As we reported in early March, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted the Digital Television (DTV) Consumer Education Plan proposed by NAB. This is indeed a good outcome for our industry and the viewers that broadcasters serve across the country.
The FCC released a Public Notice announcing that the effective date of their rules was Monday, March 31, therefore stations must file their first quarterly reports (FCC Form 388) on April 10.
Stations Must Choose a Plan (and may not change): The plan will apply to the station's analog channel and its primary digital stream. Multicast channels are not included. Stations will be required to note which plan (Options 1, 2 or 3 – see below) they have selected in their April 10 FCC quarterly report.
Report All Activities for First Quarter: Although stations are to report all DTV education activities for the first quarter of 2008, they may make a notation in the comment section of FCC Form 388 of activities that took place between January 1 and March 30 (or pre-effective dates), as opposed to activities that occurred on the effective date of the rules (March 31).
Non-mandatory Activities: FCC Form 388 asks broadcasters to report other activities, including on-air initiatives, Web site activity and outreach efforts, such as speaking engagements and community events. While these activities are not mandatory, we encourage stations to provide detailed information on their DTV consumer education efforts.
Accessing Form 388: The FCC has posted FCC Form 388 on its Web site at www.fcc.gov/formpage.html.
How to File: The quarterly report must be filed electronically in MB Docket No. 07-148 via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) database at www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs. Please be sure to select "REPORT" under "Document Type." Stations must also place a copy of FCC Form 388 in their public file and post the form on their station's Web site, if the station has one.
Please remember, all on-air programming (spots and long-form programming) is required to be closed captioned. We encourage stations to double check that captions are in place before airing.
NAB's Legal Department has reviewed the 82-page order and has summarized it below for easy reference. It includes a side-by-side comparison of the FCC's plan and the NAB plan for commercial station selection.
Noncommercial television stations can choose Option 1, Option 2 or Option 3. For information on the public station plan (Option 3 - which is available only to noncommercial stations), please call the NAB Legal Department at (866) 682-0276 or Malena Barzilai at the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) at (202) 654-4220.
End Date: March 31, 2009. Note: A station that has filed a request and/or received approval for an extension of the deadline to serve its full operating area must continue its education campaign until the request is withdrawn or denied or, if granted, until it expires.
For More Information: Please Contact NAB's Legal team at (866) 682-0276.
Crawl Copy, Spots and other Materials: NAB's DTV team has prepared DTV action spots, sample copy and other educational materials for stations to use. These can be accessed at http://www.dtvanswers.com/membertools
Side-By-Side Comparison of Options for Commercial Broadcasters
| Requirement |
Option 1: FCC Plan |
Option 2: NAB Plan |
| Spots |
4 spots, each at a minimum of 15 seconds, per day until 3/31/08.
8 per day from 4/1/08-9/30/08.
12 per day from 10/1/08 - end of campaign.
See Order at para. 10. |
An average of 16 30-second spots per week. **
(or 2 :15 second spots to count as 1).
See Order at paras. 30-31. |
| Spot Timing |
Spots must air equally throughout the following quarters of the broadcast day: 6:01 a.m. - 12 p.m., 12:01 a.m. - 6 p.m., 6:01 p.m. - 12 a.m. and 12:01 a.m. - 6 a.m.
At least 1 spot per day must be aired between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
(7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Central/Mountain).
See Order at para. 10. |
All spots must air between 5 and 1 a.m.
25% must be aired between 6 p.m. and 11:35 p.m. (5 p.m. - 10:35 p.m. Central/Mountain).
See Order at para. 30. |
| Spot Content |
Detailed content requirements, including topics that must be addressed each calendar week. Must be closed captioned.
See Order at para. 13. |
No content requirements.
Must be closed captioned.
See Order at para. 30. |
| Crawls, Snipes and/or Tickers
(CSTs) |
4 per day until 3/31/08.
8 per day from 4/1/08-9/30/08.
12 per day from 10/1/08 – end of campaign.
See Order at para. 10. |
An average of 16 per week.
See Order at para. 30. |
| Crawls, Snipes and/or Tickers
(CSTs)
Timing |
CSTs must air equally throughout the following quarters of the broadcast day: 6:01 a.m. - 12 p.m., 12:01 a.m. - 6 p.m., 6:01 p.m. - 12 a.m. and 12:01 a.m. - 6 a.m.
At least 1 CST per day must be aired between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
(7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Central/Mountain).
See Order at para. 10. |
CSTs must air between 5 a.m. and 1 a.m.
25% of CSTs must be aired between 6 p.m. and 11:35 p.m. (5 p.m. - 10:35 p.m. Central/Mountain).
See Order at para. 30. |
| Crawls, Snipes and/or Tickers
(CSTs)
Length |
60-second minimum.
See Order at para.12. |
No minimum. |
| Crawls, Snipes and/or Tickers (CSTs)
Content |
Detailed content requirements, including language requirements.
See Order at para. 12. |
No content requirements. |
| 30-minute program |
Not required. |
Must be aired at least once between hours of 8 a.m. and 11:35 p.m., Monday - Sunday, before February 17, 2009.
To facilitate station compliance, NAB is producing and will distribute a 30-minute program in English and in Spanish.
See Order at para. 31. |
| 100 Day Countdown |
Not required. |
Beginning 11/10/08 all stations must air a minimum of one on-air, 5-second graphic display or segment per day to communicate the countdown to February 17, 2009.
See Order at para. 32 for a list of options. |
** Networks each will air a minimum of 2 spots per week. See Order at para. 30:
"Stations are free to use PSAs produced in-house or provided by outside sources such as NAB or the networks."
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