[Missouri-l] FW: [leadership] FW: 1 Day Out: NTIA Coupon Program Important Reminders

[Peter Altschul]

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Bridges [mailto:ebridges at acb.org] 
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:44 AM
To: leadership at acb.org
Subject: [leadership] FW: 1 Day Out: NTIA Coupon Program Important Reminders

The note below provides contact information for individuals who still have
not made the transition and need assistance. 

 

Eric 

 

  _____  

From: DTV2009 at ketchum.com [mailto:DTV2009 at ketchum.com] 
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:37 AM
To: ebridges at acb.org
Subject: 1 Day Out: NTIA Coupon Program Important Reminders

 

 

Greetings: 

 

NTIA would like to sincerely thank you for your many months of hard work to
prepare your constituents for the historic transition to digital television
that will conclude tomorrow, June 12, 2009.  Our experience in markets that
have already transitioned indicates our work is not quite done.  Consumers
will have technical questions, require additional assistance and some will
wait until June 12 - or later - to take any action. 

 

The following are suggestions and points of contact that may help should you
be contacted directly by consumers over the next several days and weeks.  If
you work closely with 911 or non-emergency numbers, government offices,
newspapers, radio stations, universities or other points of public contact
in your area, we encourage you to pass this information to them as well.
These are the types of places consumers have contacted in markets where the
transition has occurred.  

 

*         Alert Operators and Update Your Voicemail.  If your organization
regularly receives calls from consumers, we encourage you to alert your main
switchboard operator or update voicemail messages to direct consumers to
help.  

o        For reception or technical problems, call 1-888-225-5322
(1-888-CALL-FCC)

o        To order a TV converter box coupon, call 1-888-388-2009
(1-888-DTV-2009)

 

*         Reassure Consumers.  You may receive phone calls from local
residents that believe some sort of emergency has occurred because they can
not receive a television signal.  Reassure callers that this is normal.  It
is part of the "digital television transition" (DTV Transition) that was
mandated, by federal law, to occur on June 12.  Consumers can be directed to
the phone numbers above for assistance. 

 

*         Provide Options to Avoid Further Disruption of TV Reception.
Consumers who call asking what they can do if they recognize they did not
prepare in advance should be told they have three options: purchase a
converter box (with or without the coupon depending on how quickly they are
trying to rectify the situation); contact the local cable, satellite or
other pay TV service to begin a subscription; or purchase a TV equipped with
a digital turner. 

 

*         Remind Consumers To Scan and Rescan.  As TV stations make changes
to their signals in the next few weeks, consumers with converter boxes will
likely have to scan for channels several times.  Digital-to-analog converter
boxes and digital televisions have a button, usually on the remote control,
which is labeled "set-up" or "menu" or some similar term.  Consumers should
press that button to access the set-up menu. Using the directional arrow
buttons on the remote, scroll to the option that allows you to perform a
"channel scan." The channel scan will automatically search for digital
broadcast channels that are available in the local area. The owner's manual
of the digital-to-analog converter box or digital television will have
detailed instructions on how to perform a channel scan as well.  Consumers
should perform a channel scan periodically to check whether additional
digital channels have become available. 

 

*         Inform Consumers about Coupon Availability.  While supplies last,
consumers can continue to apply for TV converter box coupons through July
31, 2009.  Applications for coupons continue to be accepted online, over the
phone, by mail and by fax.  Consumers should be told that it typically takes
nine business days to process and mail coupons. 

Once again we greatly appreciate your continued support and wish you all a
successful transition.  

 

NTIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you do not wish to receive future mailings, please click
<http://mailings.ketchum.com:81/UC000397MTA0.HTML>  here to unsubscribe.
<http://mailings.ketchum.com:81/OT000397MTA0.GIF?D=2009-06-11>