• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 16, 2007

The National Association of Broadcasters is set to launch a campaign valued at nearly $700 million (though much of it not paid), intended to educate consumers about some of the often-convoluted questions of what will transpire with the shift from analog to digital TV, scheduled for less than two years from now. StarcomMediaVest Group is engineering the effort on the agency planning side.

The campaign is billed as part two of an effort by the broadcast trade group in consumer outreach, and will use multiple platforms, from TV spots to banners on station Web sites to various PR initiatives such as a 600-location "road show."

The campaign will run until the switch on Feb. 17, 2009, when stations must abandon analog broadcasting and move to all-digital (DTV).

The NAB says all broadcast networks will be involved, plus some 939 stations across the country.

SMG has put together the media plan, as well as an estimate of the effort's reach--currently at 98 billion impressions.

"The broadcasting community is wholly dedicated to making sure no television viewer loses access to free, over-the-air broadcast television due to a lack of information about the switch to digital television," said David Rehr, CEO of NAB. "This next phase of our DTV consumer education campaign will take our current initiatives to the next level, and further increase the frequency of messages viewers receive about the transition to digital."