Legislators Push Cable Ops to Help Digital Transition

Boucher, Walden Ask Industry to Educate Consumers About 2009 Analog Cutoff

By Steve Donohue -- Multichannel News, July 24, 2007

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Washington -- Two top legislators Tuesday called on the cable industry to help educate consumers about the Feb. 17, 2009, cutoff of analog-broadcast signals.

“The cable industry can play a remarkably helpful role,” Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) told attendees at the CTAM Summit here.

Boucher and Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) received an award during the opening general session at the CTAM Summit for their roles in aiding consumers in the transition from analog to digital broadcasting.

Noting that there are 70 million analog TV sets in U.S. homes that aren’t wired to cable or satellite connections, Walden warned that there could be a backlash from consumers if education efforts aren’t stepped up. Consumers will need digital converters in order to continue receive programming on analog TVs after the February 2009 cutoff.

“We want to keep the madness in March as March Madness, and not have it become February madness,” Walden said. “We need your help to educate consumers.”

Boucher and Walden asked cable operators in the audience to run public-service announcements informing them of the digital transition and the options available to them. Those include buying new digital televisions that contain digital tuners or installing analog to digital converters. Congress is also supplying consumers with up to two $40 vouchers per household that can be used to purchase digital converters.

Consumers with analog TVs can also opt to subscribe to a cable or satellite programming package in order to receive digital broadcast signals.

Although the February 2009 analog cutoff impacts TV-station owners more than any other industry, National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow opened the CTAM Summit Monday by telling attendees the deadline provides marketing opportunities for cable operators. The digital transition gives operators an “opportunity to buttress the brand,” he said.

Many of the 70 million analog TVs in U.S. homes that rely on over-the-air broadcasts are already in the homes of cable subscribers, McSlarrow noted, suggesting that there is an opportunity to put cable set-tops in additional rooms in subscriber homes.