Wireless

Americans have survived the transition to digital television without incident.

The sky did not fall and there was no major shortage of digital converter boxes Friday when full-power broadcasters across the nation turned off their analog TV signals and started broadcasting only in digital. Calls to broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission have been heavy the past few days, but officials say that the volume is within what the agency had expected.

"The digital TV transition is looking more like Y2K than the Bay of Pigs," Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said during a press conference on Saturday.

While the agency is quick to say that there is still work to be done in helping stragglers get over the air signals, it's clear commissioners were relieved and pleased with how smoothly the transition of some 971 stations to all digital broadcast went throughout the country on Friday.

Officials said Saturday that more than 317,000 consumer calls were made to the FCC on Friday, the highest number of calls the agency has ever had in one day. But the agency was prepared with call centers staffed 24 hours a day with a total of 4,000 live operators to answer questions. Even though call wait times were higher during peak periods, on average consumers had to wait less than five minutes for their call to be answered.

The largest volume of calls came from broadcast markets serving major cities, most notably Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

The FCC's Web site also got a lot of activity on Friday with more than 3.1 million page views on the www.dtv,gov site. This is more page views than the site had in all of May.

About 30 percent of the calls to the FCC call centers concerned the operation of digital boxes, the agency said. And most of those calls were resolved were instructed to "re-scan" converter boxes in order to receive the digital channels that had moved to new frequencies. More than 20 percent of the calls handled by live agents dealt with reception issues.

FCC officials said that it was hard to say exactly how many people were not prepared when the switch happened and how many are still without over-the-air broadcast TV. But according to the latest Nielsen survey conducted before the June 12 deadline, less than 3 million households across the nation were unprepared. This figure was at least half of what it had been in February.

Retailers across the country were well-stocked with digital converter boxes for last-minute shoppers, which alleviated any concerns government officials had about equipment shortages. But the agency noted that in some locations antennas were in short supply. The FCC is suggesting that consumers look online if they are unable to get an antenna from a local retailer this weekend.

Even though there was no major catastrophe or mass out-cry from the public over the switch to digital TV, acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said the agency's work is still not complete. He said that the FCC is continuing its grassroots efforts to ensure consumers, who still aren't getting over the air TV are not left behind. He used a baseball analogy to describe where he feels the agency is right now in the transition.

"We are safe on third right now," he said. "But I'm not going to close the books on the transition or declare a home run until we solve all the consumer problems."

Still, he also pointed out that there are likely far fewer unprepared viewers now than there would have been had broadcasters switched to digital on the original February 17 deadline. Fearing that consumers were not ready for the transition early this year, Congress voted to delay the mandated transition to June 12.

Since then FCC has thrown its efforts into overdrive, working with volunteers from the public and private sector to educate consumers and provide out reach programs to install digital converter boxes for consumers.

Copps expressed his pride for the efforts of his staff and the massive coordination among the different groups working to make the DTV transition smooth.

"We turned this little regulatory agency on the Potomac into a real grass roots organization," he said.

Copps and the other FCC commissioners said that "search and rescue" efforts will continue to find and help individuals who have been left behind in this transition. FCC volunteers along with volunteers from other groups, such as AmeriCorps, are on the ground manning walk-in centers where people still needing help can go to get help. These folks are also going to door-to-door in at-risk communities to make sure that people are able to get over-the-air TV.

Broadcasters will also continue to turn up the power on their transmitters, which could help some consumers receive TV signals that they might not have been able to get previously.

NEW YORK--Louise Coleman of Brooklyn, N.Y., did everything she was supposed to do before full-power TV broadcasters in the U.S. turned off their analog TV signals and started broadcasting only in digital, but she still found herself in a Best Buy store on the DTV deadline day, Friday, buying the last amplified digital antenna on the store shelf.

Coleman said she had gotten her $40 coupon from the government and bought a digital converter box for her older analog TV before the first deadline for the switch to digital TV on February 17. And she even bought a new flat screen digital-ready TV for her living room to replace an old analog TV that was on its last legs. So she thought she was prepared.

But when Coleman hooked up her digital converter box to her TV using her existing antenna on the eve of the digital transition, she discovered that she could get every regular broadcast TV station except channel 2. Meanwhile, using a new TV antenna with a built-in signal amplifier attached to her digital ready flat-screen TV, she was able to get all the regular channels, plus two extra channels. So off she went to Best Buy, to pick up the very last digital TV antenna with a signal amplifier the store had in stock at a cost of $50.

"I was prepared back in February for the switch," she said. "But then when I hooked up the box last night, I realized that I wasn't getting all the channels and that I probably needed a different antenna, so here I am again."

Coleman was not alone. While much of the hoopla around the digital TV transition for the past several months has focused on whether people with older analog TVs had a digital converter box to receive digital signals, a big issue for New Yorkers on Friday when broadcasters flipped the switch to digital was finding an antenna to improve their reception.

By 1 p.m. EDT the Radio Shack on 23rd Street near Park Avenue had plenty of converter boxes in the store, but it was all out of antennas. The Best Buy just down the block on 23rd Street and 6th Avenue only had a few antennas left by mid-afternoon. And by 5 p.m. a Best Buy customer service representative at the store on Broadway and 62nd Street said that antennas were sold out in Manhattan. The only stores that still had them in stock were in Queens. As for converter boxes, the representative said the store still had 242 left.

Justin Barber, a spokesman for Best Buy, said that as of Friday evening, Best Buy stores across the country were meeting demand for converter boxes. He couldn't say whether other areas around the country were experiencing antenna shortages. But he said that the company had anticipated a spike in demand.

"We have been working with our antenna vendors to get additional inventory," he said. "That was definitely something we were planning for in anticipation of the DTV switch."

It's difficult to say how widespread the potential antenna shortage has been. Mark Wigfield, a spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission, said he hadn't heard that antennas were in short supply. But he said he wasn't surprised that antennas are in high demand.

"You really do need an antenna to receive digital signals," he said.

But Wigfield added that people may not need to rush out and buy a new antenna. They may be able to use the existing antenna they had used to get analog TV signals. But he said that whether the antenna is new or old, consumers should make sure it supports both UHF and VHF radio frequencies. VHF antennas have traditionally been the rabbit-ear antennas that receive channels 2-13. And UHF antennas have been in the shape of a circle or bow-tie. These antennas are used to tune channels 14-51. Now that broadcasters are only transmitting in digital, it's important to have an antenna that supports both VHF and UHF, since many digital signals are now being broadcast in UHF frequencies.

In addition to VHF/UHF antennas there are also amplified antennas that can be used to improve reception. In the case of Louise Coleman, the amplified antenna, helped her get all the standard TV channels offered in her area, as well as two more channels she couldn't get with analog TV.

But retailers caution consumers that no antenna is a one-size fits all solution, something Richard Savelli, of Manhattan learned the hard way. Savelli had bought a basic rabbit ear-style antenna from Radio Shack when he picked up his converter box earlier this year, but even with the new antenna he isn't able to tune in some digital TV channels. He was in Best Buy on Friday looking to buy a new antenna. But the pickings were rather slim.

"It is frustrating," he said. "Nobody told me I needed a special antenna. But cable is too expensive and I don't want to give them my money."

Figuring out exactly which antenna to use can be a big challenge. The FCC has some information on its Web site www.dtv.gov that provides some help. But most of the information on the Internet is about outside antennas. Still, Wigfield recommends that consumers check out the FCC Website and use a tool that allows people to put in their address and ZIP code to see where their local station transmitters are located and what kind of signal they can expect to get. There is also information available about the different types of antennas.

CNET Reviews associate editor Matthew Moskovciak says that the position of the antenna is often more important than the type of antenna used. He also says that newer converter boxes work much better than ones made just a few years. Moskovciak, who reviews antennas and digital converter boxes for CNET, has also been an over-the-air TV viewer for the past three years. And he says he has spent hours testing and figuring out which solution works best for getting digital TV signals in his Astoria, Queens, apartment.

What he has discovered is that an expensive amplified antenna did not perform as well in his apartment as a much cheaper HDTV UHF/VHF antenna. He uses an HDTV "silver sensor" antenna that costs around $35, versus $50 or more for an antenna with a signal amplifier. And he says that he not only gets more TV channels than he did with analog, but that the TV channels he is getting are much better quality in high definition and with surround sound.

But he adds that everyone's experience is different, and that some people living in a different part of the city or even someone in his own neighborhood or building whose apartment is facing a different direction could have an easier or a harder time getting a signal with the same equipment.

So what are consumers to do? Here are a few tips that can be used to help get you started setting up your antenna for digital reception.

•  Make sure you are using an antenna that supports UHF and VHF.

•  Move your antenna closer to a window. Often it's much easier to get reception from the window.

•  Point the antenna in the direction where you know local TV stations are broadcasting. You may have to adjust the antenna for different channels.

•  Rescan your digital converter box or tuner to find the channels in case the broadcaster has moved them.

•  If you're still unable to get a signal, try a new antenna. Moskovciak recommends not buying the most expensive antenna first. Instead, he says to work your way up, trying different antennas to see which one works best. Often a less expensive antenna may work better than a more expensive one. Best Buy has a 30-day return policy, so try as many antennas as you want, and return the ones that you don't need.

"It's definitely not easy to set this up perfectly," Moskovciak said. "I've spent a lot of time getting mine set up. I have my antenna taped to the wall and pointing toward the transmitters. But I really don't watch TV all that much, so I can't justify spending another $50 a month on cable."

In less than 24 hours all full-power broadcast TV stations in the U.S. will flip a switch to stop broadcasting their analog TV signals and will only broadcast TV signals in digital. And for millions who are unprepared, it could mean lights out on their favorite TV shows.

I know what you're thinking. "We've heard this before." In fact, you've probably been hearing about the transition to digital television for the last decade. You likely started seeing public service commercials last year encouraging you to buy a digital converter box to turn your old analog TV into one that could receive digital signals.

In early February another supposed deadline loomed. And then it didn't happen. Congress, fearing that too many people weren't prepared, postponed the switch, and more than 6 million procrastinators were saved.

But now the new deadline of June 12 is upon us once again. And this time it's for real. President Obama himself issued a statement last week:

"We have worked hand in hand with state and local officials, broadcasters and community groups to educate and assist millions of Americans with the transition...I want to be clear: there will not be another delay."

So here we are, less than a day away from the final transition. And despite months of public service announcements and more than $2 billion spent by the U.S. government to help people prepare, millions will still face a blank screen when they hit that little power button on their TV remotes starting Friday at 12:01 a.m.

The good news is that delaying the switch from February to June has given the Federal Communications Commission some time to ramp up efforts to get the public prepared. The agency has enlisted the help of dozens of groups including volunteers from AmeriCorps, civil rights groups, and even firefighters to help people purchase and install their converter boxes and antennas.

... Read more

The digital TV transition is less than two weeks away, and even though most Americans are prepared for the big switch, the Federal Communications Commission still expects a few hiccups.

The FCC on Tuesday held a public hearing where representatives from different FCC bureaus and leaders from various groups involved in educating and preparing the public for the switch to digital TV broadcast updated commissioners on their progress. The FCC and Commerce Department have partnered with community organizations, churches, public safety departments, civil rights groups, consumer groups and broadcasters around the country to get people ready for the transition. These education and outreach programs were thrown into high gear after Congress voted to postpone the transition from February 17 to June 12.

FCC staff members as well as other experts agreed that the nation is much better prepared now for the DTV transition than it was in February. But they testified there will be some individuals and groups of people who will still experience problems when all full-powered TV stations in the country flip the switch to digital transmission.

One major issue cited by Eloise Gore, associate bureau chief of the FCC's media bureau, is that some 35 TV stations around the country are expected to go dark after the switch. Eighteen of these stations are having financial problems, she said. The other 17 stations are experiencing technical issues that are preventing them from switching to digital, Gore said during her testimony. These TV stations may be able to get their signals back online by the end of the year, she said.

Some of the TV stations that are expected to stop transmitting signals are affiliates of a major TV network, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox. But Gore added that viewers who lose these channels can scan for that network on a subchannel of another TV station and may be able to access that network.

Another potential problem cited by Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology for the FCC, is that even people who have gotten their new digital converter boxes or who have digital-ready TVs are having difficulty with their antennas. He said consumers need to make sure that they have antennas that can receive UHF and VHF signals. He also said some viewers may have to adjust their antennas to get the digital TV signals. And he noted that viewers who have already been using converter boxes and antennas to get over the-air-digital TV should still rescan their boxes to find the new digital signals, since some signals may have shifted after the cut-over to all-digital transmission.

Knapp also noted that his office has been updating information on its Web site about antennas and these other issues to help provide more information to consumers. The office has also been working with retailers so that they can provide better advice to consumers about which antenna will work best for them.

Already switched
Even though disruptions are expected after the June 12 deadline, the reality is that about half of the 1,800 full-power TV stations required to transition to digital transmission have already done so. Many of these stations have been transmitting in digital since the original February 17 deadline.

Education and outreach programs appear to be working. The most recent polling data from Nielsen suggests that only about 3 million households that rely on over-the-air TV are unprepared for the transition. This figure is down from about 6 million households that were unprepared leading up to the February 17 deadline. The people who are still left out appear to be procrastinators and some in at-risk groups, such as elderly, low-income, or rural viewers, said Cathy Seidel, chief of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. And the agency is continuing to target those groups.

The Commerce Department has been offering $40 coupons to help offset the cost of digital converter boxes to allow older TVs to receive digital signals. And government officials say there is enough money and vouchers available to continue the program until its deadline of July 31. But officials did warn that people applying for coupons now may not get them in time for the June 12 deadline.

Despite that good news, some of the commissioners still have concerns. Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell, who President Obama renominated for his current post, said he was concerned about what would happen after the transition was completed. Specifically, he wanted to know how the FCC would pay for the 4,000 telephone operators it planned to have in place to answer calls from consumers having problems. The FCC needs about $10 million to pay for these operators.

Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, associate administrator at the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said these funds could be allocated from the Commerce Department, which received $650 million from the economic stimulus package to help fund the DTV coupon program. The agency has the authority to distribute about $90 million of that money to the FCC for digital TV education efforts. The FCC has already received about $65 million of the funding, but the Commerce Department has been holding about $25 million in case more is needed for the coupon program.

McGuire-Rivera said she didn't see any major problems in getting the $10 million transferred from the Commerce Department to the FCC. But the transfer must still be approved by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, which she anticipates will happen.

Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein expressed his concern that roughly 31 percent of TV households in various markets will not have access to "analog nightlight" services. The "nightlight" program is a voluntary program in which TV stations agree to keep an analog signal turned on in addition to their digital signals to provide information about the DTV transition and to notify unprepared TV viewers of emergencies, such as hurricanes.

Only about 100 stations plan to maintain "analog nightlight" notifications after the switch. More than half of those nightlights will remain on air for 30 days. And the rest will be on for at least two weeks. In total, these stations will reach 69 percent of TV households.

Representatives from the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters said they are still trying to recruit more TV stations to provide nightlight broadcasts, and they expect to add more to the list.

The Federal Communications Commission has revamped its DTV transition Web site in the hopes it can help more consumers prepare for the transition to digital television.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein unveiled the new site Monday at the National Association of Broadcasters' conference in Las Vegas. The primary purpose of the redesigned site was to make it more "consumer friendly." For example, the site includes a tool to search for local retailers selling converter boxes. It also has a quick tutorial on installing converter boxes and provides shopping information about the different products. And it provides tips for improving reception or troubleshooting reception issues.

Adelstein, who is expected to leave the commission soon for a post at the Department of Agriculture, has long supported the idea of a more coordinated education effort around the DTV transition.

Congress mandated that TV broadcasters cut off their analog signals and transmit only in digital to conserve valuable airwaves. And in 2005 it set the date of February 17, 2009, as the deadline for the transition. Over the next four years, the FCC, broadcasters and TV manufacturers were expected to prepare for the transition and educate the public.

But as the deadline approached, TV stations and broadcasters were ready for the transition, but consumers were not. In early February, lawmakers were concerned that some 20 million people, most of whom were poor, elderly, and living in rural parts of the country, were not prepared for the transition. And to make matters worse, the government had also run out of its $40 coupons it was issuing to help defray the cost of the converter boxes necessary to allow older TVs to get digital signals. There had also been reports that many consumers, who had already gotten converter boxes, were not able to connect them properly to their TVs.

Ultimately, Congress voted to delay the deadline for the DTV transition from February 17 to June 12. The delay and the general unreadiness of the public for this transition have resulted in a lot of finger pointing among politicians and public interest groups. And the FCC has been sharply criticized for dropping the ball in terms of educating the public about the transition. The new Web site is an attempt to help provide more user-friendly information.

Hopefully, this latest effort will help get consumers ready for the transition. But recent reports suggest there are still many people not ready for the transition and time is running out. According to Nielsen, as of April 12, 3.6 million TV households are "completely unready" for the DTV transition on June 12. This is an improvement of 200,000 households over the past two weeks, when Nielsen reported that 3.8 million American households were unready. But as the deadline gets closer, time is running out and there are still millions of consumers unready.

But the NAB says that Nielsen's numbers are greatly exaggerated. And the association believes that the actual number of those not ready is much lower.

It looks as though the digital TV transition will likely be delayed now that a group of Senate Republicans agreed to a plan that would push it back to June 12.

Senate Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to push back the deadline just last week. But it looks like they've had a change of heart after working with Democrats to hammer out amendments to the bill. The DTV Delay Act, as it is being called, is expected to be voted on early next week.

The switch from analog TV broadcast to digital broadcast was mandated by Congress in 2005 with the deadline date of February 17, 2009. On this date all TV broadcasters are supposed to stop broadcasting their signals in analog and broadcast only in digital. The switch will free up valuable wireless spectrum, which the Federal Communications Commission has already allocated to public safety or auctioned off for new services, mainly broadband wireless.

But over the past few months, government officials have warned that too many Americans are not prepared for the switch. In fact more than 6.5 million U.S. households are still not prepared for the transition, according to the Nielsen Co. Many of these individuals are minorities.

The government and broadcasters have been running public service announcements to get the word out about the switch. The government also allotted $1.3 billion for a voucher program to provide consumers with $40 coupons to defray the cost of converter boxes that will allow older TVs to accept the digital signal.

But the government has run out of money for the vouchers, and as of Wednesday the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers the voucher program, reported that there was a waiting list of 2.6 million for new coupons. What's more, many consumers say they have had trouble redeeming coupons or their coupons have expired already.

Democrats, including President Obama, have suggested delaying the transition to give people more time to get ready. But Republicans in both the House and Senate have raised concerns that delaying the switchover would confuse consumers and add costs for television stations that would have to continue broadcasting both analog and digital signals. A delay would also mean burdening wireless companies, which have already spent billions of dollars to buy the spectrum from the federal government. And it would delay efforts by public safety agencies that have been waiting for the spectrum to be freed up.

After some negotiation and some amendments to the bill, it looks as though Senate Republicans are now on board with delaying the date for the transition.

Under the new deal, the transition date will be delayed until June 12. But TV stations will be allowed to switch to digital signals before that date. And if a station chooses to switch to digital before the official transition date, the vacant spectrum will be made available to public safety officials.

The bill will also allow consumers with expired coupons for converter boxes to apply for new coupons. The coupons had an expiration date of 90 days. The bill also extends the deadline to apply for a coupon from March 31 to July 31.

The Senate is expected to vote on the DTV Delay Act next week. But a bill will still have to get through the House before a delay becomes official. The House Energy and Commerce Committee delayed consideration of a DTV delay bill earlier this week after the Senate had blocked its initial bill.