CEA Offers Support For FCC'S DTV Consumer Education Campaign; Multiple Industries Come Together Under FCC Leadership To Reach DTV Finish Line

5-Oct-04

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new consumer education and awareness campaign is a significant and crucial step marking the final lap in the analog-to-digital television (DTV) transition, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said today. In this morning's press conference, FCC Chairman Michael Powell presented the Commission's new consumer education initiative, which will bring all corners of the television industry together in a strong consumer outreach effort. Highlights of the initiative include a new informational website for consumers and a series of events designed to raise consumer awareness and knowledge of DTV. This morning's event rounded out with a discussion between public and private broadcasters and industry leaders, including CEA Vice President of Technology Policy Michael Petricone. ""The FCC's education leadership and new DTV awareness campaign is the 'last lap' flag waving as we round the bend to the analog shut-off,""Petricone said. ""With DTV product sales now exceeding the 12 million unit mark, there is no doubt the word is spreading about the wonders of digital and high-definition TV (HDTV). CEA remains dedicated to this important issue and is committed to assisting the FCC's campaign.""During the upcoming fall and winter months, CEA will support many of the FCC programs and will continue implementation of its existing DTV transition education campaign. Three more CEA HDTV Update meetings are planned for San Francisco (October 20), Los Angeles (October 21) and New York (November 10) and the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will present information at several meetings. The updates bring together local representatives of all industries involved in the transition to share ideas on how best to promote DTV in their markets. The FCC also will host a booth near the HDTV Sports Bar at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 6-9, 2005. March 15 will mark the 10th annual HDTV Summit, held in Washington, D.C., where industry and policy leaders convene to discuss remaining work in the DTV transition. CEA also announced today its support of www.CheckHD.com, a new consumer website from Decisionmark. As with the FCC's own www.dtv.gov, CheckHD is an effective way to reach consumers curious to know if HDTV is available in their area, how to receive it and where to learn more about it. CheckHD takes the guesswork out of DTV by supplying programming information, product specifications and general questions and answers. CEA is proud to have its consumer education brochure, HDTV Guide and URL for CEA's own DTV informational website posted under the 'education' link on CheckHD.com

Read More:
http://CheckHD.com