Fewer households than ever will get snow on June 12.
With under 40 days remaining until the June 12 switch-off of analog TV stations across the United States, Nielsen Media Research reports that 3.1 percent of TV homes in the U.S. are still not prepared for the DTV transition.
That number amounts to 3.5 million households being caught by surprise when their analog-only over-the-air TV broadcasts go to snow next month. That's an improvement of about 1.5 million homes since a February 18 Nielsen survey, which is significant because the original switchover date was scheduled for February 17 before being delayed.
There's no sign of a delay for the June 12 deadline, which could indicate that the 3.5 million estimate is acceptable to lawmakers. In a recent interview, Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology & the Internet Chairman Rick Boucher said the transition is on "a very good path. I do not anticipate any further problems." He also cited improvements in the DTV coupon program owing to infusions of new cash as a result of the stimulus program.
Nielsen's report (PDF) names the Albuquerque/Santa Fe market as the least-ready for the transition, at 8.77 percent unpreparedness, while somehow the Providence/New Bedford market achieved 100 percent preparedness. The least prepared ethnic group is African-American (5.9 percent), followed by Hispanic (5 percent), Asian (4.1 percent) and finally white (2.4 percent). Despite the stereotype that the elderly are less aware of DTV than the young, just 1.7 percent of households headed by people above the age of 55 are unprepared, compared with 5.7 percent of households headed by people under 35.
(Via EngadgetHD)
New York City over-the-air analog TV stations went dark for two minutes today. The prescheduled test gave a temporary taste of what's planned when the stations permanently pull the analog plug on February 17, 2009.
The two minute test occurred between 5:58 and 6:00 p.m. ET, and--in the case of WCBS, at least--was accompanied by a countdown timer and an explanation narrated by the onscreen newscaster. (The test was in the middle of the local news.)
We monitored the over-the-air digital (HD) and analog feeds, and the analog one cut-off right on schedule, dumping to a "this is a test" warning crawl, while the digital feed continued unabated. (See the video above, with color commentary provided by CNET TV guru David Katzmaier.)
Simultaneously, we were monitoring the local DirecTV and Time-Warner Cable feeds as well. In both cases, the WCBS feed was also uninterrupted (even though it was the standard-definition transmission).
In other words--for our sister CBS station, anyway--the test seemed to go as planned, with only analog antenna viewers seeing the warning screen. Anyone watching on cable, satellite, or over-the-air digital--including those using DTV converter boxes to watch programming on their old sets--should have been blissfully unaware of the test pattern.
Now that the broadcasters have demonstrated that they can do this--target only the antenna-viewing audience that will actually be affected by this change--I think they should amp up these sort of tests. Reports indicate that a huge swath of the antenna-viewing public is still woefully unprepared for the DTV switchover, but if they start getting increasingly invasive test patterns during their favorite shows, I think the message will start to hit home.
If you still get your TV programming from an antenna and you're confused about the forthcoming changes, be sure to check out our Quick Guide to the DTV Transition.
The Consumer Electronics Association has teamed up with Google's YouTube to sponsor a contest encouraging homemade public-education videos on the DTV transition.
The contest, entitled "Digital TV: Convert Now!", will award a tricked-out home entertainment center to the producer of the best video that "educates the public on how to prepare friends and family for the digital television (DTV) transition," according to the Web site. To get the ball rolling, the Association enlisted the country act Whiskey Falls, whose call-out video is available on the site now.
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According to a new survey by ABI Research, 20 percent of TV viewers--3 million Americans--who rely on analog over-the-air reception will let their sets go "dark" after the DTV transition on February 17, 2009.
Will 3 million TVs look like this in February?
(Credit: CNET)The firm's Web-based survey of 1002 U.S. consumers found that 70 percent will purchase a DTV converter box, 10 percent will switch to cable, and 20 percent will do nothing, causing their old analog TVs, which are incapable of receiving the new broadcasts without additional equipment, to go dark or display only snow. Currently, 15 percent of Americans get their TV from over-the-air broadcasts, while the remainder subscribe to cable or satellite services.
The survey also found that non-traditional TV content delivery methods, such as DVD rentals and video options available via broadband Internet, might help fill the gap for customers deciding to ditch broadcast TV.
"Our survey data suggest that the net result of consumers' choices after analog switch-off will be a drop in overall terrestrial viewing," said ABI analyst Steve Wilson. "Terrestrial viewers tend to be more likely to use alternative video entertainment forms such as DVD rentals and broadband video and the transition may push them further in that direction."
Government officials have called for more consumer education leading up to the transition date but nonetheless predict that a change of this magnitude could be "messy" and a potential "communications crisis."
What's your take? Does the decision by so many Americans to stop watching broadcast TV altogether spell doom for an outmoded delivery system? Or is the transition no big deal after all? Let us know in the comments section.
(Via TVPredictions.com)
Wilmington, N.C., was a testing ground for the DTV switchover, and the results weren't encouraging. It looks as if a lot of people were left in the dark--literally--when the town's TV stations shut off their analog signals at noon on September 5. Apparently, they didn't get the word, despite a high-visibility public information campaign.
(Credit:
CNET)
"So what?" you might say. "They'll miss a few Everybody Loves Raymond reruns while they sort things out." Sure, TV is largely an entertainment medium, but--for better or worse--it's also a primary source of information for many people in an emergency. Right now, there may well be hundreds (if not thousands) of households in Wilmington that can't use their primary information source for news on approaching hurricanes, for instance.
So how do we do a better job of informing people of the analog TV shutdown? CNET's doing its part with our Quick Guide to DTV Transition, but because the analog shutoff only affects those with over-the-air reception (not cable or satellite TV households), these tend to be poorer or older folks who are less likely to have easy access to alternate information sources such as the Web.
Clearly, the main source of information has to be the TV itself. But more importantly, it needs to be targeted at those who are only watching TV over the air. So here's my fairly simple three-point plan to do just that:
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