NAB's New TV Spots Link Antennas with Good Digital TV Reception
September 25, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — In its continuing effort to ensure all Americans are aware of, and prepared for, the historic transition to digital television (DTV), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) released new television spots highlighting the importance of antennas in maximizing free digital reception.
NAB research has shown that awareness of the transition has reached near- universal levels - an important benchmark for broadcasters' billion-dollar education campaign. Now the focus shifts to ensuring consumers are prepared with the necessary equipment to make the switch and receive all the benefits of free digital TV.
After the DTV transition next February, some stations may move to a different channel number in a different frequency band, either UHF or VHF. Viewers will need to have the right type of antenna to continue watching those stations. Additionally, because of the difference in the nature of analog and digital signals, in some cases, viewers may need to upgrade their antennas to ensure they get all of the free digital channels available in their area.
NAB produced two 30-second spots encouraging viewers to make sure their homes are equipped with antennas best able to receive digital signals from their local TV stations. The spots, available in English and Spanish and closed captioned, were recently distributed to broadcasters across the country and can be viewed here.
"Most consumers are now aware of the transition, and many are trying out their converter boxes for the first time," said Jonathan Collegio, NAB vice president for the DTV transition. "To obtain the best possible digital pictures, some viewers may need to reexamine and upgrade their antennas. In some cases, new antennas can nearly quadruple the number of channels available to viewers in a market."
Antennas are among many factors that may affect a viewer's ability to receive broadcast signals from television stations. In most cases, the same antenna that currently provides quality reception on an analog TV set will also provide good DTV reception. However, factors such as an antenna's height, position and type-whether it is UHF, VHF or a combination -may impact TV reception.
Consumers can find suggestions for good outdoor antennas by entering their street address at www.AntennaWeb.org, a Web site provided by NAB and the Consumer Electronics Association.
Using geographical maps and signal strengths, the site's database predicts which stations are available at a particular location.
By law, all full-power television stations must begin broadcasting only in digital on February 17, 2009. NAB is leading an education campaign valued at more than $1 billion to educate Americans about the transition.
