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S. HRG. 110–345

PREPARING FOR THE DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSITION: WILL SENIORS BE LEFT IN THE DARK?

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING 

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

WASHINGTON, DC

SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

Serial No. 110–

Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging

(

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

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin, Chairman 

RON WYDEN, Oregon 

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas 

EVAN BAYH, Indiana 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York 

KEN SALAZAR, Colorado 

ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania 

CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon 

RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama 

SUSAN COLLINS, Maine 

MEL MARTINEZ, Florida 

LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho 

ELIZABETH DOLE, North Carolina 

NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

BOB CORKER, Tennessee 

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania 

DEBRA WHITMAN, Staff Director 

CATHERINE FINLEY, Ranking Member Staff Director 

(II) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Opening Statement of Senator Herb Kohl ............................................................. 1

Statement of Senator Gordon H. Smith ................................................................. 43

PANEL I 

Mark Goldstein, director of Physical Infrastructure, U.S. Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC .................................................................. 4

Jonathan Adelstein, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission, 

Washington, DC ................................................................................................... 21

John Kneuer, assistant secretary, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC .......... 29

PANEL II 

Nelda Barnett, board member, AARP, Owensboro, KY ....................................... 54

Amina Fazlullah, staff attorney, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Washington, DC ............................................................................................................. 69

Sandra Markwood, chief executive officer, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Washington, DC ........................................................................... 77

Marcellus Alexander, executive vice president, National Association of Broadcasters, Washington, DC ..................................................................................... 89

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statement of Senator Norm Coleman ................................................... 105

Prepared Statement of Senator Susan Collins ...................................................... 105

Testimony of John Lawson, president and CEO, The Association of Public 

Television Stations ............................................................................................... 107

Letter from Federal Communications Commission .............................................. 118

Letter from the Secretary of Commerce ................................................................ 129

Letter from the Consumer Electronics Association .............................................. 133

Letter from Circuit City .......................................................................................... 136

Letter from Radio Shack Corporation .................................................................... 139

Letter from Best Buy ............................................................................................... 145

Letter from Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition ......................................... 148

Letter from Target ................................................................................................... 153

Letter from Walmart ............................................................................................... 154

Letter National Association of Broadcasters ......................................................... 156

Letter from Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary 

for Aging ............................................................................................................... 161

(III) 

(1)

PREPARING FOR THE DIGITAL TELEVISION 

TRANSITION: WILL SENIORS BE LEFT IN 

THE DARK? 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 

U.S. SENATE, 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:56 a.m., in room 

SD–106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Herb Kohl (chairman of the committee) presiding. 

Present: Senators Kohl, McCaskill, Smith, and Coleman. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HERB KOHL, CHAIRMAN 

The CHAIRMAN. Hello to one and all, and we would like to welcome you to this hearing and welcome our witnesses, and we thank 

you all for your participation. We are here today to bring attention 

to the unique needs and vulnerabilities of seniors as well as others 

across our country as the Nation transitions from free over-the-air 

analog TV to digital TV, commonly referred to as the DTV transition. 

Broadcasters will stop airing their signals in analog after February 17, 2009. Without proper preparation, millions of Americans 

may turn on their TVs on February 18, 2009, only to find themselves left in the dark, without access to critical weather updates, 

emergency alerts, news or entertainment programming. 

Some claim that the transition will be the most significant advancement in technology since the dawn of color TV. There will be 

many benefits, indeed. Most importantly, the transition will improve the lines of communication between our nation’s first responders during emergencies. Unfortunately, this Committee’s investigation has left us deeply concerned about how the DT transition will be implemented. 

As one of the witnesses will tell us today, we need an investment 

in consumer education akin to the multimillion dollar awareness 

campaign for Medicare Part D when it was unrolled. However, we 

must learn from that disastrous implementation of Medicare Part 

D that left millions of seniors confused and scrambling for help. 

The fact is that Congress mandated this transition. What Congress did not do is clearly determine who should oversee and take 

responsibility for this transition. 

Today, we will hear from GAO that there is little coordination 

between the government agencies that have jurisdiction over different aspects of this transition in order for Congress to provide 

2

adequate funding for a widespread awareness campaign about this 

transition. As of now, believe it or not, only $5 million has been set 

aside to educate 300 million Americans about the impending transition over the next 17 months. This, as you know, it a pittance 

compared, for example, to the $400 million being spent in Great 

Britain to educate 60 million citizens about their transition. 

Millions of American families may be impacted by this change. 

There are roughly 20 million households that rely exclusively on 

free over-the-air programming. Seniors are particularly vulnerable 

to slipping through the cracks of the transition. Not only are they 

more likely to rely on free over-the-air analog TV signals, as shown 

in a study by the Association of Public Television Stations, but for 

many seniors, television is their only link to the outside world. 

Several of today’s witnesses will tell us that seniors need targeted outreach, and, of course, I agree. This Committee’s investigation has revealed that in spite of this need, little is being done to 

address the unique needs of seniors and provide entities in the 

aging network with the resources they need to ensure a successful 

transition. 

We are deeply concerned about how seniors and Americans, in 

general, will be able to find, install, and afford the converter boxes 

which will be necessary to allow their analog television sets to continue to work. The government’s plan is to provide coupons worth 

$40 to partially offset the cost of converter boxes. However, the 

Committee’s investigation has determined that this coupon program is fraught with confusion and is vulnerable to fraud and 

abuse. 

Seniors may not realize that the coupon will not pay for the entire cost of the converter box and be stuck with bills that they did 

not expect and cannot afford. Retailers may try to sell seniors more 

expensive TVs or converters than they need. One of today’s witnesses will be detailing such misleading sales that are already occurring in electronic stores around the D.C. area. 

I will be introducing critical legislation to help address many of 

these concerns. The bill will establish and fund a public-private 

partnership that will be charged with making sure older Americans 

and their families are educated about the transition. The bill will 

also require commercial broadcasters to air public service announcements, require easily identifiable labels to be placed on coupon eligible converter boxes, and establish a toll-free number to answer questions and provide installation assistance. 

These are just a few of the common sense changes to help consumers and especially seniors weather the DTV transition. If properly planned for and implemented, this transition could be relatively seamless. Without adequate planning and coordination, 

many seniors will clearly be left in the dark. So we look forward 

to hearing from our witnesses today, and we will continue to work 

with each of you to identify the shortfalls of the DTV transition. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Kohl follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR HERB KOHL

Good morning, I would like to welcome our witnesses and thank them for their 

participation. We are here today to bring attention to the unique needs and 

vulnerabilities of seniors as the nation transitions from free over-the-air analog TV 

to digital TV. Commonly referred to as the DTV transition, broadcasters will stop 

3

airing their signals in analog after February 17, 2009. Without proper preparation, 

millions of Americans may turn on their TVs on February 18, 2009 only to find 

themselves left in the dark without access to critical weather updates, emergency 

alerts, news or entertainment programming. 

Some claim that the transition will be the most significant advancement in technology since the dawn of color TV. There will be many benefits. Most importantly 

the transition will improve the lines of communication between our nation’s first responders during emergencies. Unfortunately, my committee’s investigation has left 

me deeply concerned about how the DTV transition will be implemented. As one of 

the witnesses will tell us today, we need an investment in consumer education akin 

to the multi-million dollar awareness campaign for Medicare Part D. However, we 

must learn from the disastrous implementation of Medicare Part D that left millions 

of seniors confused and scrambling for help. 

The fact is—Congress mandated this transition. What Congress did not do is 

clearly determine who should oversee and take responsibility for the transition. 

Today we will hear from GAO that there is little coordination between the government agencies that have jurisdiction over different aspects of the transition. Nor did 

Congress provide adequate funding for a widespread awareness campaign about the 

transition. As of now, only $5 million dollars have been set aside to educate 300 million Americans about the impending transition over the next 17 months. This is a 

pittance compared to the $400 million being spent in Great Britain to educate 60 

million citizens about their own digital transition. 

Millions of American families may be impacted by this change—there are roughly 

20 million households that rely exclusively on free over-the-air programming. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to slipping through the cracks of the transition. Not 

only are they more likely to rely on free over-the-air analog TV signals, as shown 

in a study by the Association of Public Television Stations, but for many seniors television is their only link to the outside world. Several of today’s witnesses will tell 

us that seniors need targeted outreach—and I agree. This committee’s investigation 

has revealed that, in spite of this need, little is being done to address the unique 

needs of seniors and provide entities in the aging network with the resources they 

need to ensure asuccessful transition. 

I am deeply concerned with how seniors and Americans in general, will be able 

to find, install, and afford the converter boxes to allow their analog television sets 

to continue to work. The government’s plan is to provide coupons worth $40 to partially offset the cost of converter boxes. However, the Committee’s investigation has 

determined that this coupon program is fraught with confusion and vulnerable to 

fraud and abuse. Seniors may not realize that the coupon will not pay for the entire 

cost of the converter box and be stuck with bills they did not expect and cannot afford. Retailers may try to sell seniors more expensive TVs or converters than they 

need. One of today’s witnesses will be detailing such misleading sales that are already occurring in electronics stores around the D.C. area. 

I will be introducing critical legislation to help address many of these concerns. 

The bill will establish and fund a public-private partnership that will be charged 

with making sure older Americans and their families are educated about the transition. The bill will also require commercial broadcasters to air public service announcements, require easily-identifiable labels to be placed on coupon-eligible converter boxes, and establish a toll-free number to answer questions and provide installation assistance. These are just a few of the common sense changes to help consumers, and especially seniors, weather the DTV transition. 

If properly planned for and implemented, the DTV transition could be relatively 

seamless. Without adequate planning and coordination, many seniors will be left in 

the dark. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and we will continue to work 

with each of you to identify and address the shortfalls of the DTV transition.

We will turn now to our first panel. Our first witness will be 

Mark Goldstein. Mr. Goldstein is the director of physical infrastructure issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Mr. 

Goldstein oversees the agency’s audits and investigations in the 

areas of Federal property and telecommunications. Mr. Goldstein 

has also served as a deputy executive director and chief of staff to 

the D.C. Financial Control Board and also is a senior staff member 

of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. 

After Mr. Goldstein, we will hear from Jonathan Adelstein, a 

commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission. PreVerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:25 Apr 17, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\40539.TXT SAGING1 PsN: JOYCE
4

viously, Mr. Adelstein worked extensively on telecommunication 

issues as a senior legislative aide to former majority leader Tom 

Daschle and also as a staffer for the Special Committee on Aging. 

Our final witness on the first panel will be John Kneuer, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration. In directing 

the NTIA, Mr. Kneuer oversees the association’s telecommunications and information policy initiatives. 

We welcome you, gentlemen. We would be pleased to hear your 

testimony. 

Mr. Goldstein, you may speak first. 

STATEMENT OF MARK GOLDSTEIN, DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL 

INFRASTRUCTURE, U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

OFFICE, WASHINGTON, DC 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and good 

morning. I am pleased to be here today to report on our work and 

the progress made in consumer education efforts for the digital television transition. 

We are currently finalizing a report on initial public and private 

sector efforts underway to implement the transition. As such, the 

findings that I am reporting today are preliminary in nature and 

principally related to consumer education and outreach programs. 

The primary goal of the DTV transition is for the Federal Government to reclaim spectrum that broadcasters currently use to 

provide analog television signals. In all, the DTV transition will 

free up 108 megahertz of spectrum, including a portion of the spectrum that will be reallocated for public safety purposes, which became a higher priority following the terrorist attacks of September 

11. FCC will auction the remaining spectrum for commercial purposes, with the resulting proceeds allocated for, among other 

things, reducing the Federal deficit. 

The Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 

mandates that analog television broadcast signals cease on February 17, 2009. After that date, households that had previously 

viewed television on analog sets solely through the reception of 

over-the-air signals must take action to ensure that they can view 

digital broadcast signals. 

The act also directed the NTIA to establish a $1.5 billion program through which households can obtain coupons to assist in the 

purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes that will enable people to view the digital signals. NTIA has begun to implement the 

converter box subsidy program, and in August 2007, it selected 

IBM Corporation to administer the program. 

While there are many steps necessary to successfully complete 

the DTV transition, my testimony today will focus on consumer 

education and awareness. In particular, I will discuss, one, consumer education efforts currently underway; two, education efforts 

and programs being planned; three, the difficulties that might arise 

in the implementation of such programs; and, four, ongoing work 

on DTV consumer education and awareness that the GAO will undertake in the coming months. 

My statement today includes the following major points: 

5

No. 1, several Federal and private stakeholders have already 

begun consumer education campaigns with both independent and 

coordinated efforts underway. FCC and NTIA have been involved 

in consumer education and awareness programs, and some private 

sector organizations are voluntarily taking the lead on outreach efforts. 

For example, FCC has launched a Web site, DTV.gov, and NTIA 

has begun outreach efforts to some groups most likely to lose all 

television service as a result of the transition, including at-risk 

groups such as the elderly. Private, public, and nonprofit groups 

have joined together to form the DTV Transition Coalition to coordinate on consumer education efforts and messages. 

Second, with respect to any upcoming consumer education planning, widespread and comprehensive efforts have yet to be implemented. However, additional efforts are currently being planned 

both for the general population and at-risk groups. FCC, NTIA, and 

private sector stakeholders have plans to further educate consumers as the transition nears. 

FCC recently solicited comments on proposed consumer education programs, including potentially requiring television broadcasters to conduct on-air consumer education efforts. The proposals 

also include potential requirements for industry to report on the 

status of their specific consumer outreach efforts, including those 

efforts targeted to at-risk groups. 

NTIA’s contractor is also developing a consumer education component for the converter box subsidy program. Additionally, the 

DTV Transition Coalition and various industry trade associations 

are planning information and education campaigns, and some 

groups are planning to broadcast public service announcements. 

Three, despite the efforts currently underway and those being 

planned, difficulties remain in the implementation of consumer 

education programs. While private sector organizations are conducting outreach efforts, these actions are voluntary and, therefore, 

the government cannot be assured of the extent, timing, or actual 

messages included in private sector efforts. 

Strategic communications experts from industry, government, 

and academia identified for us potential challenges to a consumer 

education campaign, including, (1), prioritizing limited resources to 

target the right audience for an adequate period of time; (2), educating consumers who do not necessarily need to take action; and, 

(3), reaching underserved populations, such as the elderly and disabled; and, finally, aligning stakeholders to form a consistent, coordinated message. 

Finally, in our ongoing work related to the DTV transition, we 

will report on the progress of consumer education and awareness 

about the DTV transition over the next 17 months. For example, 

we will continue to monitor consumer education programs, and we 

plan to conduct a series of consumer surveys throughout the year 

prior to the transition date. In addition, throughout the transition 

process, we will continue to assess government and industry consumer education efforts and analyze these efforts compared with 

key practices for consumer outreach. 

6

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my summary of the prepared statement, and I would be happy to respond to any questions that you 

have. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Goldstein follows:]

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

Mr. Adelstein 

STATEMENT OF JONATHAN ADELSTEIN, COMMISSIONER, 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, WASHINGTON, DC 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you so 

much for inviting me to discuss the impact of the DTV transition 

on seniors. It is a special honor for me to be here, because, as you 

noted, I did spend 6 years as a staff member on this Committee 

under then Chairman David Pryor. So you know that issues of concern to seniors and to this Committee are at the top of my list. 

I will focus today on how the Federal Government can establish 

a coherent, coordinated response to educate older Americans about 

the DTV transition. We all need to do a lot more outreach to prepare our seniors. That includes the FCC; other Federal agencies, 

such as NTIA and the Administration on Aging; the broadcasting, 

cable, and consumer electronics industries; State, Local, and Tribal 

Governments; and consumer advocacy groups and communitybased providers. We all need to do this together. 

The consequences of failing to mount a more aggressive outreach 

campaign would be a disaster, so I applaud your leadership and the 

leadership of the Aging Committee here in focusing our attention 

on the need to activate now and focusing on the particular needs 

of seniors. 

I am just one of five commissioners on the FCC, but I have really 

closely followed the DTV consumer outreach efforts that our agency 

is making. We have an excellent staff, and they are willing, capable, and ready to execute whatever plans they are asked to implement. 

Unfortunately, the FCC’s DTV outreach and education efforts to 

date have been lackluster at best. It isn’t that there is a lack of 

good ideas about how to reach older Americans. Rather, there has 

been a lack of leadership, focus, and resources for putting these 

ideas into action. 

The government hasn’t established a command and control structure that is responsible to coordinate the national DTV transition 

effort. We need to vet, prioritize, and implement good ideas from 

both the public and private sectors into a comprehensive, coherent, 

and coordinated plan. 

Only the government can play the role of referee to keep industry 

representatives with sometimes conflicting priorities—to coordinate 

them to send a clear message that serves all consumers and isn’t 

skewed by their own self-interests. I am concerned that we haven’t 

responded with the urgency required by the potential magnitude of 

this huge change in the way Americans view their TV, particularly 

over-the-air viewers, a disproportionate number of whom are elderly and on fixed incomes. 

This isn’t just about entertainment, as you noted. It is about how 

seniors get their news, their public safety information, and their 

emergency information. Now, what is the topic today? U.S. PIRG 

is going to testify later today that they did a spot check, and they 

found that clerks at leading TV retailers don’t know enough themselves to help consumers get the information they need. Now, if 

22

these young, tech-savvy workers don’t get it, imagine the challenges that a lot of seniors face. 

If we fail to reach everyone affected, I fear that government and 

business alike will face a tsunami of complaints when analog overthe-air signals stop just 517 days from now. No senior should face 

a blank TV screen when they wake up on February 18, 2009, and 

turn on any set in their home. 

We need to implement a transition plan that is comparable to 

our response to the Y2K computer threat and one that is commensurate to the Federal Government’s multimillion dollar campaign 

to inform seniors of the new prescription drug benefit. As you 

noted, the drug benefit faced massive confusion after $65 million 

was spent in 1 year alone, and look what we are trying to spend 

on this DTV transition. So we need to build on the successes and 

failures of those efforts. 

Commissioner Copps, my colleague, and I managed to increase 

our fiscal year 2009 budget request to OMB by twenty-fold, a huge 

increase from our previous request. Even though these resources 

are urgently needed, it is not solely a matter of money. 

As you can see from the prescription drug plan, throwing money 

at it obviously didn’t do the trick. It is a matter of coordination, it 

is a matter of priorities and it is a matter of leadership. 

First, we need to create a Federal DTV task force immediately. 

The FCC and NTIA need to spearhead a multi-agency task force 

to develop benchmarks and timelines. It needs resources and staff, 

and it should be accountable to Congress. 

The task force would be able to coordinate with public and private partners, leverage existing resources, and develop a single 

unified Federal message. In addition to coordinating government 

efforts, it can convene joint meetings with the private sector DTV 

coalition to ensure a coherent, consistent message. Like any advertising campaign, you want to hit consumers with it over and over 

again, and you want it to be consistent, in order for it to sink in. 

With a unified message developed, the task force can work with 

other agencies, such as the Administration on Aging, Social Security Administration, HHS, and AmeriCorp, and can help seniors to 

integrate these DTV educational efforts. At every point of contact 

with consumers, there ought to be notice made of this transition. 

All Federal agency websites and correspondence or mailings to 

citizens’ homes, such as Social Security mailers or Meals on Wheels 

deliveries, are golden opportunities to inform consumers about the 

transition, including the converter box program and the analog cutoff date, in a comprehensive way. The task force needs to launch 

a coordinated grassroots information distribution campaign, working with State, Local, and Tribal Governments, private sector partners, and community-based providers. The FCC also needs to establish a dedicated hotline, as you suggested, for consumer information. This is especially important for seniors, many of whom 

lack access to the Internet. 

I am confident that with further direction from Congress and 

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23

paign. There is still time, but given how long we have waited already, there is not a minute to waste. 

Thank you for inviting me to testify, and I am happy to answer 

any questions you might have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Adelstein follows:]

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

Mr. Kneuer. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN KNEUER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, 

NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION 

ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Mr. KNEUER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator McCaskill. 

Thank you for this opportunity to testify before you today. 

As you know, NTIA’s responsibility has expanded considerably 

with the enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Specifically, the act directed NTIA to administer a $1.5 billion digital-toanalog converter box coupon program, part of the subject of today’s 

hearing. 

Under the digital-to-analog converter box coupon program, eligi- ble U.S. households may obtain up to two coupons of $40 each to 

be applied toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes 

that will convert digital broadcast signals for display on analog television sets. The act authorizes NTIA to use up to $990 million to 

carry out the program, including up to $100 million for program 

administration, of which $5 million can be used for consumer education. It also authorizes an additional $510 million in contingent 

funding to be available upon 60 days notice to the Congress. 

NTIA has made substantial progress in fulfilling its requirements under the law. On August 17, we awarded the contract to 

IBM to provide end-to-end services to implement and administer 

the coupon program. IBM, together with three partners, will manage three broad functional aspects of the coupon program: systems 

processing, financial processing and consumer education and communications. 

Consumer education must be conducted at an optimal moment to 

afford consumers sufficient time to prepare for the transition. Consumers will need to know the options available to them to participate in the transition. 

For example, consumers who receive cable, satellite or other pay 

television services to view television will not need over-the-air converter boxes. Likewise, consumers that have televisions equipped 

with digital receivers will not need a converter box. By contrast, 

households that wish to continue viewing over-the-air television 

with an analog television receiver must be educated about the need 

to obtain a converter box. Moreover, consumers who acquire converter boxes will also need to be aware that there is financial assistance available to them to obtain these boxes. 

We recognize that we must pay particular attention to certain 

communities to ensure that they are aware of the digital transition 

and are prepared to adapt to the required changes. We have identified five target groups for our consumer education efforts: seniors 

and older Americans, the economically disadvantaged, rural residents, people with disabilities and minorities. 

As you know, America’s seniors make up a large percentage of 

consumers served by governmental, social service, commercial and 

nonprofit organizations. Accordingly, we have been leveraging our 

relationships with these organizations to reach senior constituencies that they serve. 

30

For example, we are working very closely with the Administration on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We are also collaborating with the AARP, who will testify 

later, to ensure that the coupon program is highlighted in its publications and online newsletters, which reach more than 22 million 

subscribers, in both English and Spanish. Earlier this month, we 

participated in the AARP member convention in Boston, and the 

agency has been coordinating very closely with AARP for almost a 

year. 

We have also reached out to establish partnerships with other organizations, including SeniorNet, an organization that supports 

about 200 senior learning centers across the country; the National 

Caucus and Center of Black Aged, Inc.; and the National Indian 

Council on Aging. At the end of October, NTIA will participate in 

the National Hispanic Council on Aging conference and distribute 

Spanish language materials about the transition. 

In addition to our efforts, over 120 business, trade and industry 

groups, as well as grassroots and membership organizations that 

share an interest in a smooth transition, came together earlier this 

year to charter the Digital Television Transition Coalition. The coalition will use marketing and public education strategies, including 

paid and earned media placements, to distribute consistent, unified, and accurate information about the transition. NTIA has been 

working with the coalition since its inception on coordinating our 

messages. 

We will also continue to participate in meetings and conferences 

over the next 2 years to spread the word about the transition and 

the coupon program. We will be hosting our second public meeting 

next week on September 25 to discuss progress in educating the 

public about the coupon program. This public meeting will focus on 

our partnerships in the digital transition and will feature two CEO 

level panels from the impacted industries, including participation 

from the AARP. 

The public meeting will also include an exposition in the Department of Commerce lobby that will include displays from over a 

dozen companies and organizations featuring products and services 

to enable consumers to make a smooth digital transition. We certainly invite you and your staff to attend this meeting and welcome 

any suggestions or concerns that you have about the coupon program. I will note that the very next day, the FCC will be holding 

a similar program, and NTIA will be participating in that as well. 

In conclusion, I want to thank the Committee for the opportunity, and I am happy to answer any of your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Kneuer follows.]

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

Mr. Goldstein, it seems that there is a lot of work based on your 

testimony as well as others, a lot of work that the public sector and 

the private sector have yet to do in the coming months to make the 

digital transition happen. I think we are all aware of that, and that 

is why we are here today. 

In your opinion, is this work being sufficiently coordinated, and 

do we have someone in charge of this whole transition? 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Mr. Chairman, I think I would answer your 

question in two parts. First, I would say that it is pretty clear to 

us, based on the initial work we have done, that there is no one 

in charge. 

The FCC has the broadest telecommunications responsibilities in 

the government. They have the responsibility to compel broadcasters to do what is necessary. NTIA, with its general responsibilities for electronic commerce, is really embarking on kind of a new 

road for it. 

So, truly, it seems to us that the bulk of any oversight responsibility, while coordinated between those two agencies, ought to fall 

probably to FCC. Yet there seems to be confusion even on the part 

of the FCC between the Chairman and some other commissioners 

regarding what its responsibilities are for the transition in various 

public documents in recent months. So we are concerned about 

this. 

It is clear, despite the important efforts that are going on now 

and those that are planned, that without greater coordination and 

someone being in charge, the challenges are likely to rise, and the 

chances of success are likely to diminish some. 

Second, because there isn’t really anyone in charge, we found in 

our work that there was no comprehensive planning effort, no overall performance management structure or risk management program in place. Overall, there are components here and there, and 

NTIA has some plans, but nothing broadly for the transition or 

even the consumer education part of the transition that will help 

ensure that the transition meets its goals and its milestones. 

There are, obviously, a lot of things going on out there, but no 

one is really trying to assess what risks might show up, what kind 

of gaps might be there, what kind of problems might exist, and how 

to best mitigate them. We are only in sort of a startup phase, as 

you know, but we have already found issues of confusion and, potentially, even conflict between Federal Government Web sites 

which have information on them which appear to potentially conflict, and other kinds of information gaps that exist that people 

really need to know about, for instance, regarding the converter 

box program. 

They are available, and the Web sites indicate that they are 

available starting in January. However, that is really a test phase. 

They are not really generally available until April. But there is almost no information that would let seniors or other Americans 

know that. So there are a lot of coordination and planning issues 

that, even here in the startup phase, may bedevil the program. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Commissioner Adelstein, you recommended the establishment of 

a Federal task force that would work in partnership with the priVerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:25 Apr 17, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\40539.TXT SAGING1 PsN: JOYCE
42

vate sector and consumer groups to develop a coordinated approach 

to educating seniors and the public. As you are aware, we are developing legislation that incorporates your recommendations, and 

we look forward to working with you, as well as other stakeholders, 

on this issue. 

Your testimony called the current public education efforts at the 

FCC, quote, ‘‘lackluster.’’ So tell us, what are your predictions for 

February 18, 2009, if, in fact, nothing is done to increase consumer 

awareness? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Well, I am very concerned that if we don’t do a 

better job of planning—and we just heard from the GAO that we 

are not doing a good job, they said that there isn’t the proper leadership, and there isn’t the proper focus—and because of that we are 

going to have one of the biggest outrages that this Congress has 

ever seen. You will be inundated with letters and phone calls from 

angry constituents, all of the Federal agencies will be inundated—

as well as the cable companies, and the broadcasters. It will be a 

really difficult day in the history of American broadcasting if we 

don’t turn this around, and I am hopeful that we can. 

What we have here is a warning, and we have 17 months left, 

so there is time to turn this around. But we must have more leadership. We have to do more planning, but what is the plan now? 

You can’t find out what the plan is. We are kind of doing this ad 

hoc as we go. What are the benchmarks by which we need to meet 

to get to the point where everybody in this country is going to be 

properly educated? We don’t have any in place. 

What is the industry doing? I am not 100 percent sure. We hear 

different things. They keep changing their mind about what their 

dates are. They don’t have a coordinated message among themselves. Even the Federal Government, as we just heard from the 

General Accounting Office, doesn’t have a coordinated message 

within itself, and we are also not reaching out to coordinate the 

message among industry. 

Now, we can’t force the Industry on what to say, but it would be 

nice if we looked at some of these PSAs in advance and gave them 

some suggestions, because they each have their own self-interests 

at stake here, and they have their own pecuniary agendas. Our 

agendas need to focus on the public but what are we doing to make 

sure the public interest is served, that the broader message is consistent? 

As I said, it is like an ad campaign. You want it to be simple, 

direct, clear and consistent, and repeated so it sinks in to the 

American consciousness. With all these different messages coming 

from all these different places, the government not coordinating 

with each other, the industry not coordinating with each other and 

the FCC, not coordinating all together, we are not going to have 

the kind of level of understanding among the public that we are 

going to need to avoid some of the consequences I laid out. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. Kneuer, in your testimony, you note that any eligible U.S. 

household can request up to two coupons to help reduce the cost 

of a digital-to-TV converter box. Your agency uses the standard 

census definition of a household, which leaves out individuals living in institutions. 

43

Will the millions of elderly and disabled residents of nursing 

homes and assisted living facilities across the Nation also be eligible to obtain a coupon if they should wish to have one? Can you 

ensure that these residents do not lose their window to the outside 

world? 

Mr. KNEUER. We did rely on the census definition of households, 

and persons living in institutions are not eligible as households, 

per se. That is why part of our education effort is to reach out and 

work with the communities that do work with people in those facilities to make sure that they are aware of the transition as it is 

coming, and that there is nothing that would prevent a caregiver 

or a relative from redeeming a coupon, purchasing a box, and 

bringing it to somebody who lives in one of those institutions. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Well, we applaud you for including 

seniors in your list of target groups for consumer education efforts 

and for reaching out to the appropriate actors, such as the Administration on Aging. However, there is concern about potential problems that can occur at local retailers throughout the course of the 

transition. 

Tell us what your agency will do to ensure that retailers properly 

educate their sales associates about the coupon program and mitigate the problems of up-selling? 

Mr. KNEUER. One of the requirements that we put in our program as we sought a vendor to fulfill the coupon redemption and 

the rest was that they give us proposals on how they would work 

with retailers and educate retailers and bring training to retailers. 

Retailers also need to be registered under the program to make 

sure that we have got real, sophisticated retail entities taking part. 

You have to have been in the business for a period of time, have 

education materials in place. 

It is a part of what we are requesting IBM to do with their partners—is to bring training to the retailers, to reach out, not just 

to—the general information for everyone, but also that information 

that can reach the five groups that we have identified as those 

most in need. We have got that down to a level of granularity, even 

including large type print for seniors, as well as foreign language 

material for people who may not have English as a primary language. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Well, we have our distinguished co-Chairman of this Committee 

here today, Senator Smith, and we will ask him to make his remarks and ask his questions followed by Senator McCaskill and 

then Senator Coleman. 

Senator Smith. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR GORDON SMITH, 

RANKING MEMBER 

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the interest of 

time, if I may, I will put my statement in the record. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Smith follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR GORDON SMITH

Thank you Mr. Chairman. 

Today, we are about a year and a half away from one of the largest transitions 

in United States broadcasting history. 

44

Already advertisements are popping up on television sets alerting consumers 

about the upcoming digital TV or DTV transition. ‘‘Are You Ready?’’ they ask viewers, encouraging them to ensure their TVs will not go dark on February 17, 2009. 

I have the same question for the federal government, ′′Are We Ready?′′ In the Aging Committee we have the opportunity and responsibility to look at the 

digital transition with a narrow focus on our seniors—those most likely to be impacted. The transition is a massive undertaking and its success depends on significant efforts from both the public and private sectors. 

I am encouraged by recent efforts in both the public and private sector to help 

facilitate the DTV transition. Specifically, I applaud the NTIA for their selection of 

a vendor to implement the converter box coupon program and the cable industry’s 

announcement of a $200 million advertising campaign to inform their customers of 

the DTV transition. 

We must ensure that the necessary steps are taken to guarantee a smooth transition without fraud or interrupted TV service for elderly households. It is imperative 

that seniors receive accurate information on the transition in a format that is easy 

to understand. I also want to ensure that the federal government provides the appropriate resources, including funding, to inform and assist our nation’s seniors on 

issues related to the transition. In doing so, it is imperative that all stakeholders 

work with the Aging Network. 

The Aging Network is a comprehensive system that includes 655 area agencies 

on aging, 29,000 local service provider organizations and hundreds of thousands of 

volunteers who interact with seniors on a regular basis in communities throughout 

our country. Many of you are familiar with their work with various programs, including Meals on Wheels that provides meal services to homebound seniors. 

The Aging Network is one of the primary resources to communicate information 

and offer services to the elderly community related to many government programs 

and issues impacting them. I anticipate the Network will be integral to the success 

of the DTV transition for this segment of our population. I look forward to hearing 

how each of the stakeholders here today plans to work with the Aging Network to 

ensure seniors are ready for the transition. 

As part of the education campaign, we must make a concerted effort to protect 

seniors from potential fraud. There is no shortage of swindlers willing to capitalize 

on the confusion and fears that could surround the DTV transition. With seniors as 

their main prey, I guarantee that these bad actors are already scheming to dupe 

seniors into the purchase of unneeded televisions or converter boxes. I look forward 

to hearing from our witnesses on how they will proactively work to prevent this type 

to fraud. 

I welcome our witnesses and look forward to hearing their testimony. 

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Senator SMITH. It does reflect, I think, the ongoing concern that 

this Committee and many other Senate Committees—specifically 

the Commerce Committee, which Senator McCaskill and I serve 

on—are focusing on this. So you may feel like you are being 

bombarded on this issue. Obviously, the reason is because few 

things get the attention of our constituents more than their functioning TV sets, and we want to accelerate and facilitate this transition so it is as seamless as possible. 

We really do need an education campaign that is simple, that is 

multifaceted, and that is repetitive so as to make sure that seniors 

are not victimized by those who would sell them a converter box 

that they don’t need. We don’t want them to have to buy it, and 

we want to make sure they get what they need, and that they get 

it in a timely way. 

But I have a specific question for the FCC and the NTIA, and 

it relates to the aging network, which consists of the Administration on Aging, 56 State units, 655 area agencies on aging, 243 tribal organizations, and 29,000 local service provider organizations. 

As I understand it, this network is not being utilized, and it is an 

army of willing workers that is authorized under the Older Americans Act and a resource for your agencies, gentlemen, that, if you 

are not going to use it, I need to encourage it and plug you into 

45

it as best we can. Because when you look at Meals on Wheels and 

the people who are going into the homes, these are the people who 

enabled us to get through a very difficult Medicare Part D problem, 

or implementation, much more successfully and more quickly than 

many thought possible. It still wasn’t perfect, but it would have 

been much worse had this army on the ground not been available. 

It does seem to me that we are missing the boat, as I understand 

it, because this incredible resource is not being utilized by your 

agencies. Is that correct? What can you do to do differently? 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. I think that is an important point. I think we do 

need to work more closely. Now, our staff has reached out to AOA, 

and it has some positive, very early stage ideas underway. One 

State, for example, we are going to closely coordinate with, but we 

have 49 others that we are not yet working with, so I think we 

need to do a lot more. 

One of the ideas that I think is so important is that we have a 

Federal level task force or working group that involves all the different Federal agencies meeting at the highest levels to discuss 

what the priorities of the agencies are. This task force should, specifically, really focus very heavily on bringing in AOA and its leadership and also working with all the different state offices on aging 

to bring those resources to bear. 

For example, working with Meals on Wheels to help spread the 

word. One of the ideas is that they will put on the tray a little flyer 

about the DTV transition that is written in a very simple way, and 

all those folks will get that information. There are so many creative 

ideas like that that are out there, but how are we going to get them 

implemented? How are we going to do it in time? Are we coordinating enough with AOA? 

I am afraid to say, as you know, our efforts are very nascent. We 

are just beginning to reach out, which is important, but we need 

to be doing a lot more—I mean, not just working with AOA, but 

other Federal agencies, like SSA, which has mailers that go out to 

all of our seniors. The Federal Government ought to be coordinating with all the different resources we have to make sure this 

message gets out through all the different mechanisms we have, 

and I think AOA is one of the best and most important. 

Senator SMITH. Well, please take this hearing as a friendly prod. 

I hope you will utilize this resource. 

Mr. KNEUER. Senator, we are working very, very closely with 

AOA, as well as SeniorNet and others. They have been—from the 

outset, when we knew we had this responsibility, we looked out 

across the executive branch and across the Administration where 

there were resources. I mean, it is clear that senior citizens are the 

largest consumers of these governmental services, and there are a 

host of different executive branch agencies that provide those services. 

AOA is one of the first ones that we have been working with. We 

are working closely with them, as our vendor coordinates the consumer outreach message, having that integrate into the AOA services is exactly what we plan to do. 

Senator SMITH. Mr. Goldstein, one of the concerns that I have is 

how effective the information is that we are giving to seniors. Is 

it simple? Is it clear? Can senior citizens follow it? I wonder from 

46

your study that you did recently how effective—or how we can improve our brochures and our government Web sites so that this can 

be understood by folks out there. 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. A couple of points, Senator. One is I think there 

does need to be clear and more consistent messages, and we have 

talked a little bit about that. We do see some inconsistencies and 

some gaps in the messages that are being provided today. 

We sat down with a panel of experts in strategic communications 

not long ago, and we talked to them about specific things that they 

recommended that need to be part of any campaign. They included 

prioritizing limited resources so that when you don’t have a lot of 

time and you don’t have a lot of money, you are very, very sure of 

who you are reaching out to and at what point. So you have to 

make decisions between small and large audiences and long and 

short periods of time in order to make sure that your message is 

heard. 

You need to—and we are quite concerned about this possibility—

educate consumers who don’t need to take action. That doesn’t 

seem to be really part of what has been developed much so far, and 

there may be many, many seniors who are confused and may go 

buy a set top box who don’t need to do so at all. So there is potentially some confusion at that point. 

Obviously, reaching the underserved and more vulnerable parts 

of the population is key, and NTIA, particularly, has an outreach 

program designed to do that. But, obviously, we have a lot of time 

and a lot of message still to get out there. Then, aligning stakeholders to make sure that the messages that are being sent are 

clear and they are consistent. 

Many of the stakeholders and organizations involved are voluntary. Some of them are natural competitors, and so you are 

going to see messages that are designed to meet their own objectives and not necessarily the public’s, in part, as well. So I think 

there are a lot of challenges remaining. 

Senator SMITH. Very good. I see my time is up, and I may have 

another question. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Smith. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Senator MCCASKILL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I did a little field trip in preparation for this subject matter, and 

I was in the market for a television. So as I went around to buy 

televisions, I began asking the people at Best Buy and Circuit City 

about when the boxes were going to get there, and they said, ‘‘Well, 

we have Direct TV here. You can’’—you know, they were busy trying to point me out to cable or satellite providers. I said, ‘‘No, no. 

Isn’t there supposed to be a box here somewhere that is going to 

help me convert my TV?’’ The salespeople really didn’t know what 

I was talking about. 

Now, these boxes are supposed to be available January 1, and we 

are about to embark upon the biggest Christmas selling season in 

terms of buying TVs outside of—before the Super Bowl. I think the 

retailers will tell you that we are about to go into their busiest 3 

months. 

When very confused consumers—and I have spent a lot of time 

trying to figure out all this stuff, plasma, LCD, DLP, do we worry 

47

about—what is it—a cable card? I really have worked at it. Now, 

if the people that are selling this stuff don’t know the boxes are 

coming, and we don’t really know when the boxes are going to get 

here, and there seems to be a chicken and an egg thing, in that 

they are not going to order boxes until they have demand, and they 

are not going to have demand until people know about the boxes, 

and, meanwhile, it is 4 months from now. I think it takes 4 months 

to manufacture the boxes, doesn’t it, Commissioner Kneuer? 

Mr. KNEUER. I don’t know the manufacturing time in terms of 

months and the rest of it. Those are precisely the reasons we wanted to make sure that our vendor put together a concerted effort to 

do education with retailers as these things come online. 

The statute dictates that we be eligible and prepared to receive 

coupon requests as of January 1, 2008. It doesn’t give us any authority on dictating supply chains and the rest. But recognizing exactly the dynamic that you are underlining, that having multiple 

manufacturers, having a competitive environment for boxes, and 

getting boxes into the marketplace is important, we designed our 

program to encourage the broadest possible participation by manufacturers, the broadest possible participation by retailers. 

The retailers told us from the outset, don’t expect to get them 

lined up for this Christmas season. It is too early this year, and 

they are too focused on managing this year’s Christmas rush. Introducing a new product will come after that in the January timeframe. 

So we have had lots of interest from manufacturers. We have 

been certifying boxes. We intend to certify, and I am sure we will 

be certifying more boxes. I believe boxes will be getting into the 

marketplace and broadly distributed by a broad cross section of 

both, you know, big box stores, nationwide retailers, and smaller 

regional retailers as well. 

Senator MCCASKILL. If someone has a coupon, and it expires, do 

they get another coupon? 

Mr. KNEUER. We want to—one of the things that the vendor has 

put in place is a very, very granular track, and one of the nice 

things about having IBM coordinating this entire thing, being responsible for the outreach to the retailers, is they will have visibility down by the zip code. If somebody sends in a request for a 

coupon, and the data from the vendor is that there aren’t retailers 

in their area, or that there has been an interruption in the supply 

chain for some reason, whatever it is, we would not send those coupons out. We don’t. . . 

Senator MCCASKILL. But what if somebody gets one, though? I 

am just assuming that this isn’t going to work perfectly. 

Mr. KNEUER. Well. . . 

Senator MCCASKILL. If it doesn’t, and if someone gets a coupon, 

and they can’t find a box, and the coupon expires, do they get another coupon? 

Mr. KNEUER. We won’t send coupons out, if that is the scenario. 

As things move along, and we have got wide-scale availability, and 

there is a nationwide market for this, if a coupon expires, you won’t 

get another coupon. If a coupon is lost or destroyed, you can get 

another coupon. 

48

We won’t send out coupons if there isn’t a supply chain in place. 

But once the supply chain is in place, if the 90 days go by, and that 

coupon expires, you won’t get another one. The reason for that is 

the statute tells us that they have to expire after 90 days. 

Also, people are going to make other choices. People will go into 

a store and decide—you know, maybe this time—they may have requested a coupon and then make a different decision. I want to 

have that $40 going back into the money I have available to fund 

people who really do decide that they want the financial assistance. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Well, that brings me to the second point I 

want to make this morning. You know, I don’t mean to be crass 

here, but when things work well, there is usually a profit involved. 

As I look at the first commercial that I have seen on digital transition—and it is advertising that is running here in the Washington 

area with an—it is very effective—an elderly woman. 

Basically, the message of the ad is if you have cable TV, you are 

going to be OK. By the way, that picture on cable TV is just fantastic, and it is crisp, and really, it felt more like a commercial for 

cable TV. Now, it did give a Web site, which I don’t think is going 

to be as valuable to the senior population as it might be to others, 

and it might have given a phone number, but I think the phone 

number—you just get a recording. 

So there wasn’t anything in that message saying that you don’t 

have to buy another cable box—you can get a coupon. I think that 

what is going to happen here is the retailers are not going to see 

profit in this. They are not going to promote it. 

The cable industry is not going to promote the education about 

the boxes because all they want to do is make sure that every TV 

in your house—that you are renting a box from them. They are not 

motivated. The satellite people aren’t motivated. They want to sign 

you up for satellite. 

I am trying to figure out who is motivated here, and how this is 

ever going to work in a way that is going to be effective if we don’t 

force feed it, and it doesn’t feel like we are force feeding anything. 

It feels like we are just kind of letting everybody do their own 

thing, which I don’t think is going to work at all. 

By the way, I am not comforted by the fact that the subcontractor that is going to do the public education piece is the same 

one we had for Medicare Part D. Well, that wasn’t good. I mean, 

I wasn’t even in office at the time, and they were calling me at 

home, you know, all the seniors trying to figure out their medicines. 

So I am worried. Don’t you think we need to, that the FCC needs 

to, say to NTIA, ‘‘We need one message, and you have got to do one 

message, and it has got to be fair in terms of making sure the consumer knows they don’t have to buy more cable boxes, and they 

don’t have to go to satellite?’’ 

Mr. KNEUER. I think there is—a different way you can look at 

the dynamic is that there are, in fact, very, very powerful market 

incentives for all of these market participants to deliver messages 

to their different customers. Cable certainly has a very different 

message than the broadcasters have, and satellite likewise. I think 

it is a good thing for satellite carriers and cable carriers to tell people, ‘‘Don’t worry. If you have got a box on your set that is supplied 

49

by cable or supplied by satellite, you don’t need to go to a store.’’ 

Senator McCaskill. But they don’t tell you if you don’t have a box, 

you are going to have to buy one. 

Mr. KNEUER. There has been. . . 

Senator MCCASKILL. Most cable houses don’t have a box on every 

TV. There are TVs that don’t have, and they are getting a signal 

now, and they are not going to get a signal after this. 

Mr. KNEUER. Under the—I will let Jonathan speak to this. On 

the regs that the commission adopted last week, the requirement 

is that cable operators are going to have to manage that, whether 

they have a box or don’t have a box, for 3 years post the transition, 

from now through the next 3 years. 

So having a unified message, there is a danger to having a unified message. I think there is a considerable danger to having the 

Federal Government establish a mandated message. While it may 

seem comforting on the one hand, people are going to delay taking 

steps that they are currently taking if they have to wait and look 

to a bureaucracy to say, ‘‘This is the message you are allowed to 

deliver,’’ rather than looking after their own very vital self-interests. If they don’t manage this transition to educate their customers, they are not going to have customers, and it is a much bigger stake than anything I think I can deliver to them. 

This is a huge market opportunity and a huge market danger for 

all of these entities, and I think you see that. You see cable has 

committed $200 million to this effort. I don’t think that is purely 

altruistic, and I don’t think it is anything that we ever could have 

required of them. I think there are challenges that is requiring specific messages. I don’t think—and Jonathan pointed it out—I don’t 

think we can tell them what to say. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Well, we may not be able to tell them, but 

I think we can do better than we are doing now. 

Commissioner Adelstein. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Well, I couldn’t agree with you more, Senator, 

that we have a problem here with this, and that we do need to 

have sort of a clearinghouse for these ideas. That doesn’t mean a 

mandated message. That means shouldn’t somebody from the government at least have had an inkling about what this PSA is going 

to look like? 

They are talking about spending $200 million to tell people not 

to worry about it, when maybe a cable customer has a TV in the 

kitchen that only gets over the air broadcast signal that is going 

to go into snow, but the ads tell them not to worry and they think 

everything is fine until their TV no longer works. So, in fact, I am 

not sure that ad is particularly helpful in promoting the kind of 

message we want. 

That doesn’t mean the government tells them what to say. I am 

not sure that we need to do that or that we have the authority to 

do that. But why don’t we sit down with them and try to discuss 

this in a way that we can try to move them in a cooperative publicprivate partnership toward a coherent, consistent message to the 

degree we can. There will be differences, because they do have 

their own self-interests at heart, but we have the public’s interest 

at heart. We are the only ones with the public’s interest in heart, 

50

and we are not, I don’t think, doing the job we need to do to make 

sure we are showing that kind of leadership. 

We have a lot of issues that both cable and broadcasters have in 

front of us, and when we sit down with them we need to say, ‘‘Hey, 

what are you doing?’’ and ‘‘That isn’t as helpful as it could be. If 

you are going to spend this kind of money, let us tell people what 

the pros and cons are, what they need to do.’’ If we don’t do that, 

nobody else is going to. 

If we don’t try to coordinate the message, nobody else is in a position to be the referee, and everybody will be fighting for their own 

self-interest. We will have conflicting messages, we will have confusion, and there will be a huge waste of scarce resources, and I am 

afraid that is what is happening right now. 

Senator MCCASKILL. The only thing I think we should require is 

that they put you all’s phone number on all the ads. [Laughter.] 

Mr. KNEUER. If I could. . . 

Senator MCCASKILL. I don’t want them to call me. 

Mr. KNEUER. If I could just add to that a little bit, there is this 

public-private partnership that exists. The DTV coalition is made 

up of the consumer electronics industry, the cable industry, the 

broadcast industry, and more than 120 advocacy groups. The FCC 

recently joined it, and we have been participating in this coalition 

since its inception. 

The purpose of that clearinghouse and of that coalition is to do 

precisely what Jonathan’s talking about, which is have a single 

place for all of the parties that have an interest in this transition 

to coordinate their message, to talk about how we are going to 

reach hard to reach communities, as well as the broader public. So 

I think that activity and that public-private partnership, to a large 

extent, already does exist. 

Given the fact that there would be serious issues with us doing 

anything more than coordinating messages—like I said, I don’t believe that any of us have the authority to dictate messages. So not 

being able to dictate messages, but rather coordinating messages—

I think that activity is going on, and I think, to date, it has been 

successful. 

We have had lots of productive meetings with them. We had the 

secretary of commerce over at NAB recording interviews and public 

announcements both in English and Spanish which are going to be 

delivered to thousands of television stations across the country. I 

mean, this is one example. But this public-private collaboration 

and partnership, to a large extent, I think, is already taking place. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. With all due respect, that group was established 

because we didn’t do anything as the government. I mean, that sort 

of filled a vacuum, and I am very appreciative of the fact that the 

private sector stepped up and did that. But what you have in terms 

of the Federal Government’s participation is we had some staff go 

and monitor, and the FCC finally joined it a few weeks ago. 

What if the FCC had its own leadership group that was coordinated among government? Just as businesses in the private sector 

have tried to coordinate among them, why don’t we coordinate 

among government agencies? What about coordinating with SSA 

and AOA, as Senator Smith suggested, and all the other agencies 

51

that can help us get the word out to seniors, so we get our own 

message together, which GAO said we haven’t done yet. 

Then once we have that kind of a powerful group together, 

wouldn’t it be a different environment if that group called the DTV 

coalition in, and the government said, ‘‘You come in and tell us 

what you are doing. You come in and report to us. You tell us what 

your PSA is going to look like. You tell us what your timelines are. 

Let us talk about a coordinated plan.’’ Because nobody is going to 

plan if the government doesn’t do it, if we don’t step in, they are 

all going to follow their own self-interests, because that is the way 

that our system works, and that is fine with the private sector because most of the time we don’t step in. 

But there has to be some leadership here, because we don’t have 

enough time to just let all these different ad hoc and conflicting efforts—be released with the hope that they somehow add up to a 

comprehensive awareness campaign. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator McCaskill. 

Senator Smith. 

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

There is one more thing I would like to put on your radar screen, 

gentlemen. You know, with the coupon program, and with this 

transition period, I want to encourage you to think of worst case 

scenarios in terms of fraudulent schemes that might come up. I 

wonder if at this point you have any thoughts as to how the government can participate in educating seniors about the kinds of 

frauds that can—that are likely—that they can confront. 

Mr. KNEUER. We looked at waste, fraud and abuse as one of the 

key concerns that we had as we looked at launching this entire program, and on two different fronts, one on waste, fraud and abuse 

in the program itself, whether or not coupons would be redeemed 

fraudulently—people trying to aggregate coupons and commit a 

fraud against the Federal Government. The second part is the opportunity for fraud in the fulfillment and the retailing side of 

things, which is why we decided the best way to answer both of 

those is to certify retailers into the program. 

This program isn’t open to any retailer. Retailers need to show 

that they have training materials, make sure that they have been 

in the business for more than a year. So we want to strike a balance of having a very, very broad retailer participation, because 

you want people to go to their local store and not have to go and 

say, ‘‘OK, it is only available at a Best Buy,’’ and there may not 

be one nearby. 

So we try to balance having broad participation, but also having 

some oversight and some rigor on who the retailers are and under 

what terms they are going to participate. So I guess the vendor is 

going to be responsible for developing training materials and bringing it to them, and they need to represent that they have got a 

trained staff, and that the materials that they are using to educate 

people about our program are accurate and made available to the 

broadest extent possible. 

Senator SMITH. Mr. Adelstein. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Well, I will let—the secretary talk about the converter box program. We have a problem going on right now in 

52

terms of misleading consumers that we are actively engaged in enforcing our labeling rules. We have a requirement that retailers put 

a label on the analog television sets that aren’t able to receive a 

digital signal. It turns out, we did an investigative check into it, 

and there was vast lack of compliance, and we have talked about 

fines totaling over $3.2 million already for just those violations. 

Subsequent to those violations, I went to one of the shops of one 

of the companies that we fined and found that the labels were no 

longer with the televisions. They moved the televisions around, and 

the analog labels were on digital TVs, and the digital TVs had analog labels. I mean, they were all mixed up, because as the inventory moved around, nobody knew about these labels. 

As a matter of fact, the clerk didn’t even know that the label was 

there, and the clerk wasn’t very well educated on the DTV transition. Again—Senator McCaskill talked about it—these folks have a 

real opportunity to sell people products. You come in, and they 

don’t tell you about the converter box. They say, ‘‘All you need is 

this new $2,000 or $3,000 TV. Don’t worry about the converter 

box,’’ or ‘‘You can sign up for Direct TV.’’ 

I mean, there are all these different ways of moving people to 

some product that actually makes more money for them than the 

converter box. So the poor senior that walks in the store can be victimized in ways that aren’t necessarily illegal, but are certainly unethical and inappropriate, and ways that causes more harm than 

good to the consumer. We need to make sure that the retailers step 

up to the plate. 

We are engaged now in consent decree negotiations with the retailers to make them comply with these rules, and in the process 

of doing that, they are talking about agreeing to a comprehensive 

education effort, that includes staff training and putting millions of 

inserts into their newsletters and enhancing consumer education 

efforts. We are going to try to do that for every retail store and we 

need to continue to enforce our rules. I am pleased that we have 

enforced them the way we have, but we are a long way from making sure that consumers aren’t misled. 

Right now, there are loads of analog TVs that are being dumped 

into the market very cheap that people are buying, and they have 

no idea as they walk out of the store that those aren’t going to 

work after February 17, 2009. 

Senator SMITH. John, I wonder if you can inform me as to—the 

system you have sounds good as it relates to the retailer. Is there 

anything that can be done to—does it capture the traveling salesman who may knock on the door of the senior and want to sell 

them a converter box that somehow defrauds them—they buy a $50 

box, and they didn’t need it, because they could have gotten one 

through the processes that we are providing? 

Mr. KNEUER. When we supply coupons to people, so if, when a 

consumer requests a coupon from us, when they get that coupon 

mailed back to them, it will also include a list of retailers by zip 

code near them who are approved into the program, who can educate them and help them, as well as a list of the approved boxes. 

So I don’t know if there is anything within the distribution of the 

coupon program we could do for people who, you know, if you have 

gotten that kind of a traveling fraud. 

53

But to the extent that somebody asks for a coupon, when that 

coupon is delivered to them, it is also going to include information, 

where you should go to get the best information and to find a certified retailer and what boxes are available for the program. So if 

they follow that guide. . . 

Senator SMITH. If they want to buy something from the traveling 

salesman, they can do that. They may—they didn’t need to get it 

from him, because they are going to pay for it. . . 

Mr. KNEUER. Right. 

Senator SMITH. . . . whereas they could have gotten it through 

the coupon program. But I wonder, I didn’t think what you laid out 

could stop that, but what I would like to see is an information campaign that includes a warning that you don’t have to buy something—this is how you get. 

Mr. KNEUER. Right. 

Senator SMITH. Is that being done? 

Mr. KNEUER. I think those are the kinds of things—as we are developing the overall messaging campaign. We awarded this contract just, almost a month ago, to the day. They are now undergoing the process of consumer research and going out and talking 

about those things. But those are the kinds of things that—we can 

certainly go back to them and say, you know, here is something 

you ought to think about. That, not just in making people aware, 

but letting them know that there is a way to manage this and sort 

of warn them against those sorts of fraud opportunities. 

Senator SMITH. I think it is very important to provide that kind 

of warning, because that is sort of where fraudulent schemes can 

get around the program that has been designed. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Smith. 

We would like to thank the three gentlemen. It has been a very 

good panel, and I think we got many of the most important issues 

out, understanding the challenges and what needs to be done, and 

you have provided a good service here this morning. Thank you so 

much. 

Mr. GOLDSTEIN. Thank you, Senator. 

Mr. ADELSTEIN. Thank you. 

Mr. KNEUER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. On Panel II, our first witness on this panel will 

be Nelda Barnett. Nelda Barnett is a member of the AARP Board 

of Directors, where she chairs the AARP Foundation board. She is 

a member of the Board Governance Committee and the AARP Financial Board. In addition to being a former AARP Kentucky state 

president, Ms. Barnett has devoted 30 years to the aging field. 

Next, we will hear from Amina Fazlullah, a media reform advocate and staff attorney with the U.S. Public Interest Research 

Group, specializing in media technology and digital consumer 

rights. Ms. Fazlullah monitors the FCC and previously served as 

a law clerk at the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy 

Analysis. 

Next, we will be hearing from Sandra Markwood. Ms. Markwood 

is the CEO of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, 

which represents the interests of the nation’s 655 area agencies 

and 240 Title VI native American programs. Additionally, she has 

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worked for more than 20 years providing policy and programmatic 

support in counties and cities all across the United States. 

Last, we will be hearing from Marcellus Alexander, Junior, who 

is the executive vice president of television for the NAB. The National Association of Broadcasters aims to represent the interests 

of free over-the-air radio and TV broadcasters, and Mr. Alexander 

oversees that effort. Previously, he served as vice president and 

general manager of KYW TV in Philadelphia. 

We thank you all for being here this morning, and we will take 

your testimony. 

Ms. Barnett. 

STATEMENT OF NELDA BARNETT, BOARD MEMBER, AARP, 

OWENSBORO, KY 

Ms. BARNETT. Good morning to you, and thank you very much 

for affording us this opportunity to come and testify on the impact 

the digital television transition will have on older Americans. My 

name is Nelda Barnett, and I am a member of the AARP Board of 

Directors. 

The digital transition will require an adjustment and an expense 

for many Americans. For older Americans, there will be additional 

burdens that must be addressed. 

Thank you, Chairman Kohl, for holding this hearing and for 

drafting legislation to ease these burdens. 

AARP has urged policymakers to mitigate the challenge the DTV 

transition presents for all consumers, particularly older persons. 

We continue to call attention to the importance of comprehensive 

consumer education and outreach to inform all affected individuals 

about the DTV transition and converter box coupon program. 

My remarks this morning will focus on seven points: 

First, a large percentage of analog-only households are older individuals who will be disproportionately impacted by the DTV transition and who are not prepared. Recently, CENTRIS released survey data that revealed older individuals are more likely to be found 

in over-the-air households and require a special focus for DTV transition education. 

The second one, older Americans rely on television broadcasts for 

critical weather and safety information and can’t afford to lose access to these broadcasts. Older individuals rely on their television 

for daily weather forecasts, as well as all important weather updates and national and local emergency announcements. The DTV 

presents a challenge to uninterrupted access to this critical weather and safety information which much continue after the DTV transition. 

The third one, older persons confront additional challenges related to obtaining and redeeming the converter box coupons and installing the converter boxes. 

Fourth, coupons should only be distributed when converter boxes 

are available for purchase at the retail stores. Consumers will become frustrated if they have a coupon that cannot be used and that 

does expire in 90 days. A mechanism should be designed to track 

the location of stores stocking the coupon qualified boxes. 

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Fifth, older persons are particularly vulnerable to potential coupon fraud and abuse and could be subjected to retailers’ up-selling 

efforts. 

As we just heard a moment ago, older persons—Sixth, is older 

persons residing in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are 

at risk of being left behind in this transition. The NTIA converter 

box coupon rules define a household as all persons who currently 

occupy a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms or a single room that is occupied as separate living quarters and has a separate U.S. postal address. This definition does not cover residents 

in nursing homes or in assisted living facilities. Congress needs to 

take steps to ensure these residents qualify to participate in the 

converter box coupon program. 

There must be—and seventh—there must be a coordinated nationwide education campaign that includes Federal, state and local 

agencies and programs serving consumers who are at great risk of 

losing their broadcast television service, particularly the vulnerable 

population groups, such as the older people. Chairman Kohl’s draft 

legislation addresses this need for government coordination, developing a partnership to create a public education campaign that provides information to older individuals, their families, their caregivers, and aging support networks. 

In conclusion, in about 17 months, on the morning of February 

18, 2009, consumers in households around the country could discover that they are unable to view their regular morning television 

programs. Older Americans could be cutoff from the important 

weather and safety information. They will be confused, frustrated, 

and angry that this important information and entertainment 

source is no longer operational through no fault of their own. 

We all have an important role to play to keep consumers connected and, particularly, to assist more vulnerable populations 

such as the older people. While AARP will do its part to prepare 

our members and older persons, generally, we are also counting on 

policymakers to take any steps necessary to ensure all consumers, 

regardless of age, income, native language, or other factors, are 

ready for this significant change. 

Thank you very much for allowing me to be here this morning. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Barnett follows.]

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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Barnett. 

Ms. Fazlullah. 

STATEMENT OF AMINA FAZLULLAH, STAFF ATTORNEY, U.S. 

PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. FAZLULLAH. Thank you, Chairman Kohl, Ranking Member 

Smith, and the members of this Committee. I am Amina Fazlullah, 

a media and telecommunications staff attorney for the United 

States Public Interest Research Group. U.S. PIRG is a federation 

of state public interest research groups, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 

public interest advocacy organizations based in 30 different states. 

It has been nearly 2 years since Congress established the official 

transition date from analog television broadcasting to digital. Yet 

virtually no U.S. consumer knows what will happen on February 

17, 2009. 

On that date, television broadcasters will switch from analog to 

digital signals. The transition offers the country the return of valuable beachfront property spectrum that can be used to enhance 

emergency communications, spur innovation and improve 

broadband’s connectivity. 

But there is one other thing that will happen on February 17, 

2009. Every consumer who watches over-the-air television with an 

analog set will have their sets go dark. Included in the estimated 

22 million consumers in this category are 8 million households with 

at least one member older than 50. Based on preliminary U.S. 

PIRG research, we will discuss today that neither the government 

nor the retailers are adequately preparing consumers for the impending DTV transition. 

Industry stakeholders have made substantial promises to inform 

the public. While U.S. PIRG agrees that this transition cannot be 

successful without the support of industry, we believe that the industry’s participation must be mandated and closely monitored to 

ensure that consumers have a fully protected experience throughout the transition. 

As of August 2007, U.S. PIRG completed a preliminary study 

that surveyed the top five electronics retailers in the D.C. metro 

area. Our initial findings were based on interviews with clerks and 

supervisory personnel, and they are alarming. They show that despite industry promises to educate and prepare personnel, all five 

retailers had personnel that provided inaccurate or even misleading information. 

Our surveyors found that when asked, retailers did not acknowledge the existence of converter boxes or the coupon program. In 

many cases, the retail staff told surveyors that to continue to receive broadcast signals, a consumer’s only choice would be to buy 

a brand new television set, or an upgraded HDTV set. For example, 

in a Virginia area Wal-mart, our surveyors were told that their 

only option was to buy a brand new HDTV or sign up for cable or 

satellite service. 

In another Virginia area Best Buy, our surveyors were told that 

the upcoming transition meant that signals would now all be 

HDTV signals, confusing the DTV signals and HDTV signals, and 

that consumers would have to buy a brand new HDTV to continue 

getting over-the-air television. In another Virginia area Best Buy, 

70

our surveyors were told that to continue receiving television signals 

after the transition, they would have to purchase a useless HDTV 

tuner, costing them over $174. 

In a Virginia area Target, our surveyors were told of converter 

boxes, but were not told of the discount and were not told of the 

government program or the coupon program. The digital set would 

actually be cheaper, they were told, than a converter box in initial 

cost. 

In almost every store surveyed, we found a number of analog television sets still on the shelves, sometimes labeled on the box, 

sometimes on the shelf. But in all stores, it could be easy for a consumer to miss the warning label. Throughout this fall and the holiday shopping season, it is critical that bargain hunting shoppers 

aren’t duped into purchasing slightly discounted analog television 

sets when they will have to purchase a converter box just months 

later. 

While all stores knew of the transition and the deadline, all retailers had personnel that mistakenly switched standard definition 

digital television with high definition television, that is SDTV with 

HDTV. At no point in time did any of the personnel from any of 

the stores tell us that they weren’t familiar with the details of the 

switch or directed us to any helplines, managers, materials or Web 

sites. 

Our preliminary results demonstrate the need for strong government oversight into the industry efforts in the DTV transition. We 

have only a few months to ensure that the benefits of this transition don’t come at a cost to our most vulnerable consumers. 

Before we jump ahead to the boons of the transition, we have got 

to put time, effort and resources into preparing consumers for the 

day that their TV will go dark. If we don’t find a way to communicate to our most vulnerable consumers how and when the transition occurs, we run the risk as a country of shutting off democratic 

debate and crucial emergency services to low income, rural, minority, and older Americans. 

Thank you for both the opportunity to speak today and for your 

leadership as we move forward in addressing the digital television 

transition. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Fazlullah follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Ms. Fazlullah. 

Ms. Markwood. 

STATEMENT OF SANDRA MARKWOOD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

OFFICER, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AREA AGENCIES ON 

AGING, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. MARKWOOD. Thank you, Chairman Kohl, and thank you so 

much for bringing me here today to have the opportunity to talk 

with you about the kind of assistance that older adults in this 

country, especially frail, vulnerable older adults, are going to need 

with the television conversion in February 2009. My name is Sandy 

Markwood, and I am the chief executive officer of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, which represents 650 area 

agencies across the country as well as 240 Title VI native American 

aging programs. 

Across the nation, these agencies are serving millions of older 

adults in communities every day. As you know, the upcoming digital conversion process has begun to set off alarms for all of the 

aging organizations and advocates who serve these vulnerable 

older adults. 

As we work to get up to speed on the issue, local aging organizations have a myriad of questions and concerns about how the transition and the way it is handled nationally will affect the older 

adults that we serve. If you think that we have questions and concerns today, you can imagine the extent of the questions that consumers over the age of 60 will have with the upcoming conversion. 

Fortunately, there is still time to improve the digital transition 

process for older adults if local aging groups are consulted and engaged to help educate and assist older adults and their caregivers 

in this process. As you heard, current data suggests that older 

adults are likely to have the older analog television sets, and they 

are less likely to have cable television service. 

Given the other realities that many older adults face, such as 

physical, financial and transportation limitations, it is safe to say 

that older adults will be significantly and disproportionately affected by this transition. As you have already heard, older adults 

rely on television sets as their important life line to the outside 

world. 

Area agencies on aging and Title VI programs are at a perfect 

access point for reaching the older adults who will be most affected 

by the digital television conversion. Area agency staff and their 

provider partners across the country are on the front lines, working 

daily in the homes and in the communities of older adults and 

caregivers, especially those individuals who are most in need of assistance to continue to live independently. Those older adults are 

the most frail and vulnerable, the low income, older adults who are 

over the age of 85, and minority elders. 

The staff of area agencies and Title VI programs are the people 

that older adults go to with questions and concerns when they are 

in need of assistance. Meals on Wheels volunteers, senior center 

staff, home health workers, transportation providers, case managers—these are individuals who form important relationships 

with older adults and caregivers. It is these relationships that older 

adults and their families are going to come to trust and rely upon, 

78

and it is these professionals, volunteers and agencies that they are 

going to turn to when they don’t understand what they need to do 

about the February 2009 conversion. 

While area agencies and their provider partners will surely want 

to do all that they can to assist older adults in their community 

with the digital conversion, they will be limited by a lack of information and expertise. There is currently no training and technical 

assistance provided to this population of service providers, and 

there is a lack of funding. 

The amount of funding provided so far by the Federal Government for public education on the conversion is woefully inadequate. 

The $5 million will probably not cover sufficient public service announcements and media events to reach a majority of seniors, 

much less will it answer the questions that will result from them. 

More importantly, from our perspective, it is likely to provide nothing for the implementation work that surely awaits the aging network. 

Government and private industry must not assume that the 

aging network or, for that matter, any other nonprofit community 

group can take on this work without new and sufficient resources. 

Aging professionals have big hearts, but their agencies and programs have thin wallets, and they already have very overworked 

staff. 

We have learned some hard lessons from the 2005 implementation of Medicare Part D, and we believe that they are relevant to 

this conversation. Area agencies on aging and Title VI programs 

did, and they continue to do, a lot of the heavy lifting in enrolling 

people in Medicare Part D. 

They have held community-wide events. They have done one-onone enrollment assistance, and they have helped older adults, confused older adults, to be able to sign up and get benefits from this 

program. Yet only a small number of area agencies or Title VI programs received any additional funding to do this job. 

This put agencies in a very difficult spot as they were forced to 

divert limited dollars and staff to help older adults in need to sign 

up for Medicare Part D. Our agencies cannot provide this level of 

support to this issue without additional resources. 

If the Federal Government and private industry want to ensure 

that the digital conversion goes smoothly and doesn’t leave older 

Americans behind, n-4A recommends that the following actions be 

taken. 

First, government and industry must reach out to the aging network and other aging advocates for input into any consumer education campaign. To date, n-4A and its members have not been approached by any industry group, private company, or Federal agency on this issue. Only Congress and Retirement Living TV have 

sought our opinion or perspective on this issue. 

Our agencies and their colleagues know the challenges older 

adults, especially those who are most frail and vulnerable, face, 

and they will offer their expertise in developing and disseminating 

public service ads, marketing strategies, and acting in advance to 

prevent older adults’ televisions from going dark if they get some 

support. 

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Second, government and industry must offer thorough training 

and technical assistance to any community-based organizations expected to assist in this effort. Again, with the Medicare Part D implementation experience still at the forefront of our minds, we ask 

that materials be made available to aging professionals that allow 

them to quickly and easily assist older consumers with basic questions about the conversion. 

Government and industry should establish clear sources of consistent consumer information. But it is our experience, again, with 

Medicare Part D, that printed or television and radio ads alone are 

not enough. Older adults want to talk to a real person to get real 

answers. 

Third, n-4A recommends that adequate and direct funding be directed to area agencies, Title VI programs, and the rest of the 

aging network to support any and all of the consumer education 

and assistance efforts that are needed. Without financial resources, 

the first two recommendations cannot be implemented, nor can our 

agencies or partners participate effectively in the conversion campaign to ensure that older adults are not left in the dark on February 18, 2009. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I would be 

happy to answer questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Markwood follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Markwood. 

Mr. Alexander. 

STATEMENT OF MARCELLUS ALEXANDER, EXECUTIVE VICE 

PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS, 

WASHINGTON, DC 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Thank you, Chairman Kohl, and thank you for 

your leadership on this very important issue. My name is 

Marcellus Alexander, and I am executive vice president for television at the National Association of Broadcasters. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to testify today. 

Local broadcasting is a vital part of everyday life, with local 

news, weather, information, and programming. The switch to digital broadcasting holds great promise, and as previously mentioned, 

it is of particular significance to older Americans. 

Research suggests that older Americans are among the groups 

who will be disproportionately affected by the transition. In fact, 

adults ages 55 and older spend more time watching broadcast television than other television services. It is critical that we maintain 

their access to local news, emergency information and entertainment. 

For close to 20 million households, their choice and time spent 

watching TV are with local broadcasting. I have managed television stations in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and I can tell you 

that broadcasters do not want to lose any viewers, period, and they 

will do what it takes to ensure that they don’t. 

Local broadcasters have a social and community responsibility to 

ensure that television viewers understand what they need to do to 

continue to receive their free over-the-air local television. It is also, 

as Senator McCaskill suggested, good business sense. 

Let me be clear. DTV consumer education is the No. 1 priority 

of the NAB television board of directors. In July, NAB president, 

David Rehr, sent a letter to every Member of Congress outlining 

our efforts on the digital transition. One of these is the DTV Transition Coalition, started by NAB and seven other organizations. It 

has now grown to include over 160 members, including the FCC. 

This coalition includes the AARP and cable channel, Retirement 

Living Television, or RLTV. These organizations will help give specific focus to reaching the older American population. AARP has 

taken a leading role in the coalition and is able to review and help 

shape the materials that the coalition sends out to its members. 

In May, NAB participated in a DTV transition themed and televised town hall meeting. RLTV will be promoting these meetings 

across the country in the upcoming months. 

Our partnership, however, can’t end there. Recently, we have 

reached out to the National Council on Aging and sent letters to 

the Aging Agencies of all 50 states. 

I am fortunate and blessed to have both parents still living. So 

I look at the transition through their eyes, and I can see firsthand 

some of our challenges. Mom and Dad, who live in Texas, still like 

to watch local news, and Dad doesn’t like to miss the Dallas Cowboys play, in spite of my advice on better teams. 

So we will reach Mom and Dad’s eyes and ears with information 

from a variety of sources—public service announcements, news stoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:25 Apr 17, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\DOCS\40539.TXT SAGING1 PsN: JOYCE
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ries, information crawls, speakers’ bureaus, seniors’ publications, 

Web sites, just to name a few. Additionally, I am very pleased to 

share that early next week, NAB will announce the next phase of 

our comprehensive media strategy to deliver information across 

multiple media platforms and to grow consumer awareness across 

the country. 

Many individual stations are already running DTV transition 

public service announcements. Raycom Media, for example, is running a series of PSAs under the theme, The Big Switch. Other companies, like Capitol Broadcasting, Post-Newsweek, Bonneville, 

Freedom Broadcasting, and Dispatch Broadcast Group, are also already running DTV public service announcements. Still many others have aired news stories on the subject. 

Today, I am pleased to announce, also, that NAB has developed 

and sent to stations yesterday a video package that includes interview sound bites for use in newscasts and other specials that stations may choose to do. Yes, that video package does include 

English and Spanish language public service announcements as 

one part of our overall communications strategy. The PSAs are 

close-captioned and include a 1–800 phone number. 

Now, what can Members of Congress do? NAB sent a DTV toolkit—looks like this—to every Member of Congress, suggesting ways 

in which you might help to reach your constituents with information about the transition. We are pleased that this Committee’s 

Web site includes a link to DTV transition information. NAB encourages all members to include access to this information on their 

office Web sites. 

Mr. Chairman, the NAB and the coalition efforts are well underway. We hope we can work together to ensure that all consumers, 

including older Americans, maintain access to free over-the-air television. 

Thank you very much for this opportunity. I look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Alexander follows:]

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The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Alexander. Mr. Alexander, without guidelines and oversight, many people are worried that many 

of these PSAs will be shown at times when very few or perhaps no 

one is watching. Can you guarantee that all commercial broadcasters can and will air PSAs during prime time slots to educate 

their viewers about the transition? 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Senator, here is what I can guarantee. Broadcasters, as I mentioned, don’t want to lose one single viewer. It is 

in our best interest not to lose them. 

Broadcasters will present a comprehensive plan to reach those 

over-the-air viewers who are particularly at risk. That plan will include public service announcements. It will include, also, any number of other tools that broadcasters have at their disposal to reach 

those viewers. 

We have to make certain that this is a successful transition, and 

we will use every available opportunity—public service announcements, crawls, news stories, speakers’ bureau that we have got 

planned for across the country, a host of other elements—to make 

certain that the consumers are educated to this transition. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Fazlullah, we hope that your findings that 

sales clerks are providing misleading information about the boxes 

and the coupon program will persuade retailers to change their 

selling tactics. Do you expect that this will happen, or do you think 

we have much, much more to do? 

Ms. FAZLULLAH. I would say that, unfortunately, I think it is 

going to take a lot more from government before the retailers actually act on providing appropriate information. We were disappointed to find that even as late as August 2007 that retailers 

were confusing terms related to DTV, that they were offering boxes 

that weren’t relevant to the transition, or even trained to up-sell 

consumers. 

The labeling that is on the analog television sets is still poor and 

mismanaged, and that is a serious problem going into this shopping season when there are still sets on the shelves. We hope that, 

talking about these findings will put a fire underneath the retailers 

and have them start to act better. 

It is not difficult for them to do the right thing. It is very simple. 

They need to simply educate their personnel and provide them with 

basic pieces of information: there is a conversion coming, there are 

converter boxes available, there is a coupon program available. 

They can even offer consumers information about cable and satellite and other new television sets. But it is crucial that they talk 

about the converter box and the coupon program. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Ms. Markwood, would you say a little bit more on the ways that 

the Federal Government and industry groups can provide assistance and resources to the aging network so as to ease the burden 

that they may face in educating seniors about this transition? 

Ms. MARKWOOD. Absolutely. I think that, again, harkening back 

to the Medicare Part D experience, the need for consistent information, the need to be able to have printed materials that are vetted 

through the aging network so that they are appropriate for older 

adults. Again, I am very concerned about some of the materials 

103

that are out there that are really actually caricatures of older 

adults in both the print and video media. 

Please ensure that there is a consistent package of information 

that the Federal Government could approve that would go out to 

the area agencies through the aging network, and then at that 

level, to train someone at that level, to be able to respond to the 

questions that older adults and their caregivers will inevitably ask. 

There has to be someone who can answer a question, it has to be 

a real person, and that needs to happen at the community level. 

Toll-free numbers are great. Internet access, I think, is limited. 

But there needs to be someone who is available to be able to answer older adults’ and caregivers’ questions. That can happen and 

has happened through the aging network on many other issues, 

and it can happen on this one, too, with support. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Ms. Barnett, is there any more that you would like to say on 

your concerns about retailers not having converter boxes available, 

as well as the need for installation support for the elderly? Is it 

true that many, many elderly people, even if they get the box, will 

not know how to install it? 

Ms. BARNETT. That is correct. Many of them will not be able to 

move their television in order to establish this box in place. Besides 

that, they probably don’t know, when they see the back of the television, where to plug it in. 

There will be ways that this can be done that can be helpful, but 

this has all got to be put in place. As Ms. Markwood just said, we 

have got to have the consistent message so that everybody understands, and then we can get to the families, the caregivers, the 

neighbors, the volunteers that can help to put this in place. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Well, we thank you all for being here today. I think this panel 

has demonstrated clearly and fully that we have a huge challenge 

awaiting us in February of 2009, and that there is much, much 

work that needs to be done in anticipation of that day. Your being 

here today helps us a lot. We thank you for coming. 

With that, this hearing is closed. 

[Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

(105)

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR NORM COLEMAN

Mr. Chairman, 

Thank you for holding this very important hearing on the Digital Television 

(DTV) transition and its impact on seniors. 

I come to this hearing with great interest in and concern about the impact of this 

transition on all Minnesotans and in particular on the state’s seniors. 

Mr. Chairman, currently my state of Minnesota ranks third in the nation in the 

number of over-the-air broadcast only households. According to the Association of 

Public Television Stations (APTS), currently 24 percent of households in Minnesota 

are over-the-air only and among households over the age of 65 that number increases to 28 percent. Nationally, 19 percent of households are over-the air only, according to GAO. 

Moreover, Mr. Chairman, Minnesota stands out in terms of the number of counties in which there are more than 30 percent of over-the-air broadcast only households. There are 13 such counties in Minnesota, ranging from the well-populated 

county of Ramsey to the more sparsely populated county of Aitkin. To put this in 

perspective, other states such as Florida and New York do not have a single such 

county while a state like California has only three such counties. 

Mr. Chairman, as these figures demonstrate, this is a big-time, prime-time issue 

for my state. It is absolutely critical that this transition succeed. For if it does not, 

there will be folks who will be left in the dark following the deadline. After all, this 

is a transition greater than the advent of color television for we are talking about 

the possibility of folks losing out on television altogether as a result of the transition. At least with the transition to color, folks could continue to receive programming, albeit in black and white. 

At the end of the day this is not simply a matter of folks, especially seniors, losing 

out on entertainment programming but also critically important and at times lifesaving programming. 

As of today, we are just 517 days away from the February 17, 2009, DTV transition deadline. While that February deadline may seem far off, it will arrive sooner 

than we think. Already 588 days have come and gone since this deadline became 

law. 

As we get closer to the transition deadline, it is clear that much work remains 

to be done judging by a recent poll done by the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS), in which 61 percent of over-the-air households did not know about the 

transition. Accordingly it is imperative that both the federal government and industry do their best to ensure the successful debut of digital only television. 

In closing Mr. Chairman, failure is not an option and so I appreciate your efforts 

in holding today’s hearing that will further inform us as to the government’s and 

industry’s digital transition efforts. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS

Good morning. I want to thank Chairman Kohl and Ranking Member Smith for 

scheduling this meeting today on the all-important subject of the Digital Transition. 

Just under seventeen months from now, on February 17, 2009, the nation’s television stations will complete the transition to digital broadcasting, and will stop 

broadcasting analog television signals. On that date, analog televisions sets which 

receive over-the-air broadcast signals will ‘‘go dark’’, unless they are plugged into 

digital converter boxes. In my home state, Maine, eighty-seven thousand households 

face this problem, and nationally, over 21 million households could be affected. 

Right now, analog TV signals are being carried on what is sometimes called the 

‘‘beach front property’’ of the nation’s radio spectrum—the portions of the spectrum 

that are the most valuable, and most useful for advanced telecommunications that 

106

require ‘‘Big Broadband’’. Reallocating the spectrum will open the door to advanced 

interoperable communications for First Responders, broadband Internet access 

throughout rural America, and televisions sets with clearer, sharper pictures, and 

CD-quality sound. 

Ultimately, the DTV transition will benefit everyone, and it is essential that the 

digital transition proceed. But it is also essential that the transition to be managed 

smoothly. It is absolutely vital that the public know about the transition and be prepared for it. No one should have to turn on their TV to a ‘‘dark screen’’ on February 

18, 2009. 

To protect against this, when Congress approved the ‘‘hard date’’ for the digital 

transition two years ago, we also approved a coupon program for ‘‘digital converter 

boxes’’ that can be used to allow analog TVs to receive digital TV signals. But these 

coupons won’t be available until January 1, and at $40 each they will not cover the 

full cost of the converter boxes, which are expected to run between $50 and $70 a 

piece. 

I am concerned at the progress made so far in getting the word out to the public 

about the transition. Earlier this year, the Association of Public Television Stations 

released a survey showing that the vast majority of the 21 million American households that receive television signals over-the-air where unaware of the DTV transition. The survey also showed that only 19% of these households would purchase a 

converter box, while roughly half of these households do not know what they will 

do. Other studies confirm the findings of the APTS survey, and underscore the importance of doing more to make the public aware of the transition. 

I worry that the elderly are even less well-prepared for the DTV transition than 

the general public. 

I note that only $6.5 million is expected to be available to educate 300 million 

Americans about the upcoming transition. By contrast, Great Britain is spending 

$400 million over several years to get the word out about the digital transition 

there. 

I look forward to hearing the thoughts of the panelists on where we stand on educating the public, especially older Americans, about the DTV transition. I would welcome the view of the panelists on whether the amount provided to support outreach 

and education is really adequate to the task, whether the coupon program can be 

improved, and what other steps can be taken to support a successful transition to 

digital broadcasting.

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