NAB Issues DTV-Education Tool Kit to Congress

National Association of Broadcasters Gives Preview to FCC Commissioners

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/21/2007 5:31:00 PM

The National Association of Broadcasters equipped legislators with their own DTV-education packets, according to a letter to the Federal Communications Commission from NAB Joint Board chairman Jack Sander.

The commission has asked for input on DTV-education efforts, which Sander outlined informally to FCC chairman Kevin Martin and the other commissioners in advance of the NAB's official filing.

The NAB said that in the past two weeks, it has distributed DTV-education tool kits to every member of Congress. The kits include a PowerPoint presentation for town meetings, a sample press release and a "bilingual insert" for their constituent newsletters.

The trade group also outlined its plans for public-service announcements, news stories, crawls, graphics and more.

Under pressure from House Democrats, the FCC has proposed setting various benchmarks for broadcast and cable education efforts. The agency is looking to prevent a viewer, and constituent, backlash when the plug is pulled on analog, over-the-air TV (with a few exceptions) in February 2009.