The Federal Government has set aside just US$5M to educate U.S. consumers about the analog TV cutoff date of February 17, 2009. That equates to about $0.02 per American, according to Cable Digital News.

A recent report by Sanford C. Bernstein pointed out that about 70 million TVs in the U.S. will go dark on February 18, 2009, the day after over the air analog TV stops broadcasting. Yet, the federal government has only allocated $5 million to educate its citizens about the transition.

The report compared that $5M to the $118M Red Lobster spends each year in ad spending. Bowflex spent $103M in 2006.

In recent hearings in Congress, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) remarked there is a "high potential for a train wreck." While a Website, www.dtv.gov, has been set up to educate customers, especially those who are not connected to satellite or cable and will need a converter box, many are feeling that the D-day is just around the corner in government time, and not enough is being done.

Other organizations are also working to educate customers about the cutoff date: The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC). Even so, not many in the industry believe that $0.02 per citizen is enough. In contrast, $400 million is being spent over seven years in the UK to educate 60 million people about its digital transition.

The situation is reminiscent of the changes in passport regulations for people traveling to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda (and other Caribbean countries). The announcement of the new rules came in April, 2005, but by the summer of 2007, thousands of Americans risked missing their vacation due to the long lines and the waiting period for a passport. The next 567 days will go just as fast.