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CEA president Shapiro talks DTV transition

by Steven Kim posted Aug 8th 2009 at 8:46PM

CEA's Gary ShapiroWith the analog shutoff safely in the rear view mirror, CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) president Gary Shapiro took some time to talk about the move to our new digital airwaves (and also looked ahead to our 3D futures). All in all, some pretty interesting reading, but he makes a great point in chiding the broadcast industry -- by waiting until the last minute to get onboard the HD bandwagon, broadcasters missed out on what could have been positive market differentiation for their services versus cable and satellite. All's well that ends well, though, and we're just gad the plug got pulled on analog (with few casualties to boot), and we'd like the CEA president should know we celebrated the move.

[Via DailyWireless, image courtesy CEA]

Analog TV says goodnight

by Steven Kim posted Jul 14th 2009 at 5:05PM

Digital TV switchDid you catch the sound of a falling tree in an empty woods this past weekend? In case you didn't hear it, analog "nightlight" transmissions went dark Sunday -- which amounted to 121 stations in 87 markets signing off for the last time. Absent the nightlight info screens, rock-dwellers will now have to emerge from their hermitages to figure out what happened to their TVs, but as we say in the 21st century, "them's the breaks." Aside from areas being served by analog translator and/or low power service, this marks the end of the analog broadcast TV era. Way to go, America -- we haven't heard any reports of riots or mass hysteria, and we'd dare say the citizenry handled this tech transition better than the millenium bug.

US Senate intros bill to keep people from falling off the "digital cliff"

by Steven Kim posted May 10th 2009 at 9:57PM

2009 DTV switch dateWith less than 5-percent of US homes failing to make it under the analog shutoff limbo stick (and still a month to go), there's no reason that come June 12th a whole lot of stations won't be conducting their own shutoff festivities. Just to make sure that there won't be a pack of digital lemmings headed for a step function-like cliff, the US Senate has introduced the DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act, which allocates $125 million through 2012 to help pay for digital repeaters and translators to fill in those areas that will go uncovered after the switch occurs. This is government money, so you know there's a few strings attached -- in this case, the new bits of infrastructure will also have to serve up wireless communications and broadband traffic where possible. Let's see -- more people with DTV and broadband wireless coverage? Add a tick in the "yes" column for us, please!

DTV preparedness now more than 95-percent

by Steven Kim posted May 1st 2009 at 10:16PM

June 12 2009 DTV switchover Here we are, a little more than a month away from the February 17 June 12 analog shutoff date, and sure enough, more people have grabbed hold of a digital tuner in one device or another. According to Nielsen, the number of unprepared homes is now at 3.1-percent (3.5-million homes). To put that in perspective, recall that at the start of February, we were sitting at 5.1-percent. We're pretty impressed that the number has moved below the 5-percent mark, and certainly a lot of credit goes to stations that went ahead with the switch ahead of the June 12 deadline. Zeno and his paradox aside, we've got high hopes that the June 12th date is going to stick, folks!

Cablevision to stop selling analog TV by year's end

by Darren Murph posted Mar 14th 2009 at 12:06AM


While RCN has been crushing analog all over America, it's Cablevision making the decision to totally nix the sale of analog service by 2010. Granted, only five percent of its 3.1 million video customers currently receive its analog expanded basic package, but it's still a move in the right direction. Of note, those folks currently receiving analog will still get their fix when we ring in the next new year, but the carrier will no longer be marketing those analog services after 2009. Remember kids, less analog means more space. And more space means more channels. And more channels often means more HD.

491 stations still shutting off analog TV next week

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 11th 2009 at 2:53PM

Though the prez still hasn't signed off on the delay, the FCC has already compiled a list of 190 TV stations going / gone all digital prior to February 17, plus 491 more that will go ahead with the shutoff as previously scheduled. The four major networks promised their stations will stay on analog until the new June 12 deadline, however that guarantee only extends to the 100 or so they own. If that's not confusing enough, the FCC could still influence broadcasters to keep analog signals going whether they want to or not based on "the public interest," for example if it's necessary to keep at least some stations on in any given market. As it stands, the linked PDFs below will reveal which, if any, of your local broadcasters are switching on Tuesday; hopefully you've followed our advice so far and continue to avoid any predatory schemes.

Read - Appendix A (List of all stations ending analog service before or on February 17)
Read - Appendix B (List of all full power TV stations, with the 681 stations ending service on or before February 17 indicated in bold)

Stations can still yank analog plug this month, though many won't

by Darren Murph posted Feb 6th 2009 at 2:01AM


Wow, this isn't confusing. At all. The on-again / off-again digital TV transition date -- which is now formally set for June 12th -- may or may not be honored by the hundreds upon hundreds of local broadcasters across America. You see, when Congress postponed the mandatory cutover date from its original place on the calender (February 17th), it also gave stations the option of sticking to that original date. Thus, what could end up happening is that half a city's local OTA stations would go all-digital in under two weeks, while the others delayed things until June. The good news is that most of the major US television networks (that's CBS, ABC, FOX and NBC) have reportedly decided to hold off until the new June date in order to prevent a chaotic series of events, but it's hard to say if each individual station will indeed abide. The bottom line? Get your converter box now if you need one, and if you're waiting around for one of those $40 vouchers, hats off to you and your patience.

Read - Optional cutover
Read - Broadcaster intent

Senate okays another digital TV transition delay

by Steven Kim posted Jan 30th 2009 at 7:24AM Breaking News

Digital TV transition
Just to make sure that the digital TV transition gets delayed, the US Senate has approved another measure to postpone the transition date until June 12 and sent it on its way to the House of Representatives. If the House's mere indication that the delay would go through didn't dash our hopes of analog-free airwaves next month, the quick-fire nature of this second bill certainly did. Essentially the same as the first proposal, this version with minor edits cleared the Senate unanimously. With the House in recess until next week, we'll have to wait for any movement, but it's looking like we'll be stuck with analog for a while longer. Hopefully, this whole mess will be resolved, because the longer it goes on, the more people will become confused, and maybe join the 22-percent of Americans who are planning to give up on TV altogether.

Digital TV transition delay bill fails to pass in House

by Darren Murph posted Jan 28th 2009 at 1:36PM Breaking News


In an absolutely shocking move, the United States House of Representatives has failed to pass the digital TV transition delay bill that was all but certain to fly through just days ago. The bill needed two-thirds of the votes of the House under "special rules adopted for the vote," and reportedly, the vote was just 258 to 168 in favor of changing the date. As it stands, an estimated 6.5 million Americans are not yet prepared for the switch -- which is now back on track for February 17th -- and the money well for government-issued vouchers has ran dry. Honestly, we're elated to hear the news. The February date has been blasted from the rooftops for years now, and changing it this late in the game would wreak all kinds of havoc in the industry, not to mention instill even more confusion. Soon-to-be-vacated airwaves, we're ready for you.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

5.7% (6.5 million) U.S. homes still not DTV ready

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 22nd 2009 at 10:09PM

One one hand, it's nice to see that the number of U.S. households not ready for the coming analog TV shutoff dropped to 5.7% from 7.7% back in October, but then comes the sobering realization that with 26 days to go, around 6.5 million homes still don't have the necessary equipment to get digital TV. Coming straight from the latest Nielsen report, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston top the charts for digital unready markets, with African American and Hispanic households still lagging in percentages of unready homes. Of course, we still don't know if things will take place on schedule, but barring a delay, have a look around and make sure people in your community are ready (or as ready as they can be until the coupon program is back up and running.)

Verizon CEO joins AT&T in backing digital TV delay -- as long as it's short

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 19th 2009 at 6:32PM


After initially opposing the Obama administration / Jay Rockefeller digital TV delay -- pushing the analog TV shutoff date back from February 17 to June 12 -- Verizon CEO Ivan Seiderberg has jumped on board with competitor AT&T in support of the plan. Considering Verizon just dropped $9.63 billion on the soon / not-so-soon to be vacated airwaves for its 4G wireless rollout this is an interesting position to take, but it appears that as long as the delay is a mere 115 days he can join AT&T ($7 billion or so invested) in waiting for the DTV converter coupon program to work itself out. Of course, if anyone wants to take advantage of the extra time to subscribe to FiOS or U-verse, we're sure that wouldn't be problem either.

Obama's administration supports June DTV transition postponement

by Darren Murph posted Jan 16th 2009 at 3:50PM


Well, wouldn't you know it. It seems like West Virginia senator Jay Rockefeller has the same idea as the Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), as he introduced legislation on Thursday that would effectively postpone the digital TV transition from its current date of February 17th to June 12th. On top of that, John Podesta -- the co-chairman of Barack Obama's transition team -- has issued a letter to Congress signifying that the president-elect supports the aforementioned proposal. The delay would supposedly give the government more time to find funding for the now 2 million-deep voucher waiting list, and we're told that House lawmakers are "considering similar legislation and may schedule a vote as soon as next week." Here's a thought -- why aren't we spending our time getting the money now and keeping the confusion to a minimum?

Poll: Are you ready for the digital TV transition?

by Darren Murph posted Jan 3rd 2009 at 12:00PM


Hard to believe that next month will mark the official (though not really) end of analog broadcast signals here in the US of A, but it's true. February 17th is within spitting distance, and we get the feeling that loads of voucher requesters will be filing into retail outlets in order to get their DTV converter box soon. Our question is simply this: are you already prepared, or have you yet to become DTV ready?

Are you ready for the digital TV transition?

FCC proposes Analog Nightlight Act to keep old spectrum on 30 day life support

by Ross Miller posted Dec 31st 2008 at 2:39AM

As most of you know by now, February 17 is the cutoff date for analog television in the US... or is it? The FCC has proposed the Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act (SAFER -- get it?), a.k.a. the Analog Nightlight Act, which lets full-power TV stations keep broadcasting on the antiquated spectrum for 30 days after the DTV transition. The idea came from a similar program used with Wilmington, North Carolina's early shutoff back in September. Of course, the proposed programming is a bit dry -- public safety messages and information on the transition -- but we hear the finale will rival The Sopranos' sendoff. Hit up the read link and see if any of your local stations are on the list of proposed nightlights.

[Via Ars Technica]

Confusion still running rampant in run-up to DTV transition

by Darren Murph posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 1:54PM

Oh, dear. You all point and laugh now, but as Richard Doherty, an analyst with the Envisioneering Group, has stated: "On February 18, there will be a tremendous amount of finger-pointing." Richard also makes another point that we certainly agree with in that "this transition is possibly one of the worst understood consumer education programs in modern times," with millions of Americans still unready for the impending change. 'Course, if you've ever attempted to help your grandmother troubleshoot a VCR over the phone (let alone in 30-second blips), it's somewhat easier to understand why this process is so difficult to grasp. As of today, legions of people are still perplexed at what's coming, and we believe that many are apt to simply sit around and do nothing. The government / NAB is ramping up advertising and sending out DTV transition-mobiles in order to get the word out, but one must wonder, is it too late to save those who have already delayed this long?

Read - Nielsen statistics
Read - Confusion in DTV Transition




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