On Feb. 17, 2009, broadcasters will vacate analog spectrum for digital signals. Consumers who own analog sets still will be able to access free programming over the air, but they will need special converter boxes to do so.

Adelstein warned that the shift is going to hit seniors particularly hard because many of them own analog sets and are going to need technical and financial assistance to install converter boxes. He said he is encouraged that public and private efforts are under way to educate consumers about the shift but insisted that not enough thought has gone into the implementation of assistance programs.

"There's a lot at stake here," he said, noting that many seniors depend on television to receive vital news and information, not just entertainment. According to Adelstein, federal regulators should be as focused on preparing consumers for the DTV transition as they were about the Year 2000 computer problems many feared on Jan. 1, 2000. He said British regulators have been wise to pilot assistance programs for their digital switch and enlist people to help senior citizens install converters.

"Not only do we not have a plan to do that, we don't have a plan to come up with a plan," he said.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican who spoke prior to Adelstein, said the agency already has engaged thousands of senior centers to educate citizens about how the transition will affect them.

Martin said the FCC is taking extra care to send a consistent message about its enforcement authority on the issue. He said it is vital that retailers place labels on analog televisions that no longer will work two years from now without converter boxes.

Enid Borden, chief executive officer of the Meals On Wheels Association of America, echoed Adelstein's point about the importance of television to homebound seniors whose safety may depend on them. Her organization represents those who deliver food to seniors.

Borden estimated that more than 90 percent of the seniors served by her organization own televisions. She said many of them live alone and on tight budgets, and would be burdened financially and physically by being forced to acquire converter boxes.

Her group recently launched a program to promote fire-safety awareness. Borden said the challenges in encouraging seniors to purchase new smoke alarms are similar to ones posed by the DTV transition.

In a panel discussion following Borden's remarks, Retirement Living TV Vice President Patrick Baldwin said it is important that those helping seniors prepare for the shift do not make them anxious about it. He said the message needs to be a positive one.

"It can't be a scare tactic," he said.