DTV is sales op for cable and satellite players

I was just checking out Twitter to see who was posting on the digital D-day and came across this.

“AgentEan #DTV woes? Geek Squad can help!! http://is.gd/Zowm. ”

The site directs to BestBuy’s tech consultants Geek Squad which offer assistance with the analogue to digital transition. That’s helpful, but the switch-over is also a major sales opportunity for retailers. The company is offering to haul away your old TV set; set up a new TV system and give a free  in-home, home theater consultation too!

We’ve already reported on how cable and satellite companies are picking up customers as a result of the change. The Nielsen Co. reports that almost 70.5% of households that were defined as “unready” for the digital transition back in November, acquired a digital converter box. That should help keep a fair number of viewers glued to the broadcast TV stations, but a further 19.7% of those unready homes ordered cable, while 9.6% went to satellite. The figures are based on what Nielsen has seen in its 18,000 sample homes in the United States to April.