Clients: Broadcast networks CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC and nearly 1,000 other television stations nationwide.
Job: To raise consumer awareness of the Feb. 17, 2009, transition from analog to digital television.
Agency: National Association of Broadcasters, based in D.C.
Theme: “What you need to know about the Feb. 17, 2009, switch to DTV”
The Concept: More than 34 million households that use TV antennas are at risk of losing their television signals if they are not prepared for the 2009 federally mandated switch from analog to digital broadcasting.
The National Association of Broadcasters started a campaign in 2006, which is now entering its second phase, to educate analog television consumers about their options.
The Plan: NAB will use the $697 million broadcasters have committed to the campaign for a series of initiatives that will air on national and local television stations between now and the
2009 transition. These include 30-minute educational programs that will be available in English, Spanish and closed captioning; crawls and news tickers that will run at the bottom of the screen during regular programming and a 100-day countdown to the transition in which news and other programs will remind viewers about the impending switch.
NAB also will start a “DTV road show,” with two large, TV-shaped vehicles crisscrossing the country to pass out informational materials at state fairs and community events.
Creative Team: Jonathan Collegio (vice president of the campaign), Shermaze Ingram (director of media relations), Myra Dandridge (director of public affairs), Vinicia Mascarenhas (director of external affairs), Abbigail Stuaan (communications coordinator).
Working on Next: Volunteers from the broadcasting industry will do 8,000 speaking engagements at community centers across the country, reaching about 1 million people.
