RSSNationwide DTV test hits snags with Comcast, Dish
By Tim Conneally | Published December 18, 2008, 11:09 AM
Yesterday, local TV stations in 42 states and DC participated in the first nationwide digital television consumer readiness test. Broadcasters turned off their analog signals some time between 5:00 and 7:00 pm ET.
Aside from some noteworthy exceptions, the results so far seem largely favorable.
In addition to local stations setting up hotlines that serve their broadcast area, the National Association of Broadcasters created a national toll-free number to serve as the information link for US consumers still in the dark about the switch to digital broadcasting that will take place in 61 days.
And of the hundreds of stations that switched off their analog signals yesterday, only a few reported a populace in uproar, and these were mostly due to signals getting cut off for people who actually were prepared.
In Lafayette, Indiana last night, Comcast subscribers who were under the impression that they would be unaffected found themselves staring at a test pattern instead of their local CBS affiliate, WLFI 18. Comcast appears to be still broadcasting the station's analog signal to customers in outlying areas of the market.
"Obviously we're having some issues with Comcast still getting our analog signal and have them update to our digital signal," said Chris Hilgendorf, WLFI's Director of Studio Operations.
About 115 miles away in Fort Wayne, Indiana, testing reportedly went smoothly and local stations are prepared for the next test on January 17.
The DTV test in Huntsville, Alabama had the same problem with Comcast subscribers in Scottsboro and Dish Network subscribers were similarly affected. The test occurred at 5:25 pm, and according to the Huntsville Times, hundreds of complaints came in from Dish customers who lost their signal.
"The Dish Network thing was a surprise," said WHNT news director Denise Vickers, "We're going to follow up with that."
Dish Network spoke to BetaNews this afternoon and said that it is still in the process of converting its markets to digital local reception, and Huntsville is one that is yet unfinished. The company says it has between 25-30 markets that it is still working on, but is certain the conversion will be complete by the February 17 deadline.
At 6:00 pm in Arizona, the local phone bank set up to field questions from customers was quiet. Tuscon Arizona's KMSB Fox 11 reported that "phones barely rang, which could mean that everyone is ready for the switch, or no one was home when the test happened."
The National Association of Broadcasters anticipates that its national hotline will receive two million calls over the five days following the official DTV switch on February 17.
It would be awesome without TV for few days. No political minds corrupting our views, no CNN/FOX News telling us all the bad things happening in the world like there is no good news. We need GNN ( good news network ), we would get out news the old fashion way from our neighbors and papers :). Maybe I will finally get some work done around the house or go out and get some fresh air and explore my town.
NO TV doesn't sound so bad, actually can't blame the broadcasters it all comes down to SELF CONTROL anyway but still if there is no TV it becomes really easy :)
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|My mum called Comcast about the local test going black a few weeks ago and the friendly representative told her that the problem was with the t.v. station broadcasting the signal.
Then again, as they've been switching channels to their digital box's range, my mum upgraded and now, she gets pink distortion, which she was told, was due to her t.v. set.
Comcast was changing to digital channels on Sunday in this area, as we could see from the technical information hiding the broadcast.
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|Getting pink on the screen can often happen if a high def tv and a high def box have loose or improperly connected component cables. Sometimes it can happen if the settings in the box or in the tv are not right. Basicly it comes down to the ability of the box and tv communicating with eachother properly. This is ofcourse assuming that this is happening on a high def setup (which you did not specify).
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|This is amusing to watch from afar. Supposedly older people can't handle the switch and will be unnecessarily burdened by the changes. At least, that's what the AARP is screaming about. Yet it was the cable providers who weren't ready. Lol. I agree with others who have said that some time without TV might do us good. Life without CNN telling us that the sky is falling would do more than good. It would get people to look around and see that a lot of our economy is still working and that they can still do something about how things are going. All it would take is 21 days to break the CNN addiction and to start using our own eyes and ears to judge our quality of life.
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|*laughing*
I cannot help but hope that this transitions fails miserably, leaving the entire country with *no* access to *any* TV programming of any kind.
Wouldn't that be grand? No "News"? No "Reality"?
Ahhh.... What a wonderful dream.
Can you imagine the boost to the economy? People might actually get out and *do* stuff. Of course, some would be driven mad by the lack of constant flashing images and suggestion.
Perfect.
6 months of no TV and not only would our economy be back on track, our population would drop to more manageable levels to boot!
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|LOL, I don't know about the population getting more manageable part. :-)
Many a baby has been conceived during power outages, I can only imagine what some people would do without TV to mesmerize them. :-)
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|Heh...
Hadn't considered that one...
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|FAIL (for Comcast and Dish)
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|As a Comcast subscriber in Nashville, I thought we were OK. The local stations have been advertising these tests for weeks. Since I'm a semi-techno geek, I decided to check out these local station tests. I followed the gameplan of 2 Nashville stations. I have 3 Tv's....two with boxes, and a 15 year old Sony Trinitron in the bedroom getting straight basic cable. The WSMV(NBC)4 test at 6:27 pm was perfect, checked the bedroom set with no problem. But when WTVF(CBS)5 did their test I got the message on the bedroom TV that my signal would end in 2 months! Thoroughly confused, I called a engineer buddy of mine who found this article. I'm wondering if the nation is really ready for this.
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|That likely has nothing to do with you or your equiptment. It more likely has to do with the broadcaster and it's ability to bring it's signal to you through cable.
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|The analog automatically triggerring a switch to digital is a bit of an anomaly at best, when all the user need due is switch their tuner to the digital input.
Is that really what the point of te test was? If it was simply to test the acumen of the user to use their remote - well, I suspect that Dorothy should surrender now.
But if it was to test whether an installation was capable of receiving a digital signal, I think the 'glitch' was meaningless.
In fact, it would do more to wake someone up to the change than a transparent test where many were totally oblivious. ;-)
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|ABC station here in Monterey area went blank when they did their test about a week ago. The station however is a distance station located in San Francisco through Comcast.
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|Here in the Peoples Republic of Wisconsin, we can only watch what the government tells us to.
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|Wow Huntsville in the news =) way cool =)
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|I watch TV admittedly more than I need. However if I lost my signal on some stations, I would hardly call and get upset about it. I would check my other channels, and if I got a signal or test pattern all is well. I would turn it off and actually go an do something productive. With how the news is lately maybe good month or so without TV would in fact help us.
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|If I remember right those test patterns said if you see this message call xxx-xxxx to see what you need to do.
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|The test went smoothly with my local CBS station in the Pacific northwest on DirecTV.
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