Black Churches Nationwide Mobilize Around DTV Transition
June 3, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — More than 34,000 African American churches across the country are helping their members make the transition to digital television (DTV), as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) announced today the national launch of their joint educational campaign.
Over the course of this year, NBCI's nationwide network of Christian churches will disseminate 2.5 million flyers about the DTV transition, including applications for the government-run converter box coupon program, to their congregants. Churches are also training volunteers to assist the elderly, homebound and disabled in filling out coupon forms and installing converter boxes.
Upon completion, the initiative will reach 8 million African Americans in both rural and urban areas across more than 40 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas and Oakland.
"Uniting broadcasters and churches is a necessary approach to bring digital television into the living rooms of African American families," said NAB Executive Vice President for Television Marcellus Alexander. "A monumental collaboration is key to informing as many households as possible about what they need to do."
DTV literature has already been provided to more than 5,000 churches in Richmond, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., as well as to the D.C. Public Library, D.C. Office on Aging and the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
"NAB and NBCI recognize the importance in making sure that our most vulnerable citizens receive the proper education and equipment to benefit from this revolutionary switch," said Reverend Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative. "It is essential that minority communities stay connected and have access to new technologies."
An estimated 14 percent of over-the-air households are African American, which puts them at risk of losing their signals when the transition is completed on February 17, 2009. By that date, all full-power television stations are required by law to begin broadcasting only in a digital format.
Households that don't subscribe to a pay TV service, such as cable or satellite, and watch television using antennas on TV sets that can't receive digital signals must upgrade their sets. The lowest-cost option for consumers is to purchase a coupon-eligible converter box, sold at national and local retailers. Minorities and seniors are among the groups with a high percentage relying on over-the-air broadcasts. Low-income and rural households are also disproportionately affected by the transition.
