FCC DTV Education Effort Underway

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission recently launched a multiyear DTV consumer education initiative, called “DTV Get It,” to help speed the analog-to-digital television broadcasting transition.

The consumer education campaign is focused on informing the public about the DTV transition and the availability of HDTV programming and products consumers can use to receive it.

At the center of the campaign is a Web portal — www.dtv.gov — that lists information prepared by the FCC, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC), including a DTV tip sheet. This describes digital television features and equipment, answers frequently asked questions and provides definitions of commonly used terms.

The site also offers links to other sites providing comprehensive search tools to help consumers research multiple aspects of digital television.

A key contributor to the site is Decisionmark — the developer of the TitanTV Web site — which is presenting a Web site called CheckHD that allows consumers to see what digital television stations are receivable in their area; a program listing guide, including high-definition shows; and search tools for television sets and other consumer electronics items. The site also offers a search function for local consumer electronics retailers selling those items in each market.