Monday, February 18, 2008

Digital TV switch will hit 13 million households


By Paul J. Gough
1 hour, 11 minutes ago


NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) -
Nielsen Media Research has
estimated that more than 13 million U.S. households are
ill-prepared for the digital TV conversion next year.

Those households include more younger people than older,
and more black viewers than white or Asian. Latinos will be hit
hardest as they use over-the-air TV more than any other group.

On February 18, 2009, all TV broadcasters will be required
to shut off their analog signal and broadcast solely on the
digital spectrum. That leaves millions of over-the-air viewers
with a choice: Buy a digital converter box or face losing TV.
Beyond the households who solely rely on over-the-air TV,
Nielsen estimated that 6 million households have at least one
TV that needs an analog signal even if other sets in the house
might be connected to cable or satellite.

Nielsen is among those in the TV industry who are working
to ease the digital transition, which could disenfranchise
millions of consumers who don't get converter boxes (or
subscribe to cable or satellite) and could lead to shifts in
viewing for networks and stations. Nielsen has been looking
into this issue for 18 months and reported its findings Friday
at its annual client meeting in Las Vegas.

The best-prepared market is New York, which has 3% of its
households relying on over-the-air signals. Portland, Ore., has
the most (22%). Los Angeles falls toward the end of the
spectrum, with 16% of its households depending on analog.

Other ill-prepared markets include St. Louis; Milwaukee;
Albuquerque, N.M.; Houston; Salt Lake City; and Minneapolis-St.
Paul.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

    This content was originally posted on http://entertainews.blogspot.com/ © 2008 If you are not reading this text from the above site, you are reading a splog

    No comments: