WASHINGTON U.S. communications regulators will be fanning out around the country during the next six months to inform television viewers about the upcoming switch-over to digital TV.
Members of the Federal Communications Commission will appear at meetings and other public events in 80 cities around the United States in an effort to publicize the switch to digital signals from traditional analog service on February 17, the agency said on Monday.
"We intend to take whatever actions are necessary to try to continue to minimize the burden that's going to be placed on average consumers around the country," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at a briefing.
Between now and the deadline, the FCC's five commissioners will make individual visits to cities ranging from Atlanta and Chicago to Anchorage Alaska and El Paso, Texas.
The campaign also may include "soft" tests in which local TV stations would briefly switch off their analog signals to determine whether consumers are ready for the switch, the agency said.
Congress ordered the switch to digital television to free public airwaves for other uses, such as for police and fire departments. The switch will also mean improved picture and sound for TV viewers.
The transition is being closely watched because owners of analog televisions will be unable to watch television unless they subscribe to satellite or digital cable, replace their TV with a digital television by that date, or get a converter box.
The federal government is subsidizing the cost of buying a digital-analog converter box by offering the $40 discount coupons to anyone who owns an analog television. The $1.5 billion program has enough funding to subsidize as many as 33.5 million converter boxes.
The FCC's public outreach campaign is targeted at local markets in which more than 100,000 households, or at least 15 percent of the households, rely solely on over-the-air signals for television. It is aimed especially at groups who are most likely to be affected by the switch-over, such as older viewers, or the poor or disabled, as well as those who live in rural areas or do not speak English.
Broadcasters are also taking steps to alert consumers about the approaching switch-over and have promised to air more than $327 million worth of television spots as part of the effort.
Public surveys have indicated the U.S. public has grown more aware of the upcoming switch-over, but one survey found there is still some confusion about which TVs need converter boxes.
(Editing by Andre Grenon)
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