STATEMENT OF 
COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN
Re: Second Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the 
Conversion to Digital Television: Second Report and Order, MB Docket No. 03-15, RM 
9832
I whole-heartedly support this Order mandating that anyone who chooses to sell 
devices, primarily televisions, with analog-only tuners must legibly and conspicuously 
display a consumer advisory label on or closely next to those devices, informing 
consumers they will no longer receive over-the-air broadcast signals without a converter 
box or other digital service after February 17, 2009.  I have advocated for some time that 
the Commission require retailers to provide consumers with standardized information 
about the digital transition at points-of-sale.  I am thrilled we are finally taking action on 
this.  This is one step toward achieving my digital transition consumer education plan.
For the past decade, retailers and manufacturers have known about the impending 
transition.  Unfortunately, their recent voluntary efforts to educate consumers about the 
transition have proven insufficient.  Numerous studies have shown that the public is not 
aware that their analog TV sets are about to go dark.  Meanwhile, the Commission has 
simply failed to step up our efforts until today.  
I believe the Commission is uniquely suited, and indeed obligated, to address the 
paucity of information and lack of public awareness about the transition.  Congress, in the 
All Channel Receiver Act, authorized the Commission to “make such rules and 
regulations” necessary to fulfill its obligation to promote the orderly transition to digital 
television, but we have yet to take significant action towards fulfilling this mandate.  The 
Commission should encourage more public service announcements on analog and pay-
televisions services, conduct more targeted outreach to insular communities, establish 
benchmarks for industry stakeholders, and impose public interest obligations on DTV 
broadcasters. 
We can no longer rely solely on the websites, such as www.dtv.gov, to inform 
Americans about the transition. Not everyone has access to the Internet, and not 
everyone with Internet access will visit these educational websites.  Local officials and 
organizations may be best positioned to conduct help reach these citizens.  The 
Commission should hold regional seminars to train members of public interest 
organizations in local communities about the digital transition and how to get the word 
out to their communities.  In addition, we should take advantage of the media ownership 
and localism holdings that we host to educate the American public about the approaching 
digital transition.
With 664 days left until transition, if the Commission and the National 
Telecommunications  and Information Agency do not work closely together to develop a 
unified national message, a clear chain of command, and an effective consumer education 
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plan, I fear that both agencies, as well as Congress and industry stakeholders, will witness 
a tsunami of consumer complaints.  
Hence, while I very much support this Order, it is only one step in the right 
direction and much more needs to be done to prepare the American public for the 
dramatic finale on February 17, 2009.