The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) urged Congress to provide a “real, direct investment” in a true grassroots outreach campaign to educate Americans about the transition to digital television.

“Congress has set aside only $5 million, which is narrowly limited to education about the NTIA coupon program,” said APTS President and CEO John Lawson, during a hearing before Senate Commerce Committee on the DTV transition. “Yet the federal treasury is expected to receive $12.5 billion in revenue, at minimum, from the spectrum auction. A greater investment in marketing so that spectrum actually becomes available is just a sound business decision,” Lawson said.

APTS asked Congress to invest at least an additional $20 million in order to make a “real” financial investment in educating the consumers about the cut-off of analog television in February 2009. Since the conversion date is so close, APTS recommended that most of the funds be obligated in this appropriations cycle.

Public television has already made financial commitments of its own. On Monday, APTS and PBS announced a major commitment of airtime by local public stations to inform consumers of the DTV conversion and the steps they need to take. “Given public television's limited time for underwriting credits, this is a major in-kind contribution. In fact, the economic value of this commitment exceeds $50 million,” Lawson testified.

APTS also asked that Congress and the FCC ensure that the digital broadcast signals of public television stations are carried by satellite providers. “We would prefer a private carriage agreement, but we are running out of time,” Lawson said. APTS has made process in talks with DirecTV, but no agreement has been reached, and negotiations with EchoStar have gone nowhere. “We need Congress to help ensure that the American people have access to their public television,” Lawson said.

Lawson also touched on other issues involved in the transition:

“As the FCC continues testing of unlicensed devices intended for the broadcast ‘white spaces,' we ask Congress to conduct vigilant oversight. The end-game of this transition is exactly the wrong time to introduce thousands of devices that have the potential to destroy the pictures that consumers see on their DTV-enabled sets.

“We call on Congress to ensure that the FCC expedites rules for digital translators, which are long overdue.

“Finally, we urge Congress to continue to support public television in creating the new content and services that will drive consumer demand for DTV.”