Harris Corporation and PBS Launch First Nationwide Digital Television Education Road Show at the U.S. Capitol
PR Newswire - March 23, 1998 13:31
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WASHINGTON, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Harris Corporation and the Public
Broadcasting Service (PBS) today officially launched the HARRIS/PBS DTV
Express, a new traveling educational program designed to inform legislators,
broadcasters and educators about the remarkable new services made possible by
digital television (DTV).
Harris and PBS unveiled the extraordinary 66-foot flagship road show
vehicle, and announced the first 10 cities of the nationwide tour -- from Los
Angeles to Bozeman, Montana to New York City.
Keynoting the festivities, Federal Communications Commissioner Susan Ness
commended Harris and PBS for their leadership in responding to the FCC's
transition-to-digital deadline by the year 2003. Commissioner Ness and
members of the broadcast industry toured the dynamic, 18-wheel vehicle, which
features digital television demonstrations and scenarios of a living room of
tomorrow, a classroom of the future, and a digital television station.
The HARRIS/PBS DTV Express will travel to 40 U.S. cities in 15 months to
inform educators and municipal leaders about the opportunities and
possibilities of DTV, and to help television broadcasters prepare for a rapid,
cost-effective transition to DTV. Training classes that cover the technical,
economic, legal, and regulatory aspects of the DTV conversion will be offered
to local broadcasters.
"Many broadcasters, legislators and educators have questions about the
conversion to digital television," said Phillip W. Farmer, chairman and CEO of
Harris Corporation. "This road show should answer those questions in-depth,
and show people first-hand that the future of digital television has arrived."
"The wondrous possibilities of digital television technology will be
revealed to a wide national audience through this unprecedented tour," added
Ervin S. Duggan, president and chief executive officer of PBS. "Visitors will
glimpse a future of multiple educational and entertaining television channels
accompanied by valuable data, as well as the breakthrough picture and sound
quality of high definition television."
"Nineteen ninety-eight marks the initiation of DTV for the public," said
Commissioner Ness. "The DTV Express will play an invaluable role in
introducing the full panoply of services and benefits to broadcasters and
consumers."
The HARRIS/PBS DTV Express will be officially unveiled for the broadcast
industry at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas
April 6, 1998. From there, it will embark on its national excursion to PBS
member stations throughout the United States.
The first ten cities the road show will visit are: Los Angeles, CA (May 4-
8), San Francisco, CA. (May 11-15), Portland, OR (May 18-22), Coeur d'Alene,
ID (June 8-12), Bozeman, MT (June 15-19), Chicago, IL (June 22-26), East
Lansing/Detroit, MI (July 6-10), Buffalo, NY (July 13-17), Philadelphia, PA
(July 27-31), and New York City, NY (August 3-7).
Visitors to the truck will be transported into three different
environments--a living room of tomorrow, a class room of the future and a
digital television station. They will interact with presenters in each area
of the vehicle as new services made available by DTV are demonstrated, along
with the equipment needed to make the digital transition. PBS's zany "Bill
Nye the Science Guy" hosts an amusing video that describes how digital
television works and the many ways it can be used to advance education.
The FCC has ruled that all U.S. television stations must make the
transition to digital technology by 2003. Stations in the ten largest markets
are required to begin transmitting a digital signal by May, 1999.
Harris Corporation Background:
Harris Corporation is the leading provider of television and radio
broadcast equipment, and a leader in the development of DTV. In 1996, a
Harris transmitter became the first in the U.S. to broadcast commercial
digital television signals. The company also developed the RF Test Bed that
was used by the Advanced Television Test Center in Alexandria, Virginia to
evaluate all digital television systems proposed for the U.S. market. The
company has provided transmitting equipment for six of the United States'
seven experimental DTV stations, including PBS-member stations WETA
(Washington, D.C.), KCTS (Seattle) and Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland),
as well as stations WCBS (New York), WRAL (Raleigh, North Carolina), and WHD
(Washington, D.C.), the Nation's model station. Additionally, Harris has
supplied digital transmitters and support for high-definition TV
demonstrations worldwide.
The HARRIS/PBS DTV Express is the latest in Harris' ongoing initiative to
inform various audiences about Digital TV. Other education initiatives
include publishing the Complete Guide To Digital TV guidebook, commissioning
surveys of consumers and broadcasters, and providing HDTV comparison kiosks on
display at the Smithsonian Institute and other locations around the country.
Harris, with worldwide sales of more than $3.8 billion, is an
international communications and electronics company that provides a wide
range of products and services such as wireless and personal communications,
DTV, health care information, multi-media communications, automotive
electronics, transportation, business information, defense communications and
information, and Lanier Worldwide office products.
PBS Background:
The Public Broadcasting Service, a longtime leader in advancing
communications technology for public service, is a private, nonprofit media
enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations.
A trusted community resource, PBS uses the power of noncommercial television,
the Internet and other media to enrich the lives of all Americans through
quality programs and education services that inform, inspire and delight.
Available to 99 percent of American homes with televisions and to an
increasing number of digital multimedia households, PBS serves nearly 100
million people each week. PBS is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
PBS played an active role in industry efforts to select, test, and
implement a digital advanced television system, including managing the field
test of the Grand Alliance system in Charlotte, N.C. PBS is conducting cost
and transition studies and assisting its member stations in the transition to
DTV. PBS, in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters,
published Advanced Television Transmission -- Planning Your Station's
Transition, which covers a number of digital advanced television engineering
issues, including tower capacity, antennas, transmission lines and
transmitters.
PBS has a long tradition of technological leadership. It premiered
broadcast television's first satellite distribution system; developed closed
captions for hearing-impaired audiences; inaugurated the first four-channel,
digitally-encoded audio system for satellites; and was the first broadcaster
to develop an all-digital network and technical facility.
SOURCE HARRIS/PBS DTV Express
/NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information, please contact Susan Mirvis,
HARRIS/PBS DTV Express, at 703-739-8070 or smirvis@harris.com; Neal Stein,
Harris Corporation, at 407-727-9608 or nstein@harris.com; or PBS' Dara
Goldberg at 703-739-5031 or dgoldberg@pbs.org./
/CONTACT: Susan Mirvis, 703-739-8070, or Dawn Alexander, 202-530-4501,
both for HARRIS/PBS DTV EXPRESS |
