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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 For  Immediate  Release  News  Media  Contact:  March  1,  2005  Rebecca  Fisher  (202)  418-  2359 
 FCC  Media  Bureau  Issues  Report  to  Congress  on  Over-  the-  Air  Viewers 
 Washington,  DC  –  As  Congress  considers  a  date  certain  to  end  the  transition  to  digital  television,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission’s  Media  Bureau  issued  a  report  yesterday 
 detailing  the  Bureau’s  analysis  of  comments  on  the  current  status  of  over-  the-  air  (OTA)  broadcast  television  viewers  in  the  United  States,  and  a  range  of  potential  options  for  assisting  those  OTA 
 viewers  when  analog  broadcast  service  is  terminated. 
 Congress  has  already  declared  its  support  for  ending  the  transition  to  digital  through  their  vote  on  a  Sense  of  the  Senate  in  the  108  th  Congress.  The  report  seeks  to  further  this  debate  by 
 summarizing  data  received  in  response  to  a  Public  Notice  issued  by  the  Media  Bureau  in  May  2004,  and  providing  independent  analysis. 


 The  report  provides  analysis  on  several  aspects  of  the  transition  to  digital  broadcasting  including: 


 o  The  timing  and  nature  of  a  switchover  (e.  g.,  the  possible  consequences  of  a  simultaneous  end  to  analog  broadcasting  versus  a  ‘fade  to  black’  option,  which 
 would  phase  out  analog  broadcasting  in  a  particular  market  over  time), 


 o  Cost  of  digital-  to-  analog  converter  boxes  for  OTA  viewers  and  the  probability  of  a  significant  drop  in  expense  for  this  equipment  as  the  transition  progresses, 


 o  Reasons  why  OTA  viewers  do  not  subscribe  to  a  multi-  channel  video  provider  (MVPD).  One  survey  found  that  the  percentage  of  U.  S.  households  that  do  not 
 subscribe  to  a  MVPD  due  to  a  “lack  of  funds”  is  30%  of  OTA  viewers  or  only  4.5%  of  total  television  households. 


 While  the  report  contains  no  specific  recommendations,  it  describes  in  detail  the  consequences  of  various  approaches  to  ending  the  transition  and  the  potential  trade-  offs  involved 
 for  consumers  and  industry  alike. 
 The  report  is  available  at  www.  fcc.  gov/  mb. 
 -FCC- 
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