WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) - The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will work harder to tell consumers that television is switching to digital broadcasts next year, the agency's chairman said yesterday.

A $2.5 million appropriation from Congress will be used for radio and television ads and other efforts, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told a news conference in Washington.

The ads will bolster a separate $5 million consumer awareness campaign being conducted by the Commerce Department ahead of the February 2009 switch to digital from analog.