Nielsen: DTV Un-readiness Drops Again
Report says only 3.6% of all TV homes are still not prepared for transition
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/20/2009 10:55:50 AM MT
The number of DTV-unready households continues to drop, according to Nielsen's latest survey.
As of March 15, said Nielsen, "only 3.6%" of all TV homes "remain unready" for the June transition to all-digital broadcasting. That is down from 3.9% at the beginning of March.
According to Nielsen, that leaves 4.1 homes unprepared, which means 350,000 more homes have gotten prepared in the past two weeks.
There was no sign, at least in the release and Nielsen blog posting, of the amplifications on that figure that the National Association of Broadcasters had requested in a letter to Nielsen.
NAB is concerned that the figure is misleading because it defines as "unready" homes that may have the boxes, but just haven't hooked them up yet, or that may have applied for a DTV-to-analog converter box coupon but just haven't gotten one yet.
Rehr had urged Nielsen to change the classifications, or at least draw a distinction between households that have neither coupons nor boxes and those who just haven't redeemed the coupons or hooked up the converters yet.
In response to that letter, Nielsen told B&C it stood by its numbers as the best available gauge of DTV readiness. A Nielsen spokesperson was not available for comment at press time.
NAB: 1.75 Million Unready for DTV Transition
06/11/2009
