FCC MEDIA FORUM ON THE 2009 DTV TRANSITION
Anchorage, AK - Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) Chairman
Anthony Price and Commissioners Mark K. Johnson, Kate Giard, Robert M.
Pickett, and Janis W. Wilson invite media representatives to attend a special
presentation by Cathy Seidel, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, Bill Freedman, Associate Chief
of the FCC’s Media Bureau,
and Mary Lou Kenny, Consumer Education
Specialist with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA).
Ms. Seidel, Mr. Freedman, and Ms. Kenny are from Washington, DC.
They will address the transition to digital television (DTV).
Full-power television stations serving all markets in the United States are
currently airing digital programming, although most will continue to provide
analog programming through February 17, 2009. At that point, all such stations
will cease broadcasting on their current analog channels and broadcast only in
digital. The DTV transition will be a historic moment in broadcast television and
one of special importance to many Alaskans.
The FCC media forum will take place on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at
10 a.m., in the RCA East Hearing Room located at 701 West Eighth Avenue,
Suite 300, Anchorage, Alaska, 99501.
The forum will focus on the steps Alaskans may need to take to be ready
for the switch to digital television. Topics will include, among others, the benefits
of digital television, the issue of low-power television and translator stations, and
the converter box coupon program, administered by the NTIA. The forum is part
of the FCC’s outreach program to work with local officials and community groups
to ensure that Alaskans are prepared for the digital transition.
For further information or to reserve a seat at the media forum please
contact Ms. Grace Salazar at (907) 263-2134.
Additional information on the DTV transition can be found at www.dtv.gov
. Information on the converter box program can be found at
www.dtv2009.gov .
Date Issued: 5/27/2008