Orlando Stations Proclaim Early DTV Test a Success
10-second turnoff of analog signals causes minimal disruption.
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/26/2008 1:34:00 PM
A group of 12 stations in the Orlando, Fla., market that briefly ceased broadcasting their analog signals Wednesday night said the test caused minimal disruption to viewers, which may not be surprising given the high penetration of cable and direct-broadcast satellite service in the market.
The Orlando stations -- which announced plans last month to test digital-TV readiness among their viewers with heavily promoted “turn-off” events in June, September and December -- simultaneously ran a 60-second on-air message Wednesday at 7:59 p.m. that included 10 seconds in which the stations stopped transmitting their analog signals.
Those with analog over-the-air sets would have seen a black screen during those 10 seconds, indicating that they aren’t ready for the Feb. 17, 2009 turnoff of analog signals, while those whose sets were “DTV-compatible” -- either digital or connected to cable or DBS service carrying DTV signals -- would have seen a message confirming that they passed the test.
Local stations partnering to provide the tests were WKMG-TV channel 6 (Post-Newsweek Stations), WESH-TV channel 2 (Hearst-Argyle Television), WFTV-TV channel 9 (Cox Enterprises), WCEU-TV channel 15 (Daytona Beach Community College District), WKCF-TV channel 18 (Hearst-Argyle), WMFE-TV channel 24 (Community Communications), WVEN-TV channel 26 (Entravision Communications), WRDQ-TV channel 27 (Cox), WOTF-TV channel 43 (Univision Communications), WTGL-TV channel 45 (Good Life Broadcasting), WBCC-TV channel 68 (Brevard Community College) and WOPX-TV 56 (ION Television).
Bright House Networks, the dominant cable operator in the market, provided a toll-free number that was given to viewers to follow up if they failed the test.
The test, which impacted some 365,000 households, was a complete success, said Shawn Bartelt, general manager of Cox stations WFTV and WRDQ, as only 501 viewers called in to the 800 number to complain. The low number was not a shocker as, according to Bartelt, cable penetration in the market is 71% and satellite is 22%, leaving only 7% of households as over-the-air only viewers.
“It went off flawlessly across the market,” Bartelt added.
But a good chunk of the calls -- 146 in total -- actually came from cable households served by Comcast. That’s because Comcast is still delivering broadcast stations to its analog subscribers by receiving the over-the-air analog-broadcast signal, explained WFTV chief engineer John Demshock.
He said Comcast plans to serve those subscribers with a downconverted version of WFTV’s digital signal by next February. Bright House and Cox Communications, the other cable operator in the market, both receive direct fiber feeds of both standard-definition analog and HD signals from WFTV and other broadcast stations in the market.
The second-highest number of viewer calls, 123, came from viewers with television sets older than one year and receiving their TV signals over-the-air with antennas, the stations said.
The test event -- which was promoted through a series of informational spots leading up to Wednesday night -- also gave a short-term ratings boost to participating stations. Among the 12 stations participating, there was an 8% increase in total viewers compared with last Wednesday evening, which seemed to indicate that the stations did a good job of building awareness.
Bartelt said there is more work to do on the DTV-education front, however. She noted that the Orlando market has a lot of second-home owners who live there in the winter and probably weren’t around for Wednesday night’s test.
Orlando also has a lot of apartment buildings and condominium complexes that are served by master-antenna-television systems (MATV) that currently rely on receiving over-the-air analog signals and retransmitting them to individual residences. WFTV has been meeting with these MATV operators to inform them that they need to upgrade their equipment in order to receive digital signals come next February.
“We met with these folks, and their eyeballs popped out [at the mention of DTV],” Bartelt said.
