Television broadcasters are getting ready to ditch analog programming and go fully digital in four months — and 10 million U.S. households aren’t even ready for the switch, a survey says.
That
translates to one in five households who will receive nothing but
static on their analog-only TV sets come Feb. 17, 2009, according to
Nielsen, who conducted the survey. Nielsen also found that another 12.6
million homes own at least one analog-only TV.
The termination of analog cable, called the DTV Transition, is a government-mandated action intended to free up parts of the valuable broadcast spectrum
for communication between police, fire departments and rescue squads.
In order to receive digital programming, homes must purchase digital TVs and subscribe to a digital-cable service or satellite. An alternative is
purchasing a converter box.
Not surprising — Nielsen found households headed by less
educated, lower income and blue-collar workers are least prepared for
the transition. Also, older,
white households are better equipped for digital TV than their younger, African
American, Asian or Hispanic counterparts.
Quite a bummer. Hopefully these households at least have broadband internet so they can watch TV on Hulu.
How about you, Gadget Lab readers? You prepared for analog Doomsday?
Photo: rickremington/Flickr
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