Consumer Guide, Web Updates Help Consumers Move to Digital TV

FCC and Consumers Union Combine Resources To Produce Guide

Web Site Innovations Provide Consumers With Localized Help, Resources

Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission has teamed up with Consumers Union to distribute a consumer guide that will help viewers prepare for the digital television transition. In addition, the FCC has upgraded its web site, www.dtv.gov, to give consumers powerful tools capable of providing help and information specific to their communities.

The brochure and web update are part of a broader strategy of outreach meant to prepare consumers for the digital transition, which will be complete on June 12 for full-power TV stations. In the coming weeks, the FCC will be finalizing contracts to provide consumers call center assistance, walk-in help centers and mobile clinics, and in-home installation assistance.

The 15-page booklet , produced by CU's Consumer Reports magazine, provides clear instructions, smart tips, and colorful diagrams to help consumers get ready to make the transition. Both organizations have been at the forefront of DTV education, CU through its converter box ratings, how-to videos, and other projects, and the FCC through its extensive consumer outreach efforts.

"I am pleased to have the editors of Consumer Reports on our team as we reach out to viewers who need help in making the transition to digital television," said Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps. "They have produced an easy-to-follow, succinct guide that gives consumers the knowledge they need to get themselves DTV-ready and to get the most out of what digital television offers."

Consumers can obtain the booklet by downloading it from www.dtv.gov or by calling the FCC's DTV help line, 1-888-CALL-FCC. The guide also will be available at DTV walk-in help centers and mobile clinics throughout much of the country, through in-home installation helpers, and through major retailers. A Spanish-language version of the guide will be available shortly.

The new DTV.gov home page is a one-stop shop for all things DTV. By entering their zip codes in a search box, consumers can locate nearby support centers, get channel and contact information for local stations, find DTV events near them, and determine which stations have made the transition to all-digital broadcasting. Entering a home address on the DTV reception map page shows the stations a consumer should be able to receive when the transition is complete. This information can be especially useful in choosing and installing an antenna.

An interactive trouble-shooting guide provides step-by-step assistance to consumers having difficulty receiving DTV channels. A transition statistics page provides detailed national and local DTV transition statistics, searchable by a click on a map.

June 12 is the deadline for full-power television stations to discontinue analog broadcasts and transmit only digital TV signals. According to Nielsen, as of April 12 about 3.2 percent of all U.S. households with a TV were completely unprepared for the transition, many of them in the population segments targeted by the FCC for extra help: low-income individuals, minority communities, non-English speaking communities, senior citizens, consumers with disabilities, and individuals living in rural areas or on tribal lands.

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News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the Commission's web site www.fcc.gov.