1. Digital Television (DTV) Transition Campaign Overview

2. 100 Day Initiatives Station Activities
Countdown spot to run on November 10
“Less than 100 days” spot to run from 11/11-11/17
Animated graphic bugs to run each day
Download at
Consider analog shut-off test
Checklist available
News coverage of DTV issues
Converter box setup, antennas, apply for coupons now 2

3. 100 Day Requirements Under NAB Plan (Option 2)
Each station must air at least one of the following, once per day:
Graphic Display
Animated Graphic
Graphic and Audio Display
Any of above must be 5-15 seconds in length
Show number of days remaining until transition to digital
Include phone number and/or website for more details
Longer Form Reminders
“Ask the Expert” segment/Q&A
2-5 minutes 3

4. 100 Day Requirements On the Phone: Erin Dozier
Associate General Counsel
NAB
Ann Bobeck
Associate General Counsel
NAB

5. Digital Television (DTV) Transition Campaign Overview

6. DTV Transition Wilmington Experiment Challenges
Multiple, confusing messages
Hard-to-reach populations
Technical/emergency issues
Short timeline
Severe weather

7. DTV Transition Wilmington Experiment
97% awareness in August, held through September
Results:
553 callers (29 percent) lost one or more channels – many WECT
407 callers (22 percent) “weak or spotty” signals/antenna problems
329 callers (18 percent) had trouble installing converter boxes
185 callers (10 percent) had problems with or awaited coupons
163 callers (9 percent) knew about the switch but waited too long
91 calls (5 percent) to FCC were unaware of switch, switch date or thought it would not affect them
53 callers (3 percent) were satellite subscribers with local-into-local
22 callers (2 percent) were cable plus households
The 25 remaining callers (2 percent) had other problems

8. DTV Transition Wilmington Experiment Lessons Learned
Saturating with ads still may miss vulnerable populations
Small number of late adopters will not upgrade in time
Stations should urge viewers to take action early
Analog shut-off tests can be helpful in gathering information
Coordination between stations and pay service providers
Periodic, structured conference calls with station GMs and engineers
Working with local organizations, especially social workers 8

9. Digital Television (DTV) Transition Campaign Overview

10. DTV Action Spots New Messaging Urge viewers to enjoy digital NOW
Help others make transition
Assist with coupon application
Hook up converter box
Get right antenna
DTV checklist
New spots being delivered week of Nov. 18 10

11. Challenge: Coupons NTIA
32,682,800 coupon applications received from 17,456,451 households
13,091,287 coupons redeemed
10,184,470 coupons expired
Average daily order: 128,969 coupons per day
79 converter boxes certified, 44 with analog pass through available in retail stores

12. Challenges: Coupons NTIA Projections Challenges
Possible 6 week turnaround
Challenges

13. Digital Television (DTV) Transition Campaign Overview

14. Challenge: Antennas Some viewers may need to upgrade…
1295 stations relocating to a channel different than their NTSC channel; many across bands
UHF antennas can’t pick up low VHF, and vice versa
Stations moving from UHF to VHF, or from VHF to UHF
May need rooftop or amplified antenna to pick up DTV signals
Multidirectional antennas should be promoted
Promote antennaweb.org

15. Challenge: Signal Contours
Some stations’ analog signals are stronger than digital…
Solution: Newer, better, higher antennas
Solution: Communicate with viewers
Newscasts
Spots 15

16. Challenge: Re-Scan 16

17. Digital Television (DTV) Transition Campaign Overview

18. Challenge: Re-Scanning
Re-scanning channels is crucial
Channels will move around as 2/17/09 approaches
Stations can maintain branding for their channels because of PSIP (Program and System Informational Protocol), but…
Viewers will need to re-scan if channels that were previously received disappear and after 2/17/09 when the channel relocations must be completed 18

19. Challenge: Call Center
Answering viewer questions…
Approx calls in Wilmington
Directed to FCC
But, on Feb 18th, calls will be directed to stations 19

20. DTV Transition

21. Digital Television (DTV) Transition Campaign Overview

22. Best Practices Station Analog Shut-Off Tests
Simulating digital-only during newscasts
Approx. 144 stations in 49 markets thus far
Upcoming state-wide tests
Pennsylvania
North Carolina
Virginia
Arizona
Guide available at

23. DTV Transition Weekly DTV E-mail (Wednesdays)
Satellite feed information
Latest details also at
New station tools added to website
Webcast information
News and regulatory updates
Highlight station best practices

24. Outreach: NAB to Stations
Resources
All station tools available at:
DTV Style Guide and Messaging Toolkit
Graphic elements available for stations:
Station Checklist:
“Cheat Sheet” to handle viewer phone calls
Sample op-ed on DTV Transition
Teaser copy for station news stories:
Sample crawls for stations:

25. DTV Transition
103 Days Left!