STATEMENT OF 
CHAIRMAN KEVIN J. MARTIN
Re:  DTV Consumer Education Initiative, MB Docket No. 07-148
One of the Commission’s top priorities is to do everything in its power to facilitate a 
successful DTV transition.  Ensuring that no Americans are left in the dark after February 
17, 2009 is an enormous undertaking.  Significantly, it is one which no single entity, 
public or private, can achieve alone.  Rather, it requires the commitment and cooperation 
of government, industry, and consumer groups.  It is the Commission’s responsibility to 
ensure these parties fulfill their commitments in a correct, clear, and consistent manner. 
Today’s item requires various entities – television broadcasters, multichannel video 
programming distributors (MVPDs), manufacturers, retailers, and telecommunications 
carriers - to come together and do their part to promote consumer awareness about the 
transition and how to prepare for it.
I am pleased that many of these industry groups have already initiated public awareness 
campaigns and the order we adopt today gives them the flexibility to continue these 
efforts.  By working together, and using such tools as public service announcements, 
screen crawls, and notifications in monthly bills, we will be able to reach as broad an 
audience as possible, including those segments of the population that are hard to reach 
including, senior citizens, non-English speaking and minority communities, people with 
disabilities, low-income individuals, and people living in rural and tribal areas. 
The Commission will continue to take whatever actions are necessary to minimize the 
potential burden the digital transition could impose on consumers and maximize their 
ability to benefit from it.  The next 12 months will undoubtedly be challenging.  
Nevertheless, it is my hope that through the combined efforts of government, industry 
and advocacy groups American consumers will reap the rewards that the digital transition 
has to offer.