Nearly 1,000 Local Broadcasters Hit 50 States in
Five Days with Grassroots DTV Education Blitz

February 4, 2008

Washington, D.C. — The nation's largest speakers bureau of television station representatives, coordinated by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), is conducting a nationwide speaking blitz to mark the one-year countdown to the digital television (DTV) transition, which will be completed on February 17, 2009.

Beginning Monday, February 11, broadcasters will speak to local communities at planned engagements in all 50 states over a five-day period and will answer questions from consumers about the DTV transition.

"We are very proud to lead this DTV Speakers Bureau initiative," said David K. Rehr, president and CEO of NAB. "We believe that face-to-face contact is a very effective way of communicating details about the DTV transition to viewers on both a local and national level."

NAB's DTV Speakers Bureau is the largest grassroots initiative ever orchestrated by the broadcasting industry. The community-focused awareness effort boasts nearly 1,000 speakers nationwide, from nearly 600 television stations across the country. To date, the DTV Speakers Bureau has scheduled more than 1,200 speaking engagements and is on target to reach 8,000 audiences before the transition is completed in February 2009.

Speaking engagements take place at nursing homes, Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs, Chamber of Commerce assemblies, elementary schools and many other local community venues. With nearly 34 million households and 70 million television sets across the U.S. at risk of losing television reception when full-power television stations switch to exclusively digital broadcasting, educating viewers throughout the country is critical.