Sony this month will launch a massive ad, promotional and consume...

The effort will begin in print and on TV but expand broadly to media such as online ads and point of sale materials, Greg Gudorf, vp-mktg. in Sony’s Home Products Div., told us. Gudorf said “there’s a ton of confusion out there as to what digital TV is all about.” The campaign will offer practical advice on the best kind of equipment to buy, including the dos and don’ts of antennas and set-top boxes -- “all those questions that consumers have,” Gudorf said. Sony executives discussed the consumer education campaign with FCC Comr. Adelstein in a meeting last Thurs. It was disclosed in an ex parte filing at the Commission. A main purpose of the visit with Adelstein was to attest to the FCC that Sony was in “100% compliance” with the July 1 DTV tuner deadline on sets 36” and larger, said Sony Exec. Vp & Gen. Counsel Michael Williams, who led the Sony delegation. In the meeting, Sony also affirmed that by July 1 50% of the 25-36” sets it was shipping had DTV tuners built in, as required, Williams told us. “Our message was that Sony’s doing its part” to comply with the DTV tuner mandate, and that “we hope others will do it as well,” Williams said. Gudorf said Sony is “accelerating the development” of new “midsized” TV models “even faster than we had planned” because of the FCC’s recent decision to advance to March 2006 from July the deadline for all new 25-36” sets to have DTV tuners built in. “We feel very confident we're on target for the 100% in March,” he said.