Digital TV Switch Fairly Smooth So Far; More Coupons Coming

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 18, 2009 - 11:20am.

Washington - As hundreds of U.S. TV stations made the switch to digital on Tuesday, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said they were not overwhelmed by the number of people calling in to help centers about the switch. The FCC said it received over 28,000 calls on its digital TV transition help line on Tuesday, which was 37% more than on Monday, but "well within the capacity of the call center."

The NAB said its survey of impacted markets found that "stations receive on average between 50-200 calls."

"Given the large number of broadcast-only households affected during yesterday's transition, a relatively small percentage of viewers so far have needed assistance," remarked Jonathan Collegio, NAB vice president for the digital television transition.

Consumers waiting for government coupons to put towards the purchase of digital TV converter boxes should start receiving them within weeks, according to the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA).

There are around 4 million of the $40 coupons still needing to be distributed, and they will be on the way to consumers within two to three weeks of the NTIA receiving new funding provided as part of the economic stimulus bill passed by Congress.

The initial $1.4 billion outlay for converter box coupons has already been depleted.

New Nielsen data released today shows that over 5 million U.S. households, or 4.4% overall, are not prepared for the digital TV transition -- compared to 5.1% on Feb. 1.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/dtv_switch_early_reports_encou.php

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/dtv_switch_report_5_mil_homes.php