Briefing by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, 6/10/09

Jun 11, 2009 (WHITE HOUSE RELEASE/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 10, 2009 PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESS SECRETARY ROBERT GIBBS AND SECRETARY OF COMMERCE GARY LOCKE James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 2:15 P.M. EDT MR. GIBBS: Again, in my endeavoring pursuit to bring you special guests, today obviously we have the Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke, who is going to talk to you guys and give you a little bit of an update on the impending deadline of the transition for digital television, which takes place at the end of this week.

SECRETARY LOCKE: ... today I'm here to remind Americans about the impending national switch to digital television. It's just two days away, Friday, June 12th.

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Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 1-3, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.

In February, President Obama signed the DTV Delay Act, which set June 12th as the final deadline for television broadcasters to transition from analog to digital signals. The President acted out of concerns for the millions of Americans who would have been left in the dark if the conversion had gone on as planned.

The Commerce Department and the FCC have been spearheading efforts to ensure all Americans are ready for the switchover, and great progress has been made in just the last three months since Recovery Act funds were made available. But with the deadline fast approaching, some people are still unprepared, some 2.5 percent of American households, or 2.8 million households.

Here is what the American people need to know about the June 12th switchover: If you currently have cable, satellite, or some other paid-for television service, you have nothing to worry about. You are prepared; you don't need to do anything, and June 12th you'll see no change in your television reception or programming.

If you have a new television set purchased, let's say, within the last one year, those new television sets come automatically with a digital tuner. So if you have a television set a year old or newer, you're prepared; you don't need to do anything, you don't need to worry.