Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net)

Media Contact:
Karlos Gauna Schmieder
505-363-4962
karlos@centerformediajustice.org

For Immediate Release: February 17, 2009

Advocates Applaud DTV Transition Delay
But say a No-Cost Converter Box would help close the gaps

USA – Despite the DTV transition delay signed into law by President Obama last week, the
much anticipated digital television transition remains under scrutiny as advocates from around
the country proclaim that the numbers of households still set to lose TV signals is too great a
price to pay for better TV quality.

“If the digital TV transition produces better quality TV for those who can afford to transition, but
eliminates television access for those who canʼt - well, that seems like a violation of basic
rights”, said Deanne Cuellar of the Texas Media Empowerment Project in San Antonio, Texas.
“Thatʼs why here in San Antonio, weʼre getting the $40 coupons into the hands of those who
need them most and applaud our local Best Buy for working with us to make a No-Cost
Converter Box with an analog pass-through is available.”

Along with the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice, the Texas Media Empowerment Project
is one of dozens of community organizations that have taken up the responsibility of providing
transition assistance to ensure those TV audiences with limited mobility, fixed income, or who
face other barriers to transition arenʼt left behind. The newly launched Reclaim the Media DTV
Assistance Center in Seattle also won a no-cost converter box from the Fred Meyer Northwest
Regional branch of stores. Still, there arenʼt enough of the $40.00 coupons initially offered by
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to go around, and major
retailers like Target, Walmart and others are slow to sell the necessary converter boxes at the
price of the coupons despite overwhelming demand. For tens of millions of households, the
DTV Transition remains costly and problematic.

The No-Cost Box is a solution being proposed by the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-
Net), which currently has four DTV Assistance Centers in Seattle, San Antonio, Minneapolis,
and the Bay Area. In partnership with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, these
assistance centers are urging their local retailers to carry a $40 converter box to ensure that low
income families, with the help of the $40 coupons provided by the NTIAA, are able to prepare
for the digital television transition at no cost.

In Minnesota, Main Street Project and the Minnesotano Media Empowerment Project have been
working to get a No Cost Box. “Mosquito Productions is willing to provide a $40.00 converter
box. I met with the owner yesterday and heʼs also willing to work with us to bring a truck full of
converter boxes to our various events—even to rural areas of the state,” said Amalia Deloney.
“Mosquito Productions, a small, locally-owned store is willing to do what Target was not—even
after we collected and mailed hundreds of postcards and signatures from an online campaign
for a No Cost Box,” said Steven Renderos, Project Director of the Minnesotano Media
Empowerment Project.
 Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net)

“While we applaud the delay, pushing the date of transition back without ensuring that major
manufacturers and retailers make forty dollar converter boxes available is just delaying
disaster,” said Malkia A. Cyril, Director of the Center for Media Justice in Oakland, California.
“The DTV Transition delay is an opportunity to turn an under-funded mandate into a socially
responsible transition.”

MAG-Net is a project of the Center for Media Justice. For more information, please go to:
http://www.mag-net.org
http://DTVforThePeople.blogspot.com
http://www.centerformediajustice.org

For information on local actions and activities, use the following source list:

Bay Area
Malkia Cyril
malkia@centerformediajustice.org
510-444-0640 ext.312

Eloise Lee
eloise@media-alliance.org
510-832-9000 x302

Texas
DeAnne Cuellar
deannec@texasmep.org
210-896-9141

Graciella Sanchez
graciela@esperanzacenter.org
210-228-0201

Seattle
Jonathan Lawson
jonathan@reclaimthemedia.org
206-931-0565

Minnesota
Amalia Deloney
amalia@mainstreetproject.org
651-269-1781

Steven Renderos
rende007@umn.edu
612-626-5357