Cable, Broadcasters Face Uphill Battle On DTV Transition Awareness

Thirty-second spots, on-screen “crawls’’ and “snipes” aren't going to be enough to educate consumers about the fact that they could lose the reception of over-the-air television signals come Feb. 18, 2009. “It’s tough, it’s challenging,” said Jack Sanders, joint board chairman of the National Association of Broadcasting, at an afternoon panel on cooperation between broadcasters and cable operators on explaining the impact of the transition to all-digital transmission of local TV station signals. “We have got a lot of tough messaging to do.” His comments came on the same day that NAB president David Rehr, in his keynote speech, said that every household in America would be hit with 642 messages on the digital TV transition and what it means, by the time Feb. 18 of next year arrives. Recognition of awareness will be tracked by repeated surveys, said Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. The awareness, McSlarrow and Sander said, should be close to 100 percent by Jan. 1 of next year with only a “clean up” effort being required in the last six weeks.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6551440.html?nid=4262