Nielsen: DTV Unready Homes Drop to 1.7 Million

Reports only 1.5% of TV households now unready for digital

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/1/2009 12:36:49 PM EDT

DTV readiness continues to rise as the transition approaches three weeks since the June 12 hard date for the switch to all-analog full-power TV, with 800,000 homes having prepared themselves since that date.

According to Nielsen's latest figures only 1.5% of TV households, or about 1.7 million homes, remain unready for the switch. Those are homes without cable or satellite and without a DTV set or an analog-to-digital converter box hooked up.

That number is down 400,000 homes from June 21, when the numbers were 1.8% and 2.1 million homes unready.

The DTV transition date was moved from Feb. 17 in part to allow more homes to prepare for the switch.