DTV Education Comes to Seniors in San Francisco’s Chinatown
SAN FRANCISCO -- About 150 Chinese-American seniors gathered Tuesday for DTV transition education from officials including the head of NTIA, which runs the federal converter- box coupon program. When speaker Roger Goldblatt, a special adviser in the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau asked how many in the audience had heard of digital television, about a half-dozen raised their hands. “Make sure you tell everyone you know - neighbors, relatives, seniors who are stuck at home,” he said.
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“There is a concern the non-English TV viewers may not get the message about the transition to digital TV,” said Rachelle Chong, a California PUC member who was on the FCC in the 1990s. “The California PUC is very concerned that no one is left without a free television signal.”
During a question-and-answer session, an attendee proposed that representatives of Comcast and KTSF-TV -- which broadcasts in 12 language and whose prime-time programming is in Chinese - make themselves available two hours daily to answer questions at the historic Chinatown business hall where the standing-room-only session was held. Michael Sherman, KTSF’s general manager, said he would consider the idea.
Many Chinese-Americans in the region risk losing TV with the February analog cutoff, because some don’t know English an at 28 percent, the proportion dependent on over-the-air broadcasts is more than double the national figure, Sherman said. The meeting was a follow-up to one -- also with speakers representing federal and state agencies and the TV industry -- at the California PUC’s office that KTSF organized in May for Asian-American community leaders.
“We are encouraging everyone to act now,” said Meredith Baker, the acting NTIA chief. “The benefits of digital television” are available now. “If you choose the converter- box option, we stand ready to help you,” she said. Her remarks as well as others were translated into Cantonese.
Baker emphasized practical tips on coupon applications: Watch out for requests for personal information such as Social Security numbers, don’t expect cash for the value of the $40 coupons for returned converter boxes, don’t let the 90-day coupons expire. She told the audience that it’s permissible to help relatives, friends and neighbors by filling out coupon applications.
Chong gave the justifications for the transition. “This transition is a big deal because it’s like changing from a rickshaw to a sports car,” she said. Comcast’s vice president for California government affairs, Johnny Giles, demonstrated use of a converter box, but it was hard for the seated seniors to see. He didn’t mention that competing satellite service also is a solution, but others speakers did.
Organizers provided five online laptops that attendees could use to apply for coupons. The Asian-American Justice Center and Comcast distributed informational leaflets in Chinese and English. Joshua Packman, the center’s community education program assistant, told us his group is running DTV programs for Asian-Americans in Minneapolis and Atlanta, in addition to San Francisco, with a $60,000 Comcast grant. Outlets covering the event included ABC affiliate KGO-TV, Fox affiliate KTVU Oakland, KTSF and Asian radio KVTO(AM) Berkeley.