FCC says DTV transition going smoothly, few TVs shot up

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 15th 2009 at 7:41PM

Well, the DTV transition finally went down, and after the endless delay and countless arguments, it seems as though June 12 hit with more of a whimper than a bang: the FCC says there haven'y been any widespread service disruptions, and although the agency's toll-free help lines recorded 700,000 support calls between June 8 and June 12, most converter box issues were resolved in less than five minutes by a simple channel re-scan. Similarly, we can't say we've heard of any particularly big problems out there, so really, we're just wondering what the hell took so long.

Filed under: Industry, OTA

Tags: converter box, ConverterBox, DTV, DTV transition, DtvTransition, fcc

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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Billy @ Jun 15th 2009 9:23PM

WCBS an WNBC here in NY are still running there info on how to hook up the converter boxs on there analog channels, how long will there still keep the analog signal on?

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Billy @ Jun 15th 2009 9:36PM

You would think would get it by now!

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Mike H @ Jun 15th 2009 10:01PM

In the DC and Baltimore area, a lot of us can no longer receive Channels 7, 9, 11 and 13 since these channels moved to digital VHF frequencies. Rescanning our tvs has not resolved the problem.

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lucyfan62 @ Jun 15th 2009 11:25PM

What really sucks is that for people who purchased UHF "HDTV" antennas (antennae?) and were able to pick up all of their local channels because they were all on UHF frequencies, they got a big surprise Friday when channels started dropping off after the rescan because several channels in their markets switched their UHF digital signal to a VHF frequency. I lost three channels in my area. Totally sucks and just doesn't seem to be the right thing for those stations to do after being on UHF for so long. I'm really pissed about that.

Mike H, I'm in Baltimore too, but I can still receive 11 and 13 for some reason (although 13 won't come in on the rabbit ears on the upstairs TV), but not 7, 9 or 50 in D.C. I have a Terk UHF antenna in my attic that picked up everything just fine until Friday. The switch from UHF to VHF should not have been allowed IMHO.

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steedums @ Jun 16th 2009 8:58AM

Media center is busted. How's that not a problem?

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Joe @ Jun 16th 2009 9:29AM

Similar problems in NY with VHF channels. Can't receive ABC (7) at all. VHF power underestimation?

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Xavier434 @ Jun 16th 2009 9:52AM

Another problem is emergency analog broadcasts to battery powered TVs. I think they should have at least kept the emergency signals active. Such things are very common in places such as Florida in preparation for Hurricanes.

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Peter F @ Jun 16th 2009 7:56PM

time to get a battery powered digital converter box

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Jonas @ Jun 16th 2009 11:07AM

In NY, I'm having the reverse problem as my antenna is VHF only. I can get 7, 11 and 13 all fine (including the subchannels), but 2, 4, 5 and 9 are all goners. So much for "digital being better." I previously had good reception on all of these.

Unfortunately it is a rooftop antenna, and I've been up there to change it, and it won't be easy or inexpensive. I do have cable, but for their monthly outage, the antenna was a nice backup plan. For the record, I was aware of the problem over a year ago, and that is why I signed up for pay TV service.

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Asher @ Jun 16th 2009 12:08PM

Half of Albany, NY can't get channel 6 CBS.

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gt1racer47 @ Jun 16th 2009 8:36PM

So Far WHDH is still having Signal issues and they are telling viewers to rescan their tv's or Digital converters on channels 7 and 42

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Mike @ Jun 16th 2009 10:31PM

The problems in Baltimore/Washington, D.C. are pretty bad, especially with the CBS affiliate WUSA in D.C. and WBAL in Baltimore. Both channels are operating at a relatively low power now even for VHF (WBAL being a mere 5kW), and LOTS and LOTS of people have lost them, even those with proper VHF antenna systems. I personally think they vastly underestimated digitial DTV propogation over VHF, and if so, the potential for interference so maybe in a couple months we could start seeing some power increases.

To the other folks up there, I lost WJLA 7 and WUSA 9 as well, and WDCW 50 is surprisingly spotty for me as well considering it was perfect on UHF 51 last week. One saving grace is that WDCW 50 is intending to increase power pretty soon, so hold tight. WJZ 13 in Baltimore is also looking to increase power. WJLA 7 is maxxed out (30kW) already and I've seen nothing to indicate that WUSA 9 even cares :)

I think the part that burns most of our biscuits out here is that some rather minor channels (WPXW - Ion, WNVC - World Newscasts) got very powerful UHF frequencies here. WPXW, which is 95% nothing but infomercials took over the 1000kW tower from WUSA (CBS). It's the most powerful channel now for most people around me. We can watch Sham-Wow commercials 9 times a day but not get CBS? Frequency neutrality by the FCC was not a good idea in this case, there should have been a way to play favorites.

My guess is that something significant will change here in Washington/Baltimore before the fall season begins. D.C. is a top 10 market. Baltimore is a top 25 market. Even with OTA being far outclassed by hard-wired and satellite, I think the loss of viewers by major networks will be noticable in the ratings. Since ratings rule the world, maybe something will happen!

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