America successfully completed its historic transition to all-digital television (DTV) broadcasting on June 12 as the final wave of 971 full-power television stations in 195 markets shut off their analog signals for good.

“Millions of households across the country are now enjoying dramatically better pictures and sound in digital compared to what they were able to see and hear on their TV sets for the past several decades,” said NAB Vice President for Digital Television Jonathan Collegio.

With the national call center reporting 317,450 calls on June 12 out of an estimated 15 million households impacted by the switch, NAB applauds the unprecedented public-private partnership among industry, government and consumer groups in preparing America for the DTV transition.

In coordination with the Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, NAB worked closely with state broadcast associations and the 241-member DTV Transition Coalition on a two-year consumer education campaign that drove viewer awareness and action on the transition to near-universal levels. Highlights of the broadcasters’ $1.2 billion effort include:

• National awareness jumped from 38 percent in January 2007 to 98+ percent in June 2009
• 9 of 10 U.S. households knew the transition impacted over-the-air television signals
• More than 60 million converter box coupons were requested
• 30 million digital TV sets were sold in 2008 alone

“Free TV is better than ever, but more is to come. Broadcasters are already working to improve on the digital experience, as experiments with mobile digital television begin this summer. Stay tuned for the next generation of free digital television,” Collegio added.

To learn more about broadcasters’ role in the DTV transition, visit www.nab.org/dtv.