FCC confident about digital-TV preparedness

The nationwide transition to digital TV is just 30 days away, and Federal Communications Commission officials are feeling much more positive about the switch than they were leading up to the previous deadline in February.

On Wednesday, the FCC received updates from various agencies helping to prepare for the new June 12 deadline for the switch to digital TV. In addition to adding more money to the converter box coupon program, efforts are already under way to get AmeriCorps volunteers to go into people's homes and help with converter box installation. Clinics have also been set up in hot-spot regions to help educate people about the program and to help them figure out how to install converter boxes and antennas.

Already some 170,000 homes have gone through one of these programs to have their converter boxes installed. The acting chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, said he is impressed by the coordinated effort that is under way.

"In January I feared about where we were headed with this transition," he said. "But it has turned into an inspiring and enjoyable experience to see how these different agencies can work together. "

While Copps said he believes that Americans are better prepared now for the transition to digital television than they were prior to the February 17 deadline, he said that there will still be some people who will see blank TV screens on June 12, when all TV stations will be broadcasting in digital.

"Even though we are better prepared this time," he said. "There will still be disruptions for some consumers. And candor compels us to inform viewers of these issues."

To deal with the many people who might lose TV signals in June, the FCC has set up 4,000 call centers and is beefing up staffing to answer consumer phone calls. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein pointed out during the FCC's meeting that only 15 percent of households in the U.S. were affected when some broadcasters transitioned to all digital broadcasts on the original February 17 deadline.

Anticipating complaints
He also anticipates a flood of complaints from consumers who are not prepared for the transition. But he is also optimistic about the progress the agency has made over the past three months.

"We've gotten to the 30-day countdown before," he said. "And I have to say I was a lot more nervous before than I am this time."

In an effort to help identify trouble spots before the hard deadline of June 12, the FCC is planning a soft-test of the digital switch on May 21. On that date, all broadcasters will be asked to switch to digital-only broadcast for a few minutes. People who have older TVs that have not been equipped with a converter box will be able to tell whether they are prepared to receive digital programming.

"This will be like a DTV stress test for consumers," Adelstein said. "Let's hope we do better than the banks did in their stress tests."

Three months ago, 6.5 million households were unprepared for the switch to digital TV, according to research firm Nielsen. At that time Congress voted to delay the transition from February to June. Now it's believed that the number of people who are unprepared for the transition is less than half that number, or roughly 3.5 million households.

Most of these people are either elderly, in a minority group, poor, or living in rural areas. The FCC and other agencies helping with the transition have been targeting these at-risk households to ensure they are prepared.

While most people are now aware of the transition to digital, the problem now is helping people get converter boxes to allow older TVs to receive digital signals and to help install that equipment. Coupons are available under a government program to help pay for converter boxes, which cost $40 to $80. But earlier this year, more than 4 million people were on a waiting list for the coupons after the government ran out of money to fund the program.

With new funding under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, the backlog is now gone. And the group administering the program says it has enough money to provide the necessary coupons.

Viewers who watch TV via cable or satellite will not need a converter box and won't have to do anything to prepare for the digital transition.

[techman21]

If people took the initiative and responsibility to educate themselves, there wouldn't be such a problem (although still not enough money for coupons for everyone - procrastinators pay the price).

[renGek]

Its amazing. You would think all those couch potatoes would figure this out pronto since the tv is their life. But says a lot about a generation of people too lazy to figure out their own #1 priority. Let them go dark and cry for a few days without their precious tv. Maybe they'll pick up a book and educate themselves *gasp*.

I know our government would like the population to remain stupid and controllable but come on now. We can be a bit more intelligent can't we?

[cardshoot]

The real problem as I see it is that some people, even with a converter box, won't be able to receive the channels they now receive. I will be one of those people once the transition occurs. I know this because I have already gotten converters and hooked them up to check the channels that have already switched ( actually now broadcasting in both analog and digital) and I do not get the digital signals even though I get the analog. The converters are working properly as i do get a few digital stations on them from another closer broadcaster(ION) but I'll not be able to get any of the major networks.

[flathead50]

I agree. We, too, bought a converter and an big expensive antenna and amplifier. Now, all we can receive in our locale is Fox (yuk) and 3 religious stations. Few people seem to acknowledge that everyone doesn't have or want to pay $60 a month for cable or satellite service. Everyone doesn't live within the range of the digital broadcasters. But there seems to be little one can do to retain basic services that we enjoyed before. Don't get me wrong. We are not TV addicts and we find the current product put out by the networks to be pretty miserable fare. But it would be good to have local news and weather plus some PBS when we want it.

[timber2005]

" do not get the digital signals even though I get the analog"
That is because of 1 of 2 things.
1) The station is not dual-broadcasting in both digital and analog. This covers about 60% of all stations.
2) The station is not broadcasting in digital at full power. This covers about 95% of all stations, because the digital signal will overpower the analog signal.

Read the FCC FAQ's :p

[libertyforall1776]

It is absurd that the transition did not already happen months ago. What I want to know is when is the SECOND Digital transition happening -- this time to H.264 (part of MPEG-4) ATSC 2.0?! It is silly that ATSC did not start out with H.264 for the transition date -- people with older sets will have to buy yet ANOTHER converter... Or just buy new sets...

See:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/22/atsc-2-0-includes-support-for-h-264/

[sanenazok]

H.264 transition will NEVER happen. Get ready for fifty years of ATSC.

[artsm35]

So this morning I turned on my converter-box TV to see the morning news, TODAY. Normally excellent channel 3 WKYC, NBC Cleveland. But the weather (?) was not willing and the constant interruptions made it impossible to grasp coherent sentences, so I shut down the TV. I used to be able to get all channels with no interruption and no antenna fussing. A little snow occasionally didn't bother me--at least I could follow the dialog. Now it's apparently weather or sun or something dependent. One minute pretty picture, next minute blank screen, and in and out repeatedly, at least this morning. DTV is not as reliable as analog was. But you do get pretty pictures, sometimes.