Helping Senior Citizen Navigate the Change to
Digital Television Gets $2.7 Million Funding
Chair of senate aging committee cheers action
funding local agencies to help
Nov. 19, 2008 – Concern about senior citizens being
prepared for the nation’s switch to all-digital television transmission
received some relief yesterday when it was announced that the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will award $2.7
million to the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) to
help seniors navigate the change coming next February.
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Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Chairman of the Senate
Special Committee on Aging, who last year introduced the Preparing
America’s Seniors for the Digital Television Transition Act of 2007,
hailed the announcement
That bill would have established a grant program to
support non-profits and state and local government agencies, such as
area agencies on aging, in their efforts to help seniors and other
vulnerable populations, navigate the transition and the federal
government’s converter box coupon program.
The coupon program was
created by NTIA to help subsidize the cost of a converter box for analog
televisions. Similar legislative language was included as an amendment
to S. 2607, the DTV Transition Assistance Act.
(For more information on what senior citizens need
to do to make this transition, see story in side bar on left.)
On February 17, 2009, full-power television
broadcasters will switch from analog to digital signals.
“Older Americans are particularly susceptible to
slipping through the cracks of the DTV transition,” said Chairman Kohl.
“Groups like n4a are the foot soldiers of this
effort, helping local seniors purchase the converter boxes that they
will need, and get them installed. Without this assistance, seniors
could be left in the dark.”
In November 2007, Chairman Kohl helped convene the
Keeping Seniors Connected Coalition, consisting of organizations
advocating on behalf of older Americans and other vulnerable
populations. Kohl led the Coalition in a push to obtain federal funding
for those community outreach groups on the frontlines of the DTV
transition.
The coalition determined that seniors would need
targeted education, assistance in navigating the federal government’s
converter box coupon program, and one-on-one support for converter box
installation. The funds awarded today could be used by n4a for these
purposes.
In September of 2007 the Special Committee on Aging
held a hearing on the switch to digital television and its impact on
senior citizens. (A link to the hearing presentations is below.)
“Preparing
for the Digital Television Transition: Will Seniors Be Left in the Dark?”
