital television sooner, but for those who are in these areas, then 

they will realize that they have a problem and they can act soon 

to try and fix it. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. I thank you very much. 

Before I begin my questioning, a few facts might help us. The 

United States has a population of about 300 million people. And 

about 3 years ago we made available $5 million for consumer education for this transition. We realized that maybe that is not 

enough, so we added $2.5 million last year, and if we are successful 

in this appropriation process that is going on now, you may get an 

additional $20 million. $27.5 million. And this program is supposed 

to last until February 19, 2009. 

On the other hand, on the British Isles, with a population of 60 million, they made available $400 million for consumer education. 

Their program of transition will last about 5 years because they 

felt it was so important that they had to communicate and make 

certain that every household, bar none, had information on this 

transition. It is a long process, expensive process, but this small 

country, less than us, 20 percent, decided to spend that much 

money. 

That is why we are holding this hearing here because we are 

concerned that if the British felt that it took $400 million and 5 

years to carry out their transition, we have to be super people to 

do it with less. 

Now, Mr. Goldstein, in your testimony you have indicated that 

there will be a dramatic increase or a spike just before the transition date. 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Yes, Mr. Chairman, that is likely. There is likely 

to be a significant spike. In our discussion with NTIA, they have 

agreed with that as a very significant possibility. But I need to say 

that to this point in time, only about 12.5 percent of U.S. households have even requested a coupon and only 5 percent of households have used one. So we have a long way to go, and while a lot 

of money has been spent by the DTV coalition and by Federal agencies to this date, we are still concerned that a lot of people who 

need a coupon will not get one in time. 

We also believe that the expiration rates, particularly among 

some of the greatest at-risk populations, are fairly high. For instance, among seniors, the expiration rate is 43.2 percent, when for 

the U.S. population as a whole, it is only 30 percent, and only 8.7 

58 

percent of seniors have requested coupons, where in the population 

as a whole, it is 12.5 percent. So that at-risk populations, while 

messages are being sent and hopefully received, there is still some 

evidence that they are not being received at a good enough pace 

yet. 

The CHAIRMAN. Are you satisfied that we have a plan to confront 

this spike or a sudden surge? 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Mr. Chairman, we indicated in our report last 

week—we made a recommendation to the Secretary of Commerce 

that NTIA needed to develop a plan that would be able to deal with 

the anticipated spike. 

The CHAIRMAN. Do you believe we do have one? 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. We did not find such a plan. No, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. Secretary Baker, do you believe that you can 

come up with a plan to meet this sudden spike? 

Ms. BAKER. Yes, sir. There are several parts of the plan, and we 

are actually going to put it down in writing. We will be happy to 

submit it to you. We are currently processing about 3.2 million coupons a month. We have spoken with our contractor. They can bring 

it up to 4.5 million coupons a month. I do think that the backlog 

that is often referred to from the start of the program was because 

we did not send out coupons until February 17. So we had a month 

and a half where we were not sending out coupons. So we hope to 

avoid a backlog toward the end of this program. 

What we really want to do is to encourage people to act now so 

that we will see a strong and high demand for an extended period 

of time like we did in Wilmington. The results in Wilmington were 

terrific. It was a nice bell curve where as soon as it was announced, 

the coupon requests went up and then they came down now that 

the switch has happened. 

So we anticipate spikes, particularly as media increases. A hundred days out we know is going to be a great big spike. We will 

continue to watch consumer demand and redemption and visit with 

the Committee on all of our available data. But we think it is important that people apply, buy, and try now. And as you know, we 

have also submitted a request for $7 million to have additional 

flexibility in our ability to fund additional coupons for this increased demand. 

The CHAIRMAN. A survey was made and it found that 97 percent 

of the population in Wilmington knew about the early transition, 

and yet the FCC received 797 calls on the first day and 1,800-plus 

calls during the first 5 days. On a national level, this could mean 

that you could be fielding millions of calls from confused consumers 

on or about this date, February 17, 2009. Are we prepared for that? 

Mr. MARTIN. Well, I think that what we hope to be able to do 

is learn some lessons from Wilmington so we can continue to minimize that. Many of the calls that we received were not that they 

were not aware of it. As I indicated, we have received actually only 

about 100 calls during the whole time since September 8 from consumers who said they were unaware of the early transition. 

But there were problems and challenges for viewers both in 

terms of some of the antenna issues that I was talking about with 

Senator Klobuchar and also the fact that there were over 300 calls 

from viewers who had problems with their initial converter box, 

59 

turning it on, scanning for channels, making sure it was hooked up 

properly to their television. 

Fortunately, we were able to resolve many of those over the 

phone by just walking them through, hooking up their converter 

boxes. But that is something that we now need to integrate into 

our messaging more appropriately to make sure that people understand how the converter boxes work to try to take away that segment of the calls that we were receiving from Wilmington by the 

time we get to next February. 

But I think that we have got to continue also to find ways to 

minimize the problems from a technical standpoint on the antenna 

issue so we can make sure and try to address that and to minimize 

the burden that is going to be placed on viewers, at least to the 

maximum extent we can. 

The CHAIRMAN. Believe me, I am not trying to place blame anywhere—— 

Mr. MARTIN. No, no. 

The CHAIRMAN.—because we in the Congress were the ones who appropriated $5 million, and we are still holding back. Compared 

to the British, our appropriation is almost nothing. I am certain we 

all agree that communication is absolutely essential in a democracy 

such as ours. And I am concerned that segments of our population 

may be denied or deprived of this important element in our democracy. 

Over a period of 4 months, the FCC and the industry really saturated the Wilmington market, and I applaud this. According to the 

numbers I have here, there were more than 400 events, distributed 

more than 85,000 publications, and Chairman Martin, you made 

five visits to the city. This outreach program is laudable, but do we 

have a nationwide program to ensure that they will get the same 

Wilmington treatment? 

Mr. MARTIN. Well, I think it is important to try to put into context that this was also a substitute for some of the industry efforts 

that were going on throughout the rest of the country. As you 

know, the broadcasters, the cable operators, and the consumer electronics industries have all indicated they are going to be spending 

hundreds of millions of dollars educating consumers for the DTV 

transition. None of those educational efforts were going to be going 

on in Wilmington, and they will be ramping up as we approach it. 

But I agree that we need to take what we put in place in Wilmington and try to build a similar kind of grassroots effort in those 

markets where we have identified they have a significant number 

of at-risk viewers. So for all the markets in which there are more 

than 100,000 over-the-air households or 15 percent of the viewing 

population, we have actually tried to identify those as our target 

markets where we are going to be doing the same kinds of Commissioner visits and town hall meetings. 

We have actually put out a request for proposal with some of the 

resources, if we are able to get some additional resources from Congress. But anticipating that we might, we have already put out a 

request for proposal for grassroots organizations to conduct both 

the same kind of grassroots educational efforts and also potentially 

helping hook up at-risk households, as we did with the fire department down in Wilmington. 

60 

So we are trying to take the blueprint from what we did down 

in Wilmington and at least replicate it in those 81 at-risk markets 

throughout the country. It is not completely everywhere in the 

country, but we are doing our best with the limited resources that 

we have. 

The CHAIRMAN. From the standpoint of the three officials there, 

did we appropriate enough money? 

Mr. MARTIN. From the Commission’s standpoint, there were several years even leading up to this transition where we had asked 

for money and actually received zero money for consumer education. The initial $5 million that you had indicated actually went 

to NTIA, and we had asked for money in the first years of our 

budget and Congress actually provided us none for consumer education prior to this past January. 

The CHAIRMAN. Do you need some more? 

Mr. MARTIN. Yes, at least the $20 million that we have asked for, 

for this year. A significant component of that is for upgrading our 

call center. We increased our call center in anticipation of Wilmington. Several million dollars, we have already estimated, will 

be needed just for the call center, and that is even if we can bring 

down the calls. So absolutely we are hopeful that Congress will be 

able to provide us some additional resources. 

Ms. BAKER. It appears that the statutory cap on administrative 

funds is a little short. So we do need more administrative funds 

due to the popularity of the program and the amount of coupons 

that are being requested. So certainly for administrative funds, the 

statutory cap of $160 million is short, is shy of what we need, 

which is why we submitted our request. 

I think that Congress could have appropriated an awful lot more 

money in consumer education, but you probably then would also 

have seen less participation by the broadcasters and the cable industry. I think they have stepped in. I think public-private partnerships have stepped in to fill the gaps on the consumer education. 

We have been grateful for the creativity of this committee in coming up with more money for us through the low power conversion 

fund that you gave us, $4.5 million in education. We will certainly 

use that. So certainly the money that you are giving us we will use, 

but we are very pleased with the participation from the industry 

on consumer education. 

The CHAIRMAN. Assistant Secretary Carbonell, do you have anything? 

Ms. CARBONELL. Well, I think, one of the areas, particularly the 

vulnerable homebound people will need help in, is in the technology piece, the actual installation and connection. Under the 

Older Americans Act, which is the program that we run throughout 

the country, home repairs is one of the allowable services, but the 

coverage for home repairs is not across the country. 

So one of the areas that we have been working, with NTIA and 

FCC not only is to target those specific messages to those areas of 

need or areas where there is under-enrollment like the GAO has 

mentioned, but also looking at abilities to really walk people 

through the entire process. The grassroots—as much as we can invest, hands-on, to give support to some of the local aging networks 

that are working with these people day in and day out to try to 

61 

assist actually those people that are most fragile. We know that 24 

percent of our elderly population live in rural areas. The Older 

Americans Act is serving about 27 percent of our clients out of the 

11 million that we serve on a yearly basis who reside in rural 

areas. So again, those would be the areas where we would definitely benefit from additional resources and support. We are fine 

tuning efforts to really target those populations, those at greatest 

need in that area. 

The CHAIRMAN. I believe every government entity, county, State, 

city, township, village, has some agencies handling aging problems. 

Do you have any program to provide instruction or education to 

those officials on what they can do to help in this? Because they 

are in daily contact with the elderly population. 

Mr. MARTIN. Through our work with the Assistant Secretary and 

HHS, we have been working with—as you said, each State, many 

counties and cities have their own organizations that deal with the 

aging community, and we have been working with them. We did 

so in Wilmington and that was critical. We also worked with other 

private sector groups and nonprofits that were targeting the aging 

community like the Meals on Wheels program in Wilmington where 

we both made sure that information was getting through them to 

the people that were having their meals delivered and then also 

made sure that those people had the opportunity to apply for the 

coupons and get converter boxes. So we have been trying to work 

with those organizations. That has been working through the Assistant Secretary, helping us with the contacts at the local level. 

The CHAIRMAN. Were they cooperative? 

Mr. MARTIN. In general, actually I would say that HHS and the 

efforts from the localized aging organizations have been very helpful. I think that has been one of the things that has been very helpful. The United States Postal Service has been very helpful. They 

put up posters in all of the post offices throughout the country. 

They have done that once already. They are going to do that again 

for us later on. Those are two of the agencies that have been the 

most helpful in trying to help us get the message out. 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Martin, we are going to do our best to make certain that your $20 million will be made available. Would 

that be sufficient to meet the deadline, February 17, 2009? 

Mr. MARTIN. I do not know for sure if it will end up being sufficient. I know that when we were asking for that money a year ago, 

through our appropriations process, I went to all of the Commissioners on the Commission and said how much money did they 

think that we could possibly need. And I came back and we talked 

about what we would do with the resources. And I asked for the 

maximum amount of money that any Commissioner identified that 

we could possibly need. 

In addition to working with other organizations, we have also 

been looking at what we would end up doing as far as taking out, 

for example, advertisements. The AARP magazines would actually 

have a coupon attached to the advertisement they could just clip 

and mail in to NTIA to make sure that that would be able to be 

provided to them. So we are doing as much as we can think of. 

Whether that will ultimately be enough or not, I do not know. I 

certainly know we need at least that much. 

62 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Goldstein, I want to thank your agency for 

keeping us apprised of the numbers and concerns that you have. 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Certainly, Senator, I would be happy to. 

The CHAIRMAN. Those numbers led us to believe that this hearing was necessary, and I think it is. 

Mayor Saffo, your experiment has been very helpful to us because we hope we can learn a lot from that. We thank you for your 

presence here. 

Mr. SAFFO. Thank you, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. To all of you, thank you very much. I have got 

to get back to my meeting. 

[Whereupon, at 3:59 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

(63) 

A P P E N D I X 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE TO

HON. KEVIN J. MARTIN

Question 1. In Wilmington, one converter box manufacturer collaborated with the 

government to provide converter boxes for residents of nursing homes. Is there a 

similar plan in place nationally to help the elderly residents in nursing homes and 

assisted living centers obtain converter boxes and install them? 

Answer. An invaluable lesson learned from Wilmington is that DTV transition 

success depends on the commitment and collaboration of the local community, including local industry, governmental and nongovernmental organizations. In Wilmington, the Commission worked directly with local firefighters and other local, 

community-based organizations to help consumers install converter boxes. Building 

on that experience, the Commission recently solicited contracts from grass roots and 

community-based organizations to assist consumers, particularly consumers who are 

elderly, homebound or have limited mobility, with the procurement and installation 

of digital TV converter boxes and related equipment. Commission staff is currently 

reviewing the bids, and we plan to get these contracts in place as quickly as possible. 

Question 2. Will the lack of converter box installation assistance across the country inhibit a successful transition? 

Answer. As described above, the Commission recently solicited contracts from 

grass roots and community-based organizations to assist consumers, particularly 

consumers who are elderly, home-bound or have limited mobility, with the procurement and installation of digital TV converter boxes and related equipment. Commission staff is currently reviewing the bids, and we plan to get these contracts in place 

as quickly as possible. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV 

TO HON. KEVIN J. MARTIN

Question 1. Chairman Martin, do you believe that the Federal Communications 

Commission (FCC) has the authority to adopt a quiet period rule? 

Answer. I am not sure whether the Commission has the statutory authority to 

adopt a quiet period. In light of the shift from analog to digital television, Congress 

provided the Commission, in section 614(b)(4)(B) of the Communications Act, with 

the authority to ‘‘establish any changes . . . necessary to ensure cable carriage of 

[digital] broadcast signals.’’ In the past, I have taken the position that this provision 

gives the Commission broad authority to adopt carriage regulations, including, for 

example, the authority to require the carriage of broadcast stations’ multicast signals. Unfortunately, the Commission has not agreed with my interpretation of this 

provision, and instead has embraced a narrower interpretation of our authority in 

this area. Thus, if the Commission does have the authority to require carriage of 

multicast signals, then I agree that we also have the authority to adopt a quiet period. If, however, we do not have the authority to require carriage of multicast signals, then I am not sure whether we have the authority to adopt a quiet period. 

Question 2. It is my understanding that you have reached out to a number of 

stakeholders on this issue. Have you found the industry willing to work with the 

FCC to find a voluntary agreement? 

Answer. Broadcasters have proposed a voluntary quiet period that would extend 

for roughly 2 weeks before and after the February 17, 2009 transition date. Not all 

large broadcasters have agreed to participate. This approach also does not have the 

agreement of the cable operators and other MVPDs, who prefer a mandatory and 

enforceable quiet period that begins in December. 

Question 3. If the FCC were to promulgate rules surrounding a quiet period, 

would those rules require a notice-and-comment rulemaking proceeding? It is my 

understanding that many retransmission consent agreements expire at the end of 

64 

2008. Could these rules be done in an expedited manner in order to minimize the 

potential for consumer disruption? 

Answer. I do not believe we needed to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 

Question 4. A number of timeframes have been suggested for a quiet period. 

Again, to minimize any consumer disruption prior to the transition to digital television, are certain timeframes more appropriate than others? 

Answer. It is important for the Commission to minimize any potential burdens 

consumers may face as they transition to digital on February 17, 2009. To this end, 

I believe that a quiet period beginning a few weeks before would be sufficient to 

minimize any potential consumer confusion. 

Question 5. If prior to the transition to digital television, a broadcaster and relevant multi-channel video distributor are unable to reach an agreement on the carriage of signals, what authority does the FCC have to resolve this dispute so that 

consumers are not unnecessarily harmed? 

Answer. We have no direct authority to resolve a dispute. Broadcasters and 

MVPDs have a statutory obligation to bargain in good faith. Specifically, section 

325(b)(3)(C)(ii) of the Communications Act prohibits broadcasters from ‘‘engaging in 

exclusive contracts for carriage or failing to negotiate in good faith’’ for retransmission consent. Section 325(b)(3)(C)(iii) similarly prohibits MVPDs from ‘‘failing to 

negotiate in good faith’’ with retransmission consent broadcasters. Our rules at 47 

C.F.R. § 76.65 detail these prohibitions, and the Commission has clearly stated that 

actions taken in the context of a retransmission consent negotiation that are ‘‘sufficiently outrageous, or evidence that differences among . . . agreements are not 

based on competitive marketplace considerations, [will] . . . breach a [negotiating 

entity’s] good faith negotiation obligation.’’ The Commission has authority to act in 

such cases, and either party in a retransmission consent negotiation can file a complaint with the Commission if they believe the other party is acting in bad faith. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. MARIA CANTWELL TO

HON. KEVIN J. MARTIN

Question 1. Chairman Martin, there are around 100 over-the-air broadcast stations that will be allowed to reach only 85 percent of its population for a time after 

the DTV hard date. On the hard date, if a consumer no longer receives a digital 

signal from a station they used to receive analog signal from, how will the consumer 

know that his or her inability to receive an over-the-air signal is not the result of 

the ‘digital cliff’ or a reduction in coverage due to the station’s digital antenna located at a different site than the analog antenna (such as in Wilmington), but because the station is not broadcasting at its full power? 

Answer. These stations are required to notify affected consumers. Specifically, stations that have received permission to operate their digital signal at less than their 

full authorized facilities for a time after the end of analog TV service (and will 

therefore serve a reduced portion of their analog viewers or not serve them at all 

for a time) are required to notify viewers on their analog channels in advance of 

the transition date about the station’s planned delay in construction and operation 

of post-transition digital service and inform them about how they can continue to 

receive the station. Notifications must occur every day on-air at least four times a 

day including at least once in prime time for the 30 days prior to the station’s termination of full, authorized analog service. Notifications must include: (1) the station’s 

call sign and community of license; (2) the fact that the station must delay the construction and operation of its post-transition service; (3) information about the nature, scope, and anticipated duration of the station’s post-transition service limitations; (4) what viewers can do to continue to receive the station, i.e., how and when 

the station’s digital signal can be received; and (5) the street address, e-mail address 

(if available), and phone number of the station where viewers may register comments or request information. These viewer notifications are in addition to, and separate from, stations’ notification requirements under our DTV Consumer Education 

Initiative. 

Question 2. Chairman Martin, I am told that broadcasters in Washington State’s 

three DMAs are hesitant to conduct a ‘‘soft test’’ because of the complexity of the 

message required in order to not confuse consumers that will still be able to continue receiving analog signal over translators after the hard date. Additionally, Direct TV and EchoStar are still in the process of upgrading the set-top box of their 

customers in the state that currently do not receive local-into-local service. I am told 

installations will occur throughout the fall with the final installations in the Yakima—Tri Cities DMA scheduled for January. Until they receive the new set-top box 

65 

from their satellite provider, some of these consumers would be unduly concerned 

after a ‘‘soft test’’ that they are not prepared. I see the value of the ‘‘soft test’’. Is 

it possible for the Commission to work with my state’ s broadcasting association to 

develop messaging for a soft test during the next month or so that would not confuse analog translator viewers and some satellite television viewers? 

Answer. We would be happy to work with the Washington Broadcaster Association to coordinate and provide assistance related to running soft tests. I have instructed staff to contact the Washington Broadcaster Association. 

Question 3. Chairman Martin, does the FCC currently have the authority to issue 

rules to set a hard date for broadcast low-power, Class A, and translator television 

stations, or is a change of statute required? 

Answer. Section 336(f)(4) of the Communications Act, adopted as part of the Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999, gives it the discretion to determine the 

end of the transition period for Class A, TV translator, and LPTV stations. 

Question 4. Chairman Martin, I have received communications from constituents 

who after installing the converter box, can not receive digital UHF over-the-air television signals, but if they detach the converter box they can still receive analog UHF 

signals. A local television station told one such individual that UHF signals are 

much more line-of-sight dependent and due to the hilly terrain the digital signal 

was blocked. Western Washington has a considerable amount of hilly terrain. In 

fact, there are a number of translator stations operating today in Washington to fill 

in these gaps in coverage. If it proves that the switch to digital causes the overthe-air signals of some of UHF stations to be blocked by terrain in some areas, 

would the FCC be willing and able to open an expedited window for the construction 

of television translator stations for those affected stations? 

Answer. Yes, the FCC would be willing and able to open an expedited window for 

the construction of television translator stations for those affected stations. 

Question 5. Chairman Martin, Mayor Saffo testified that Wilmington participated 

in a regional, analog television e-cycling day? Do you see a benefit for the FCC to 

provide consumers information regarding the e-cycling of analog television in its 

communications on DTV? 

Answer. Yes, there is a benefit to informing consumers about their options for recycling their analog televisions as part of our outreach. The Commission, together 

with the Environmental Protection Agency, issued a joint advisory regarding the 

DTV transition and the importance of e-cycling analog TVs. This advisory is attached and available on the www.dtv.gov website. We have disseminated the advisory to individual consumers as well as consumer groups at outreach events. We 

will continue to include this messaging throughout the transition, and will look for 

opportunities, as we did in Wilmington, to work with local officials and groups to 

provide consumers options at a local level for e-cycling of their analog sets. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE TO

HON. JOSEFINA G. CARBONELL

Question 1. Will the lack of converter box installation assistance across the country inhibit a successful transition? 

Answer. The Administration on Aging (AoA) has continued to work with our Federal, State and local partners to call attention to the issues related to converter box 

installation for seniors as we believe it is a critical piece in the overall success of 

the transition. We know that many seniors, who are frail, have disabilities, live 

alone or are homebound may have challenges installing the converter boxes once obtained. Some may not be able to physically move their TV or the furniture associated with it in order to install the converter box, or they may have difficulty understanding the technology needed to connect and operate the converter box and related antennae. 

I am very pleased that some action is being taken to assist those who are frail 

or homebound who may need this additional assistance in the physical installation 

of the boxes once they are secured, and we applaud our Federal partners for being 

responsive to the issues we have raised. Recently the FCC requested proposals for 

grassroots and community-level efforts around direct assistance in securing and installing converter boxes and establishing help lines to help educate consumers and 

answer queries. Several major aging organizations, members of AoA’s vast national 

aging network, involved in the transition who have been concerned about this aspect 

of the transition have applied for those funds in order to provide this assistance to 

those they serve. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

(NTIA) will also use funds set aside from the ‘‘DTV Transition Assistance Act’’ (AsVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
66 

sistance Act), Public Law 110–295, to provide consumer assistance with the DTV 

transition. NTIA will reserve up to $4.5 million for awards under this authority for 

unsolicited proposals that can be awarded by November 15, 2008. NTIA acknowledges the need not just to inform consumers about the Coupon Program but to provide where appropriate and feasible hands-on assistance to vulnerable Americans 

who may have difficulty completing the application, picking up a converter box or 

connecting it to their TV sets. 

We were also heartened that Secretary Gutierrez announced that residents of 

nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and households that use a post office box 

will be able to request converter box coupons. Anything we can do to assist vulnerable seniors with this transition will further its success. 

In some parts of the country, AoA’s national aging services network is already 

stepping in to help. In Virginia, for example, the Fairfax County government including the area agency on aging has asked its employees to volunteer to help senior 

citizens and the disabled make the transition to digital TV by volunteering to help 

install the converter boxes and in turn qualify for 16 hours of annual paid leave. 

In Wilmington, North Carolina where the pilot early transition took place on September 8, the FCC contracted with local fire departments and other community organizations to assist seniors who have difficulty obtaining or installing the converter 

boxes. To help senior citizens make the transition in Westland, Michigan, the local 

government access channel, WLND–TV, the mayor and the city government, including the local area agency on aging, hosted a digital forum in a local senior center. 

These are only some examples of efforts being made by the national aging network 

around the country to smooth the transition process. We anticipate that the network 

will be poised and ready to assist throughout the entire transition process with 

whatever resources they might be able to devote to this initiative. 

Question 2. Generally, what have we learned about meeting the needs of the elderly from the test run in Wilmington, NC? 

Answer. I am pleased that the September 8 early transition pilot test that took 

place in Wilmington, North Carolina was successful in large part for seniors. One 

thing that was made clear was the extraordinary value of the local aging network 

working in a collaborative way in the Wilmington community in ensuring that older 

persons were aware of the transition and that appropriate assistance was available 

to not only respond to questions from seniors and their families, but also to arrange 

for hands-on assistance in installing the boxes if needed. 

The Cape Fear Council of Governments, which is the local area agency on aging 

for Wilmington, worked closely with the mayor, the FCC and other local entities to 

ensure that the transition would go smoothly for vulnerable elders. It was this collaboration with the aging and disability network agencies, faith-based organizations, 

local government, media outlets and interested citizens that aided in the transition. 

Through HELP lines funded by the FCC responding to questions, the active participation of two fire departments that combined visits with smoke alarm checks, seniors in the community were for the most part ready for the transition. 

One of the major lessons learned from the September 8 pilot test, according to 

the local aging network, was the need for repetitive education to the community in 

particular education tailored to older persons, their families, and the aging/health/ 

human services agencies working with these populations. In addition, providing information to individuals on the local Disaster Special Needs Registry, both in printed form and through phone calls, was beneficial. 

It is important to note that the local aging network also found that the current 

financial situation was a significant factor in the provision of consumer education, 

assistance with converter box procurement, installation and post transition troubleshooting for those they serve, and that they have had to rely on overworked personnel and volunteers. In addition, for older persons who utilize the over the air 

transmission for their TV reception, there were some individual economic challenges 

to affording the co-pay for the converter boxes, being able to afford a new antenna, 

and/or transportation to a store to purchase the box or the antenna. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTION SUBMITTED BY HON. MARIA CANTWELL TO

HON. JOSEFINA G. CARBONELL

Question. Secretary Carbonell, can you describe your efforts toward providing direct education; one-on-one information; assistance in purchasing and acquiring converter boxes; and installation of the boxes for older adults specifically in Washington 

State? 

Answer. The Administration on Aging has been an active partner in our Nation’s 

preparation for the digital transition since we were first contacted by both the FCC 

67 

and the NTIA in the summer of 2007. Through our website, our regional offices, and 

various public outreach efforts, including a regular e-newsletter that goes out to 

more than 22,000 subscribers, we continue to share information with seniors, family 

members and our national network of aging services and community providers 

which works with seniors in nearly every community in our country. AoA staff have 

participated in various meetings and forums coordinated by NTIA and the FCC and 

most recently, we have provided technical assistance to the FCC as it prepared for 

its various town hall meetings being held across the country including ones that 

have recently taken place in Seattle, Spokane and Yakima, WA. At these forums, 

attendees, many of whom are seniors and their caregivers, receive current information about the transition as well as demonstrations in converter box setup. 

As I indicated in my testimony, AoA’s national aging network, which is comprised 

of 56 State Units on Aging, 655 local planning and service entities called area agencies on aging, 239 Tribal and native American organizations representing more than 

300 tribes; 29,000 local community service provider organizations, and more than 

half a million volunteers, has been very active throughout the country in helping 

to prepare seniors for the digital TV transition. Leading aging organizations who are 

trusted and visible sources of information and assistance in the community are 

working hard to assist older persons to be prepared for the February 2009 transition. Local senior centers, nutrition sites, adult day care programs, home delivered 

meals programs and other community based organizations throughout Washington 

and throughout the Nation are holding information sessions and distributing flyers 

and educational materials provided by the NTIA and FCC. Many local organizations 

are working with the National Association of Broadcasters that has local TV broadcasters available to speak at these events. The Washington State Association of 

Broadcasters is an active part of the DTV Coalition, a group of national, state and 

community organizations whose mission is to ensure that no one is left out when 

the transition occurs next February. In addition, the National Asian Pacific Center 

on Aging based in Seattle is providing information on the digital transition through 

its helpline in 9 different languages to Asian seniors throughout the State and the 

country. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE TO

MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER

Question 1. In Wilmington, one converter box manufacturer teamed up with the 

government and provided converter boxes for residents of nursing homes. This was 

a great cooperative effort. Is there a similar plan in place nationally to help the elderly residents in nursing homes and assisted living centers obtain converter boxes 

and install them? 

Answer. NTIA was an important catalyst in ensuring that nursing home residents 

in Wilmington, North Carolina, were not left behind in their early digital transition. 

Because the nursing home rule change was not going to be effective before the Wilmington transition, NTIA reached out to converter box manufacturers to encourage 

them to address this challenge. NTIA is pleased that they came forward with converter box donations for the small number of nursing home residents in that market 

who owned analog televisions and watched broadcast-only television. NTIA is also 

pleased that the Federal Communications Commission mobilized partners in Wilmington, such as local firefighters, to provide in-home assistance to vulnerable seniors. As you know, NTIA recently revised its regulations so that residents of nursing 

homes are eligible to apply for one coupon using the special application available 

on the Program’s homepage. Anyone may apply on behalf of a nursing home resident, so in many cases, a friend, family member or administrator will be able to 

assist the nursing home resident with a subsequent converter box purchase and installation. 

NTIA is encouraged by the voluntary initiatives emerging to help vulnerable 

Americans prepare for the transition. Faith-based initiatives in particular are targeting seniors for assistance, whether it be helping them apply for coupons, picking 

up the converter box in the store or installing it in the home. As a partner of 

NTIA’s, Interfaith Ministries in the greater Houston area is appealing to the members of its religious community to work through Volunteer Houston to assist in the 

installation of boxes via Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston. 

NTIA will also use funds set aside from the ‘‘DTV Transition Assistance Act’’ (Assistance Act), Public Law No. 110–295, to provide consumer assistance. Use of these 

funds may include, but is not limited to, partnering with, providing grants to, and 

contracting with non-profit organizations or public interest groups in achieving 

these efforts. 

68 

NTIA acknowledges the need not just to inform consumers about the Coupon Program but to provide where appropriate and feasible hands-on assistance to vulnerable Americans who may have difficulty completing the application, picking up a 

converter box or connecting it to their TV sets. The Agency will support the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), in the form of a cooperative 

agreement, to provide one-on-one assistance to a quarter million older adults to help 

them complete the coupon application, obtain converter boxes and install them so 

they can keep their existing TV sets working. Under the umbrella of the ‘‘Keeping 

Seniors Connected Coalition,’’ a variety of organizations with extensive preexisting 

networks in neighborhoods and communities across the United States, will help 

many seniors manage the DTV transition. With considerable recent experience with 

the Medicare Part D Campaign, these organizations are ready to hit the ground 

running to make the transition as seamless as possible for America’s most vulnerable seniors. 

Question 2. Will the lack of converter box installation assistance across the country inhibit a successful transition? 

Answer. Converter box installation assistance will be available through a number 

of partner organizations to promote a successful transition. NTIA will use funds set 

aside from the ‘‘DTV Transition Assistance Act’’ (Assistance Act), Public Law No. 

110–295, to provide consumer assistance. The National Association of Area Agencies 

on Aging (n4a) has committed to assisting a quarter million vulnerable seniors with 

the transition, including with converter box installation, through partner organizations such as the Meals on Wheels Association of America, the National Association 

for Hispanic Elderly, the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging and the National 

Caucus and Center on Black Aged. 

I am also encouraged by the voluntary initiatives emerging across the country to 

assist people with the transition. The DTV Transition Coalition has developed a brochure called ‘‘Help Your Neighbor Make the Switch to Digital TV’’ which describes 

how every American can be part of the solution in ensuring that February 17, 2009, 

amounts to a smooth transition for consumers. It is my understanding that the National Association of Broadcasters is developing a Public Service Announcement that 

would reinforce this message. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission 

(FCC) is expanding its call center to be able to provide consumer support on technical matters and has produced easy-to-follow videos on how to install a converter 

box. Both NTIA and the FCC are encouraging local broadcasters to publicize their 

telephone numbers and field questions related to signal reception. 

Based on what the FCC learned from the early transition in Wilmington, North 

Carolina, only about 15 percent of DTV-related calls made to the FCC’s hotline in 

the two weeks following the September 8, 2008, transition concerned difficulties 

with the converter box. According to the FCC, 90 percent of those calls were resolved fairly straightforwardly over the telephone. Subsequently the FCC has developed tips for consumers, available on the www.dtv.gov website, which will help them 

troubleshoot any outstanding issues with converter box set-up. NTIA is aggressively 

cross-promoting these resources through its new ‘‘Apply. Buy. Try.’’ campaign. In 

urging consumers to install their converter boxes in advance of February 17, 2009, 

NTIA’s strategy is to reduce the number of consumers who resort to setting up their 

converter box after their analog signal has been shut off. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. MARIA CANTWELL TO

MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER

Question 1. Secretary Baker, it is clear that NTIA is not going to reissue coupons 

to consumers who ordered them, but did not redeem them in time, without a statutory change. It is equally clear there is no statutory change coming. The majority 

of calls and e-mails from my constituents regarding the DTV transition concerns expired coupons. In Washington State, as of September 22, 123,883 converter box coupons were redeemed, but 134,705 have expired. I would like to get your thoughts 

on a possible workaround. First, are DTV coupons transferrable among consumers? 

Second, would it be consistent with your interpretation of the rules if a state or local 

government, business, or university asks its employees to order coupons online, the 

employee receives their coupons at home and brings them into the office, where the 

employer collects the coupons, and then redistributes the coupons to those who need 

them—consumers whose coupons have expired or consumers from hard to reach 

populations? 

Answer. As an initial matter, there may be a number of reasons consumers do 

not redeem coupons within the 90-day active period as set by statute. Some consumers may realize they did not need the coupon if all of their televisions are conVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00072 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
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nected to cable, satellite or other pay TV services—or they may decide to subscribe 

to such services. Some consumers may purchase digital televisions instead of converter boxes. 

While the Coupon Program rule prohibits the sale of coupons, coupons issued by 

the program are transferrable to the extent they may be freely given without consideration. NTIA believes that the type of ‘‘clearinghouse’’ that you describe would 

largely be outside the direct scope of the Coupon Program’s regulations. Individual 

households participating in such programs would have to comply with the Coupon 

Program’s eligibility requirements and could not accept consideration in exchange 

for the coupons. Such programs would also have to comply with all applicable Federal and state laws. There may also be an increased risk of unintended waste, fraud, 

and abuse with such a program. For example, people could be encouraged to apply 

for coupons that they do not need, or they may not follow through on donating them 

to the clearinghouse—both such outcomes would represent waste in the Program. 

In addition, the clearinghouse would need to ensure that active coupons are handled 

securely, monitor expiration dates and encourage prompt use of coupons. Clearinghouse leadership should take measures to minimize the potential for consumers to 

violate the ‘‘two per household’’ statutory limit on coupon orders. 

Question 2. Secretary Baker, I need to understand how prepared my state of 

Washington is for the upcoming DTV transition and what can be done to better prepare my constituents. In the table accompanying your written testimony, the three 

Washington State DMAs fall within the thirty areas in the country having the lowest over-the-air household participation rates in the coupon program. Of greatest 

concern is the Seattle-Tacoma market with a coupon program participation rate of 

43 percent. According to Nielson there are 215,240 broadcast only households in the 

Seattle-Tacoma DMA. I know that Washington State broadcasters and cable system 

operators are playing PSAs, engaging in public outreach, working with community 

group in the Seattle-Tacoma DMA, but it appears that effort is still falling short. 

What other steps can be taken to increase participation in the converter coupon program? 

Answer. The Agency is closely monitoring coupon request rates at the DMA level, 

and I share your concern that the three Washington state DMAs have among the 

lowest participation rates in the country. NTIA is enhancing its consumer education 

activities in markets with low participation rates to motivate over-the-air consumers 

to act in a timely manner. On September 30, 2008, NTIA launched the latest phase 

of its efforts to spur consumer action by announcing its ‘‘Apply. Buy. Try.’’ campaign. The campaign urges over-the-air consumers to apply for their coupons now— 

but certainly no later than the end of the year—to allow themselves 6 weeks to prepare for the analog shut-off date. It is clear from surveys conducted by the National 

Association of Broadcasters and others that awareness of the digital transition is 

near universal: however, a significant number of consumers are choosing to wait 

until closer to the end to make their decision on how they will transition. NTIA’s 

campaign aims to motivate these consumers to act early. The Agency has reached 

out to grassroots organizations in these markets to communicate these messages to 

their constituents, and I am pleased that groups such as the Organization of Chinese Americans—Greater Seattle Chapter and the Mid-City Concerns Meals on 

Wheels chapter in Spokane are distributing our materials. 

NTIA staff have been very active in the Seattle market. On October 1, NTIA’s 

consumer education director participated in a Coupon Program ‘‘sign-up’’ event at 

the Jefferson Recreation Center, partnering with the City of Seattle Department of 

Information Technology and KING 5 (NBC) Seattle. The Program’s partnership 

manager participated in meetings in early June to design a coordinated outreach 

strategy to seniors, including the Seattle I-lousing Authority, Seattle Public Library 

and the City Parks and Recreation Department. NTIA is accelerating its work with 

local partners to promote the ‘‘Apply. Buy. Try.’’ campaign and is engaged in earned 

media to urge consumers who have not taken action to do so without delay. To date 

NTIA has conducted radio interviews in all three Washington DMAs and television 

interviews in Seattle and will continue to promote the Coupon Program via the 

broadcast media. 

Question 3. Secretary Baker, earlier this year, the availability of set-top boxes 

with analog pass-through capability was a front burner issue. How many manufacturers are now producing such boxes? How does NTIA ensure that the set-top box 

with analog pass-through reaches retailers in those parts of the country where they 

are most likely needed? Is NTIA tracking the number of set-top boxes with analog 

pass-through purchased? 

Answer. In response to the concerns of the low-power television broadcasting community. I sent personal letters to all of the coupon-eligible converter box manufacVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
70 

turers on record last winter. The response from manufacturers was swift and significant. By May 2008 converter boxes with an analog pass-through function were being 

shipped to the leading retailers in the Coupon Program. Consumers today may 

choose from over 41 brands and models with an analog pass-through feature available in retail stores. NTIA expects retailers to meet the needs of their consumers 

and to stock analog pass-through converter box models in geographic areas where 

they are needed. We note that of the top ten coupon-eligible converter box models 

sold nationwide, four have an analog pass-through capability. 

Question 4. Secretary Baker, what is the methodology NTIA uses to project consumer demand for coupons for DTV set-top boxes through March 31, 2009? How 

confident is NTIA in its projection for consumer demand for coupons through March 

31, 2009? Your written testimony includes a table of over-the-air household participation rates in the coupon program for each of our Nation’s DMAs. Why are some 

communities listed as being above 100 percent in participation? For example, Wilmington, North Carolina has an over-the-air household participation rate greater 

than 200 percent. Can you explain? One might read into the statistic that some consumers ordered coupons that did not need them and then transferred the coupons 

to others. To the best of your knowledge did that occur in Wilmington? 

Answer. Early in the Program’s planning phase. NTIA developed an economic 

analysis that calculated a baseline market of between 20.4 and 51.9 million converter boxes, based on estimates of the number of ‘‘untethered’’ analog televisions 

in households that might require them. The Program made an assumption that out 

of this potential market, 50 percent of households choosing the converter box option 

would redeem coupons, suggesting that between 10.2 million and 26.0 million coupons would be redeemed. NTIA is finalizing a plan to address expected demand in 

the Program’s final months which will elaborate on a variety of scenarios the Agency might face and our plans to meet consumer demand. 

NTIA uses ‘‘participation rates’’ as indicators of coupon requests in given communities. Some communities are listed in the table you reference as having participation rates above 100 percent for over-the-air households because NTIA calculated 

these figures based on information provided by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) that about sixty (60) percent of over-the-air consumers in each DMA 

would be potential purchasers of converter boxes. (Please note that a follow-up report released by CEA last month showed the figure had increased to 67 percent.) 

The estimated market figures were compared then to the actual number of OTA 

coupon requests NTIA received from a particular DMA to derive the OTA participation for that community. Thus, the participation rate is the number of OTA requests 

divided by CEA’s estimated market. In markets in which coupon requests from OTA 

households exceeded the CEA 60 percent estimated market figure, then the resulting participate rate is greater than 100 percent. 

Because the converter box option appears to be a more attractive option for many 

consumers as the education campaign builds awareness, NTIA has revised its estimates and, out of an abundance of caution, is now using the entire (100 percent) 

over-the-air household population in a DMA as the potential over-the-air market for 

coupon requests. Using these revised estimates the Wilmington participation rate is 

substantially lower—but still above 100 percent. Since the Program relies on selfcertification as the mechanism for determining whether a household is indeed overthe-air reliant, it is to be expected that due to a lack of perfect knowledge among 

consumers, that there would be some error in consumers’ response to the Agency’s 

certification question on the application. (Please again note that NTIA’s estimates 

of participation relate to coupon requests, not coupons redeemed.) 

Question 5. Secretary Baker, I understand that some Indian tribal representatives 

have expressed interest in tribes being able to secure the DTV coupons for distribution by those tribes to their respective tribal members. Is this option under consideration? What outreach measures are being performed by NTIA to inform or educate 

rural communities such as American Indian tribes and Alaskan Native villages? 

Does NTIA have statistics on the level of participation of various American Indian 

tribes and Alaskan Native villages in the converter box coupon program? 

Answer. NTIA has vigorously promoted the Coupon Program among Native American tribes and Alaskan Native villages. In July, I sent a mailing to leaders of the 

563 Native American tribes and all Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendents and 

regional directors to help them prepare their members for the transition to digital 

television. My letter to tribal leaders encouraged them to use their existing communications channels to help spread the word about the Coupon Program and to ‘‘consider posting information at tribal buildings and schools, having a call-in show 

about the digital transition, or holding information sessions with tribal elders.’’ The 

mailing included a CD and hardcopy of the TV Converter Box Coupon Program 

71 

Partnership Toolkit with fact sheets, brochures, posters and information on lowpower and translator stations. 

NTIA staff have engaged in significant earned media outreach to Native American 

publications, print and broadcast, including Native Peoples, Colors NW, Seminole 

Tribune, and Navajo Times to secure interviews with NTIA spokespersons or offer 

resources for publication. In addition, we have reached out to various radio stations 

throughout the country including, Voices From the Circle, Native America Calling, 

and National Native News to secure interviews for NTIA spokespersons. The Agency 

has also reached out to former grantees in Washington state, such as the 

Suquamish and Kalispel Tribes, respectively, to provide assistance. In 2007 and 

2008, NTIA also participated in the largest gathering of Native American leaders, 

the National Congress of American Indians convention, leveraging speaking opportunities and staffing a booth to answer questions and forge partnerships to help 

make the Coupon Program a success. 

In terms of tribal representatives securing coupons, the law is very clear that ‘‘a 

household may obtain coupons by making a request as required by the regulations 

. . . [and] The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that each requesting household receives, via the United States Postal Service, no more than two coupons.’’ This stipulation prevents NTIA from allowing tribal representatives to receive coupons on behalf of consumers, although it does not prohibit consumers from allowing surrogates 

to take their coupons to retail stores to redeem them, if consumers are unable to 

do so due to infirmity, lack of transportation and so forth. 

In terms of keeping statistics on Coupon Program participation by Native American tribe, the Agency has coupon participation data down to the zip code level, 

which it updates and posts on its website weekly. I have attached a table of the 

number of authorized over-the-air households that have requested coupons by zip 

code as of October 22, 2008. Unfortunately the Agency does not have corresponding 

Nielsen data at that level of granularity to determine what the potential coupon 

market is for each zip code. Therefore the Agency monitors Coupon Program participation rates by over-the-air households at the Designated Market Area (DMA) level. 

As I discussed earlier, the Agency is redoubling its consumer education efforts in 

markets—including those in Washington state—with unusually low participation 

rates. 

Question 6. Secretary Baker, the ‘‘DTV Transition Assistance Act’’ allows NTIA 

to accelerate grant support for the digital upgrade of low power television and translator stations and use surplus funds for consumer education and technical assistance efforts. Are translator stations currently applying for funds under the program? What is NTIA doing to reach out to translator station owners and operators 

to make them aware of the changes to the program? My understanding is that to 

expedite the release of funds for consumer education and technical assistance under 

the Act, NTIA is accepting unsolicited proposals. What criteria is NTIA using to decide on which unsolicited proposals to fund? How transparent is the proposal selection process? 

Answer. Yes, low-power stations are applying for funds under the Low-Power and 

Television Translator Digital-to-Analog Conversion Program (Conversion Program). 

NTIA has received applications for this program from over 900 low-power television 

facilities. After passage of the Act on July 30, 2008, NTIA reviewed the program 

and determined that $3.5 million would be sufficient to fulfill its responsibilities. On 

August 28, 2008, NTIA published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the 

change in the funding availability for the Conversion Program. NTIA posted the notice on the Conversion Program Internet page and notified leaders of the national 

trade organizations in the low-power television field. To be sure that the information 

was distributed to all potential Conversion Program applicants, NTIA mailed a letter in September to every licensee of a low-power television facility in the country. 

In October, a second announcement was mailed to every licensee about the change 

in funding. NTIA discussed the change in funding availability at the national convention of the Community Broadcasters Association, one of the two main trade 

groups in the low-power industry. NTIA also discussed the change in two public 

meetings NTIA held in October on the low-power grant programs. 

In terms of your question regarding the criteria for review of unsolicited proposals, I would refer you to the plan the Agency has developed with respect to the 

use of Assistance Program funds at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/ 

DTVltechassistl081015.pdf. In terms of publicizing the availability of these funds, 

the Agency determined that because of the specialized and urgent nature of these 

activities, it would not be in the public interest to seek full and open competition 

for this award. In the interest of expediency, NTIA will accept certain unsolicited 

proposals for use in fulfilling its mission to provide consumer education and techVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:16 Apr 11, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\80275.TXT JACKIE
72 

1GAO, Digital Television Transition: Broadcasters’ Transition Status, Low-Power Station 

Issues, and Information on Consumer Awareness of the DTV Transition, GAO–08–881T. (Washington, D.C.: June 10, 2008). 

nical assistance to targeted, hard-to-reach populations at risk of losing their television service after February 17, 2009. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE TO

MARK L. GOLDSTEIN

Question 1. According to your testimony, in areas with predominately senior populations, close to half (43 percent) of households have allowed their coupons to expire. 

Does GAO have a specific recommendation to address this problem? 

Answer. Regarding the high expiration rate of converter box coupons requested 

by seniors, we do not have a specific recommendation to address this issue. As we 

indicated in our testimony, the expiration rate for coupons is inordinately high in 

areas comprised predominantly of seniors. While we are able to report the request, 

redemption, and expiration rate in these areas, we have not explored the cause of 

the high expiration rate nor the effect that it might have. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) identified seniors as one of the ‘‘hard-to-reach’’ populations 

and have targeted seniors in their outreach efforts, but it is unclear what effect this 

will have on seniors’ high expiration rate of converter box coupons. 

Question 2. Will the lack of converter box installation assistance across the country inhibit a successful transition? 

Answer. We have not performed work related to converter box installation and 

how this might affect the DTV transition. FCC has noted that after the transition 

in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 8, 2008, it received numerous calls 

to its helpline regarding converter box problems. These problems mostly consisted 

of consumers’ need to properly install their converter boxes and to re-scan for digital 

channels after installing the box. FCC has indicated that consumer education efforts 

need to instruct consumers about how to effectively hook up their boxes and the 

need to re-scan for digital channels after the transition date. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. MARIA CANTWELL TO

MARK L. GOLDSTEIN

Question 1. Mr. Goldstein, do you expect NTIA to exceed its cap for administering 

the converter box subsidy program? If so, why do think it will happen? Given the 

increase in demand expected in the upcoming month, do you believe that NTIA has 

a handle on the administrative costs required through the end of the program? 

Answer. While we estimated potential coupon requests in our testimony on 

June 10, 2008,1 we did not examine NTIA’s costs associated with administering the 

converter box subsidy program and therefore do not know if NTIA has a handle on 

its administrative costs that it might incur through the end of the program or 

whether it will exceed its cap. In our June testimony, we estimated that households 

with a landline telephone would request approximately 30.6 million coupons. Our 

estimates ranged from 25.6 million to 35.5 million coupons for households with a 

landline telephone and did not include non-landline households or households where 

telephone status could not be determined. While we could not substantiate an assumption that other households would respond similarly to landline households, if 

they do, we estimated the potential for an additional 11 million coupon requests. 

Question 2. Mr. Goldstein, in your testimony you said that the GAO found that 

‘‘households in both predominantly minority black and Hispanic or Latino areas 

were less likely to redeem their coupons compared with households outside these 

areas.’’ How rigorous was the methodology used by the GAO to arrive at this conclusion? Why do you think that these populations are more likely to let their coupons 

expire? Do you think it would be valuable to perform a similar analysis for American Indian tribal lands? 

Answer. Our methodology employed the best available data and reflects coupon 

behavior for demographic areas (zip codes) with a preponderance of households in 

a given demographic group. Specifically, to draw comparisons on coupon requests, 

redemptions, and expirations across demographic differences, we analyzed the NTIA 

data by zip codes. To do so, we merged the NTIA zip code data with data from the 

2000 Census SF–3 summary file Zip Code Tabulation Areas. From the census data, 

we grouped zip codes into urban and rural categories and looked at coupon requests, 

73 

redemptions, and expirations for zip codes that were over 50 percent black or Hispanic/Latino. 

We did not perform work to address the question of why certain population groups 

were more or less likely to redeem coupons. 

Additional information about population subgroups would be valuable; however, 

we did not perform work on coupon requests, redemptions, and expirations in American Indian and tribal lands. Since our methodology employed NTIA and census 

data by zip codes, there may be limitations in determining which coupon requests 

originated in American Indian and tribal lands. 

Question 3. Mr. Goldstein, of the 45 high risk areas identified by the FCC, how 

many are predominantly rural? Does GAO believe that NTIA is effectively implementing the converter box subsidy program in less densely populated areas? 

Answer. We did not analyze the demographic composition of the high risk areas 

identified by FCC, so we are unable to answer how many of the high risk areas 

identified by FCC are predominantly rural. The 45 areas were chosen by NTIA and 

FCC based on areas of the country that have at least one of the following population 

groups: (1) more than 150,000 over-the-air households, (2) more than 20 percent of 

all households relying on over-the-air broadcasts, or (3) a top 10 City of residence 

for the largest target demographic groups. The target demographic groups include 

rural households. 

While in our testimony we indicated that NTIA is effectively implementing the 

converter box subsidy program, we did not specifically determine effectiveness based 

on population density. However, our analyses of NTIA coupon data show that the 

coupon request rate of 15 percent and redemption rate of 46 percent in rural areas 

are both slightly higher than the urban rates of 12 percent and 37 percent, respectively. In addition, the rate at which coupons have expired is lower in rural zip 

codes, at 25 percent, than in urban zip codes at 32 percent. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTION SUBMITTED BY HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE TO

HON. BILL SAFFO

Question. In your testimony, you mentioned that the vast majority of calls received right after the switch were from seniors, or family members and friends calling on behalf of a senior, who needed hands-on assistance to install the converter 

box. In your view, what could have been done in the planning stages of Wilmington’s transition to prevent this type of predicament among the senior population on 

the day of the transition? 

Answer. Although the FCC did an excellent job promoting when the switchover 

was to occur, many of these seniors either saw the advertisements and ignored them 

or had no way of getting the assistance they needed (ordering the coupons, getting 

out to purchase a box, installing the box) before the switchover. This caused a huge 

influx of calls immediately after the switchover by frustrated seniors who now had 

no access to television at all. To better service the senior population with the switch 

to digital cable, I feel the following would be helpful: 

Have people in place to assist seniors with the boxes before the date of the switch. 

This includes helping the seniors to apply for the coupon, purchase the box and antenna, and install the box. 

Easier access to ordering the coupons would be helpful as well. Many seniors do 

not have interne access and ordering the coupons by mail is difficult for them. It 

would be a good idea to allow seniors to order the coupons over the phone and, for 

those who need the extra help, have someone available to help them order the coupon by phone. Advertise directly to the senior population through senior centers, 

meals-on-wheels, social services, etc. 

Have accessibility to free digital boxes and antennas for those who did not know 

about coupon program or do not have the resources to use the coupon program. Once 

the switchover occurs, these seniors need immediate television access for emergency 

purposes and the coupon program takes time. 

Provide stickers (in large print) to label the new remote. Also, provide simple operating instructions to give to seniors (also in large print). The addition of a new 

remote is very difficult for many seniors to understand. 

Provide additional service for those seniors who need ongoing assistance. All it 

takes is to accidentally change the main television to the wrong channel, and the 

digital box will not work properly. This has been a frustration for many seniors who 

have called for assistance multiple times. 

74 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. MARIA CANTWELL TO

HON. BILL SAFFO

Question 1. Mayor Saffo, in your testimony you said that ‘‘they (FCC) seemed to 

be everywhere educating our residents and answering their questions.’’ Wilmington 

is a moderately sized city with a percentage of over-the-air households less than the 

national average and a percentage of non-English speakers less than the national 

average. How much of the financial cost of the Big Switch preparations and its immediate follow-up was borne by the City of Wilmington? From discussions you may 

have had with other mayors, do you believe that most cities have the resources 

available to provide the same level of customer service as the focused Federal effort 

in Wilmington? 

Answer. The FCC funded the entire project for the digital switch. The City of Wilmington did not incur any out of pocket expenses, however, we did donate some ‘‘inkind’’ support such as facilities, staff time etc. The City of Wilmington has a total 

of 1000 employees and without the support of the FCC, this would have been a very 

challenging project for the City to implement. 

Question 2. Mayor Saffo, could you describe what the City learned as a result of 

the two soft tests conducted. Were any translator stations involved in the tests? If 

so, were viewers of the analog translator stations confused by the test? 

Answer. The City of Wilmington learned immediately how many people needed 

help who thought they had hooked up their converter boxes properly when, in fact, 

they did not. My recommendation would be to conduct several soft tests prior to the 

switch over as we only conducted two in Wilmington leading up to the transition 

and that the test be done, if at all possible, during prime time viewing slots when 

more people are watching. 

Question 3. Mayor Saffo, in addition to your city’s fire department, what other organizations did you consider to provide technical assistance to seniors and other 

with installation of their set-top boxes? 

Answer. The Department of Social Services, the Department of Aging, Meals on 

Wheels, all senior centers, faith based groups such as churches and synagogues as 

well as young volunteers from our local university. 

Question 4. Mayor Saffo, how successful was the television e-cycling day? Do you 

see a benefit for the FCC to provide consumers information regarding the e-cycling 

of analog television in its communications on DTV? 

Answer. New Hanover County had been conducting e-cycling days since March 

2008 on the last Saturday of every month. We stressed that a new television was 

not necessary; that a converter box was available. Total of 80 tons of electronic 

equipment was collected (from March–September)—half of that was actual television sets. An important key to our success was having our TV stations provide 

information to their viewers on up-coming e-cycling events and to encourage keeping 

old televisions sets out of our landfills through participation in these events. Our 

stations conducted almost monthly interviews with Lynn Bestul, Solid Waste Planner with the New Hanover County government, to get information out to the public. 

He suggests conducting two events before and one event right to get a majority of 

the televisions. 

An event costs $1,300 as we paid $0.13/lb for television set recycling. 

Æ