Top DTV Call Category Is Over Reception Issues
Copps says actions by broadcast, cable, government minimized disruption
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/19/2009 5:00:24 PM
According to just-released FCC figures, the FCC, the greatest percentage of DTV-related calls it received on Feb. 17 were from viewers who were having reception or technical problems, which it defined as problems receiving any channels, antenna problems, or weak or intermittent signals. Those accounted for 26% of the 27,764 calls it received.
Calls were down slightly Wednesday to 25,320, but reception and/or technical issues accounted for almost a third of the calls (32.5%).
Coming in second were calls about problems with converter boxes (coupon had not arrived, had not been requested or the store was out of converter boxes), representing 21.8% of all calls on Tuesday, 20.1% of the Wednesday calls.
Only 4.5% of the calls on Tuesday, the day when 421 stations pulled the plug on analog, were from people who were not aware of the transition. That number was down to 2.2% on Wednesday. Only 2.3% of the calls on Tuesday came from people who were unaware of the correct transition date--the Congress moved it to June 12 last week. That percentage had dropped to .8% by Wednesday.
The FCC said Wednesday that the early returns from the partial transition were good. Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps praised broadcast,
cable, and government for "stepping up to the plate," then told them they would need to do even more in the coming months.
He likened the partial transition--421 stations pulled the plug Feb. 17, joining 220 who had already done so in the days leading up to that date--to a larger test--the FCC used Wilmington, NC, as its first test back in September. He said moving the date ""gave the FCC, broadcasters and our other partners in industry and the communities a chance to test, on a broader scale, the mechanisms we have in place to help consumers. And we could test those resources without overwhelming them."
HE also credited the date move, along with the consumer education campaign and that fact that nearly two thirds of stations chose to continue in analog, with reducing the dislocation. ""Thanks to the movement of the deadline, we did not have anything like the extent of disruption we would have experienced had every station in the country gone completely digital on Tuesday," he said.
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The Broadcaster were going to depend on the cable and satellite companies to deliver there signal, That's why broadcaster's will come in support of HR.927. S.H.V.I.A. If you carry one, you carry all. I have been able to pick up Fresno's KMPH. They told me, when the plug on the anolog get's pulled, the power on KMPH will be cut by 50%. Or, it's because Fisher Communication made issue. Bakersfield viewers get KBFX fox 58.2 and KMPH fox 26.1
Thomas Ingram - 2/20/2009 1:05:23 PM EST -
the reason it is so hard to pick up some channels is because some TV stations choose to be as cheap as possible and broadcast a very weak digital signal to save on energy cost.these stations know that most people get their channels from cable and sattelite so why should they worry about losing viewers who only watch over the air TV.when it comes to stations like PBS it's even worse because they get their income from funding and not advertising so they don't even need over the air viewers.after PBS turned off their analog signal in savannah georgia it is impossible to get a digital signal because their is no digital PBS in savannah.the only way that you can watch it is with cable or sattelite.
mack johnson - 2/20/2009 11:44:00 AM EST
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