Report: FCC states DTV transition going well

Well, the DTV transition finally happened, and no significant problems have been reported so far overall. Which leads us to wonder: what the heck took so long? But it appears waiting a little longer did smooth things out a little bit.

They report over 700,000 phone calls the last few days, but most were resolved in just a few minutes. So we’re happy to report the digital age of TV has begun, and more channel choice by cable and other providers should be forthcoming in the next few months/years.

Most common problem: Needing to rescan their box to get all the channels once again (a necessity depending on where you live and your setup).

Maybe it wasn’t such a terrible idea: DTV readiness now at 96+ percent

Sure enough, many folks have gone out and gotten those DTV converters or switched to cable/satellite, as people are wont to do when the pressure is on. People who don’t won’t be able to watch TV anymore, period, starting on June 12 (and sooner for some areas).

Based on the latest statistics, more than 96% of homes are now digital ready in one form or another, which is a nice jump. Now the unready rate stands at 3.1%, which is about 3 million homes or so. Those folks still have another month or so to get ready, so it looks like this date will stick as the final countdown to an all-DTV universe continues.

Let’s cross our fingers and hope no more intervention happens.

Inch By Inch: The DTV Non-Ready drops to 3.8 million

The number of viewers with DTV unready homes continues its downward slide, with Nielsen now reporting an additional 610,000 have stocked up or prepared in some way as of April 1, leaving 3.8 million left in the dark, so to speak. That’s big progress, folks! Now only 3.4% of households unready, it seems like many TV lovers are getting the message loud and clear; the DTV changeover will happen, ready or not.

With converter coupons rolling out smoothly, the June 12th deadline is looking more and more like the brick wall for those not prepared. I doubt it’ll be delayed anymore, and honestly, it shouldn’t be. If people haven’t gotten the message by now, they either haven’t been looking or simply don’t care.

Follow-Up Report: DTV switchover not going smoothly for some

As we predicted, some folks are suffering from poor TV reception since the (partial) DTV switchover in February.  And a few people are really upset. We last reported on this a few weeks ago.

A report featured in USA Today wrote that that half of the 25,000 calls to the FCC on D-Day (February 18) were because of poor reception or hookup/antenna issues. That’s a good amount, and more than even we anticipated. 

It’s also been reported that depending on where you live, getting certain channels clearly with even the DTV boxes could be a risky proposition. According to reports, a decent portion (estimated at around 10% or so) have thrown in the towel and gotten cable or satellite, while others shuffle around their antenna placement to get the optimal picture, and a few have said they’re just doing without TV completely right now.

Any readers here have reports of DTV problems since the early phase of the transition happened? Feel free to comment here.

D-Day (kind of) for the DTV switch: 36% of stations shut off analog today

In what was supposed to be the end of analog TV signals today, 36% of full-power TV stations shut off their analog signals today. As far as reports go overall, things have been pretty smooth.

Of course, there’s been the expected calls of confusion from a few people here and there, wanting to know how to turn back on their TV and what they need to do, as if it hadn’t been advertised repeatedly over the last 6 months or so. But the stations that made the switch so far are calling it a success.

Here is the list of stations who agreed to extend analog programming until the new June 12th deadline, and here is the list of stations who went all-digital as of now (both in Excel format).

If you don’t know already…Best Buy to begin program to educate about the DTV transition

For the rather small amount of you (5% or so to be exact) that the delay to DTV was passed for, apparently some Best Buy locations will be starting hourly announcements in-store, to let those people know about the switchover, so no one can claim they didn’t know. New ads regarding the June 12th switchover have started as well.

And if that isn’t enough: they’ll have personnel walking around in “DTV Blackout Prevention” t-shirts letting people know about the transition. As if most people didn’t know already, but still…we applaud the extra effort given to the subject by Best Buy, and hope this eliminates any confusion regarding the change.

But…we implore those of you reading this who might not be prepared (who care about TV, we assume, and we safely assume you do if you’re reading this site): please save your pennies over the next 4 months and buy a DTV converter box, so that Congress and the House don’t have to strain themselves again with another delay.

Frustrating but not shocking: DTV transition official date moved to June 12

In a bit of not surprising news really, the House voted to move the “hard date” for the DTV switchover to June 12th. It’s kind of sad for those of us who took the time and trouble to be ready for the switch (and those of us who want the best quality in our TV’s), but in an interesting twist, stations can file to go ahead and switch over on the Feb 17th date, and many have already.

The switchover in Feb. thing is expected to run around 50% or so, according to some reports, which makes the June 12th date not as important anyway.

HDTV lovers will be saddened a bit to see the future delayed, but with the unreadiness rate announced at still more than 5% (hard to believe given the media coverage), I can sort of understand a bit of a delay. We just hope it doesn’t get delayed anymore.

The DTV/HDTV Transition – How messy will it be?

The Federal Communications Commission has now publicly stated that despite numerous ads littering the airwaves, people are still not totally sure what it means, and what they need to do.

The statement comes three weeks after Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, warned that the next administration may have a “communications crisis” on their hands because of the DTV conversion.

Broadcasters, the party he identified as having the most to lose in the transition, were urged to step up their informational campaigns and to tailor the info to local markets in the months leading up to the transition (something this writer’s area, Sacramento, has done a lot of already, including a soft test of a DTV only signal during a recent newscast). As an example, he said that differences technically between local markets may require campaigns that urge consumers to also purchase a new antenna to get their DTV converter boxes to work properly.

To understand McDowell’s statement, he’s referring to the fact that, even if consumers buy a converter box and hook it up to their existing antenna, they may get fewer channels after the transition. Digital TV signals use a completely different transmission method from analog, and people need to be aware of the differences.

The following is food for thought: The conversion to DTV must be done, period. It will make existing HDTV look even better than it does now (the link and why this story is relevant to the HDTV scene). People need to climb out of the dark ages and realize that its 2008, and its the broadcasters and local market stations responsibility to get the message out to their viewers and make sure they can still receive stations after the transition.

There are many programs that hand out certificates for free or discounted digital converter boxes that (for the most part) can just hook up and receive all the same channels with little to no tech knowledge.