NAB Helps Wilmington, N.C., Residents Prepare for September 8 Switch to Digital Television (DTV)

August 25, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC — The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced today a series of consumer education initiatives to help Wilmington, N.C., residents prepare for the early transition to digital television (DTV) on September 8, 2008.

As part of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) experiment, television stations in Wilmington are switching to all-digital broadcasting on September 8. (Full-power stations in the rest of the country will transition on February 17, 2009.) NAB's initiatives are designed to support the FCC's consumer outreach efforts and help alert local communities to the nearing deadline.

"These initiatives will help to ensure that Wilmington residents have the information they need to successfully transition to digital television," said NAB Vice President for the DTV Transition Jonathan Collegio. "Now is the time to take action."

NAB is bringing key elements of its national education campaign to the Wilmington market. Highlights of NAB's consumer education initiatives include:

• From August 27–September 7, NAB's DTV Road Show will canvass the five affected counties at free public events organized by NAB and local broadcasters. Featuring a DTV Trekker, a truck designed to look like a giant TV set, these events will allow residents to get their last-minute questions answered and have an opportunity to win prizes. [NAB is running print, radio and television ads to publicize the events.] A full schedule is available at www.DTVRoadShow.com.
   
• Local broadcasters, who as members of NAB's DTV Speakers Bureau have been educating their communities about DTV at public events throughout the region, will be joined by the FCC and industry retailers at a DTV expo hosted by WECT-TV at the Coastline Convention Center in downtown Wilmington from 4–8 p.m. on August 28.
   
• Local television stations have begun airing NAB-produced DTV action television spots counting down the days until the September 8 switch.

Broadcasters are leading a massive nationwide campaign to educate and prepare Americans for the DTV transition. The DTV Road Show, a major grassroots initiative, will travel 95,000 miles to more than 600 locations in 200 television markets before the national transition is completed.