[Senate Hearing 110-345]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
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
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40-539 PDF WASHINGTON DC: 2008
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
HERB KOHL, Wisconsin, Chairman
RON WYDEN, Oregon GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon
BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama
EVAN BAYH, Indiana SUSAN COLLINS, Maine
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware MEL MARTINEZ, Florida
BILL NELSON, Florida LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York ELIZABETH DOLE, North Carolina
KEN SALAZAR, Colorado NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota
ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania DAVID VITTER, Louisiana
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri BOB CORKER, Tennessee
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
Debra Whitman, Staff Director
Catherine Finley, Ranking Member Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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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)
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 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 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.
Previously, 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:
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.
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 community-based 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 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 over-the-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 this Committee, the FCC and other Federal agencies and all
interested stakeholders can develop and implement a
coordinated, comprehensive, and coherent consumer awareness and
education campaign. 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-to-analog converter box coupon program, part of
the subject of today's hearing.
Under the digital-to-analog converter box coupon program,
eligible 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.
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
private 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.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 public-private 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, 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 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 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.
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 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.
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, 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, 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-
on-one 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.
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 stories, 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 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.]
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 life-saving 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
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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