Case Study: National Association of Broadcasters
Situational Analysis
Congress set the official date of the DTV transition as February 17, 2009. After 11:59 p.m. on that date, all full-power local television stations will switch from their traditional analog broadcasting and continue to broadcast only in digital format. At least 35 million households and 70 million television sets are at risk of losing their signals after that date if owners of these sets do not take the necessary steps to upgrade.
Objectives
- To obtain universal awareness of the upcoming Digital Television (DTV) Transition with consumers across the U.S. through a multifaceted, multiplatform consumer education campaign
- To arrange thousands of speaking engagements across the United States to reach 1,000,000 people directly about the transition
- To partner with members of Congress and key governmental influencers to host Hill staffer briefings and help disseminate DTV messaging to constituents nationwide
- To develop a coalition of hundreds of groups to help spread the word about the transition
Target Audience Analysis
The target audience for this campaign includes every television viewer in America – specifically, those who receive their television signals over-the-air via rabbit ear or roof-top antenna through an analog TV set. The goal in this campaign was educating consumers about their options in upgrading to digital and to avoid losing loyal viewers due to a lack of information and preparedness.
Strategy
The public affairs strategy for the dissemination of information on the DTV Transition utilized a variety of public outreach tactics including: media relations through print, television and radio, coalition building, a series of press conferences hosted at NAB and on location with Coalition partners, Congressional outreach to members of the House and Senate and their staffers, a DTV Speakers Bureau and a consumer friendly Web site in both English and Spanish.
Execution
DTV Speakers Bureau
This consists of over 1,100 broadcasters nationwide who have conducted 4,500 speaking engagements arranged by Crosby-Volmer since October, 2007, with over 3,000 more scheduled.
Congressional Outreach
We distributed Congressional toolkits to every member of the House and Senate that includes sample op-eds, speeches, presentations and collateral materials. To date over 200 town halls have taken place with broadcasters and members of Congress.
Minority Outreach
NAB has partnered with Univision, Esperanza, and other Hispanic focused organizations to deliver DTV messaging. DTV materials are now available in over 65 languages.
Results
Over the past twelve months awareness of the DTV Transition has risen among households receiving solely over-the-air broadcast television signals from 31 percent to over 90 percent. By October of 2008, media relations efforts garnered over 11,000 media hits through major dailies, wire services, trade publications, community papers, and TV and radio coverage. The DTV Speakers Bureau reached over 600,000 people through over 4,500 in-person speaking engagements. www.DTVAnswers.com has been viewed by over 3,200,000 unique visitors. The Coalition currently has over 240 member organizations and there are DTV Caucuses in both the House and Senate.
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