Digital transition

Digital transition

By Robert Bell Friday, 09 January 2009

Over-the-air signal will switch from analog to digital Feb. 17, offering television viewers clearer picture.

Anyone relying on older ways of TV viewing — rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna and an analog set — needs to get a digital upgrade before Feb. 17. That day, nearly all television stations in the country will cease using analog signals. Stations in every market in the nation have already begun broadcasting digital signals, along with analog. Cable and satellite subscribers will not be affected by the change.

Digital signals enable a much clearer picture, as well as more programming choices, according to the Federal Communications Commission website.

Viewers who own televisions that do not have a digital tuner will not necessarily have to buy a new set. Analog-to-digital converter boxes are available at electronics retailers everywhere. Prices range from $40-$70. The federal government is offering coupons at www.dtv.gov that can be applied to the purchase of a converter. Each household is eligible for up to two coupons worth $40 each. The coupons are good for 90 days from the date issued, said Todd Sedmak, communications director for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The total cost of the coupon program is about $1.5 billion, which was funded with money from the nearly $20 billion the FCC made from auctioning off huge swaths of the analog spectrum.

The FCC’s digital tuner rule states that as of March 1, 2007, all new television sets must include digital tuners. The rule prohibits the manufacture, import or interstate shipment of any device containing an analog tuner unless it also contains a digital tuner, according to the website www.dtv.gov.

In the Austin market, viewers have requested about 200,000 coupons and have redeemed about 75,000, Sedmak said. “We really encourage those who have coupons to redeem them as soon as possible, and if you are going to request coupons, we urge you to do it before the end of the year,” he said. Coupons will be issued until March 31. As of mid-November, more than 18 million households in the country had requested more than 35 million coupons and had redeemed more than 14 million coupons, according to the NTIA website.

About 11 percent of households in the Austin area are not prepared for the digital broadcast transition, said Don Lowery, vice president of communications and public affairs with Nielsen Media Research. By comparison, about 17 percent of households in the Dallas area are not ready, according to Nielsen. The national average is 7.7 percent.

The NTIA and the FCC, along with private sector partners such as cable companies and television stations, have conducted a multimedia campaign to inform the public about the digital transition. While it might seem cable companies would view the transition to a free high-quality digital TV signal as a competitive threat, Time Warner Cable sees it as an opportunity.

“We think it’s really a time when a lot of people are going to look at all the options, and cable may be the best option,” said Stacy Schmidt, vice president of communications for Time Warner. “We think some people might actually become cable subscribers.”

A press release from cable provider Suddenlink Communications cited a proprietary study that found “one in five converter boxers did not work as advertised.”

But Rosemary Kimball, FCC director of media relations, did not have any problems. She found that the converters were “easy to install, but some people are having problems and some people have to adjust their antennas,” she said. “I got one and I installed it and it works perfectly.”

Sedmak echoed that assessment. “People who’ve made the switch have really had a good experience,” he said.