How well is the DTV switch going? Depends who you ask
by Richard Lawler 
posted Feb 18th 2009 at 10:53AM
A day into what could have been the all digital broadcasting future, it's hard to tell how the switch is going over. So far the National Association of Broadcasters came out with a statement indicating "encouraging" results, with only a few hundred calls logged in several markets that made the switch to all digital and easy over the phone fixes for most issues. At the same time the AP found confusion caused by print ads scheduled prior to the delay containing out of date information and visited a Rhode Island information center with phones ringing off the hook from callers trying to figure out where their analog TV went. Until things blow over we're not leaving the fortified and cable / satellite / FiOS connected Engadget bunker (you didn't think we were letting that CES trailer go just yet, did you?) until things blow over, let us know how the partially analog TV free world looks where you are.Read - NAB Statement on Feb. 17 Markets Switching to Digital TV
Read - 25% of analog TV signals cut off
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tom @ Feb 18th 2009 11:34AM
My parents live in a rural area and their switch went great. Of course, they were already set up with an HDTV. Now, they finally can receive local OTA HD broadcasts. I was going to be pissed if their local station delayed their switch to June.
JimF @ Feb 18th 2009 12:01PM
My grandmother, who lives outside of Philly, was responsible and prepared ahead with the appropriate DTV reception gear. Until the stations in her area (out of Philly) go all digital (presumably), she can only get 2 or 3 of the stations she liked to watch while she prepared and at dinner. Not to mention the analogs look worse, if they even come in at all.
So now she is suffering because other people who had plenty of time to prepare but chose not to were catered to.
The DTV delay has royally screwed over the only person I know who doesn't have cable or satellite. Nice work, government.
Phoenixfury @ Feb 18th 2009 12:03PM
I live in the South Bend Indiana market and I think the switch went pretty smooth. However from a technical standpoint only one station switched off it's analog transmitter. The other two stations that made the switch cut over to nite light service, so I don't consider it a complete switch yet. I'm looking forward to the complete switch, especially after seeing that the one station that did cut it's analog transmitter went to 100% signal strength on it's digital transmission.
MadMike @ Feb 18th 2009 12:18PM
I didn't have a problem! Oh wait, I have FiOS!
Jimmy @ Feb 18th 2009 12:31PM
My mother's friends are the only people I know that would have problems with this. I talked to her today and she did not mention any issues at all.
Pres @ Feb 18th 2009 1:17PM
In our area 2 stations changed frequency, so we had to re-scan for stations.
Media Center uses an online database to figure out the frequency, and has not updated our area yet, so we are minus 2 stations.
Phoenixfury @ Feb 18th 2009 1:39PM
If you know those stations actual frequencies, you can add them manually, then associate those channel's guide data to those channels. :)
Chris @ Feb 18th 2009 2:07PM
Let's do the math: Previous on-air channels- I had 7. Pre-digital switch-over DTV channels before the 17th- dropped me down to 3 channels. Post transition last night- I am down to 1 channel. (and I've tried different antennas, non-amplified and amplified, I've tried different locations...and rescanned, AND it's not like I live in 'the sticks', I live in San Diego...a major metropolitan area.)
So that math tells me that we have a mass-imposed "solution" that does not have the station antenna deployment good enough or strong enough to even adequately support the communities they serve.
Imagine if 15 to 20 years ago we were all forced to switch to the cell phone networks of the day. Unacceptable...especially when the technology is not proven enough to support a mass, mandated deployment.
I'm curious to know what the individual stations, networks and advertisers will think (and do) when large numbers of viewers are no longer able to 'tune-in' once this conversion takes place. Are there plans to build new towers to support the viewership of their community? Are they willing to say farewell to all those viewers, or resign themselves that if those viewers are not going to get cable or satellite, good riddance?
Mark my words, imposing mass adoption of a technology that, regardless of the 'magic box', leaves vast numbers of people without programming will unleash a firestorm of anger and questions. Did the NAB not see this coming? Did a consortium of tech-geeks sell this lofty idea without having enough data to show how well...or how poorly...it would work?
I know from reading other reports, mine is not an isolated incident. This is happening to untold thousands (perhaps millions) around the country. Nice goin'.
Michael @ Feb 18th 2009 10:50PM
I really don't care
Glenn Gore @ Feb 19th 2009 5:28AM
Of the 4 stations in the Oklahoma City market that made the switch, two shut down their full-power UHF DT transmitters and switched to their old VHF channel slots for DT operation, albeit at about half their original power. They won't be allowed to return to full power by the FCC until sometime in the "future", which leaves a large chunk of service area now without signal. Great way to run a transition.
Hooterman @ Feb 19th 2009 10:46AM
Only one of my stations switched already. I can't say their switch went super well. I had to rescan yesterday to get them. But apparently they are broadcasting doube stations somehow. So now I have 13-1, 13-1, 13-2, 13-2 in my channel list. One of the 13-1 and one 13-2 works fine, the other two are just black screens. I went into my TV's manual channel edit to try and take out the black ones, but it doesn't work. No matter which one I disable it always disables the one that works (if that makes sense). So right now I'm stuck having to leave them all enabled to get a picture, and I have to skip over the black versions when changing channels.
Lame.