RSSTomorrow's DTV transition counts 2+ million stragglers
By Tim Conneally | Published June 11, 2009, 4:59 PM
As the United States sits on the threshold of the switch to digital television, we get to see the size of the "lowest common denominator" of television viewers who after more than two years of public discussion still have not readied their old TV sets for the new broadcast standard
The National Association of Broadcasters says that as of June 3, nearly 9 out of 10 broadcast-only households were completely ready for the digital switchover. According to Nielsen market research, the total number of US television households for the 2008-2009 season was 114.5 million, but homes that consume only free, over-the-air signals is just a small fragment of that. According to the SRI Home Technology Monitor quindecennial survey (PDF available here) found that in 2004, 18.9% of households were broadcast only. Using those figures, that would mean an estimated 2.16 million households remain unprepared for the digital switch.
This is precisely what research firm SmithGeiger LLC and the National Association of Broadcasters said in a statement today, estimating that 2.2 million over-the-air households are still unprepared with only one day until the switch is made. But based upon viewer behavior in the successful Wilmington, North Carolina early transition, the NAB expects that two-thirds of these two million procrastinators will make the transition as soon as signals go unavailable.
Watching a t.v. station 40 miles away drone on every 15 minutes about those who aren't ready in their metropolitan area is so tiring. If they don't care, why should we?
I think we'll find that there will be various problems and the whole thing will be re-worked in 2 years anyway. For now, I just want the switch to happen and those people can panic and go buy the converter box at full price.
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|There are still people who believe that the Earth is flat. In other words you just can't help the intentionally stupid.
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|I hear ads on public radio and other stations that they have free install for you.
If you are SO out of touch that you do not understand that TV will go dark tomorrow and that there are installers waiting to do their job FREE, then I have no idea what to do for you.
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|That 2% is people who "just don't care".
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|There are reasons why households aren't ready. Digital signals are weak and don't travel far. I have already put a much larger antenna up than I used to have, and I still only get one digital station. I used to get 5 in analog. I'll have to buy a preamp, or maybe a huge tower to put the antenna on, or an EVEN bigger antenna. This is going to cost hundreds, it may be better to just do streaming online.
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|Or you could wait until the cut-off when they bring their digital signals up to full power?
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|"Or you could wait until the cut-off when they bring their digital signals up to full power?"
Nice thought, except that some stations will not ever return to full power. This is part of the incredible stupidity of this entire thing - the FCC and Dept of Commerce apparently has not listened one iota to the scientific community about the science of this, nor do they seem to understand that the poorly chosen system (pioneered by LG) is very easily perturbed by multipath problems.
[[ Channel 24, a local college station, and PBS affiliate, will be staying with reduced power (-66% of analog), while Los Angeles station channel 9 is proudly proclaiming that, once the signal being broadcast in the UHF region now returns to the actual channel 9 assignment, it will return to full power broadcasting ]]
the above is from my blog, which I posted earlier today - see the entire article: http://www.lockergnome.c...-no-matter-how-prepared/
After all the time that the FCC and everyone else has had to explain the problems, and evaluate the proper response, it has only been in the past 60 days that the television stations themselves have stated that some analog customers will be unable to receive their stations after the change.
Does this not seem as though someone has been asleep at the switch?
The FCC is so incredibly poorly informed that they, according to their charts and descriptions, think that where I live I should be watching stations from San Diego, instead of Los Angeles, even though Los Angeles is about 25% closer, and there are no intervening mountains, as there are on the line-of-no-sight path to San Diego. Their read on this is not simply for me, but for the town I live in and three other adjacent cities.
Our government, at work for us - again!
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|They have had more than enough time to get with it. However I have to say, some just do not understand this new thing at all and make no attempt to try. and your right, come the 12th, of June, they will figure it out or go without television if they are not on cable or satellite.
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|let the 2% figure it out..
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|exactly right. They have been warned.
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