A Few Million Late-Adaptors Realize Government Wasn't Joking

As expected, a number of Americans faced a blank screen yesterday, despite a heavy public awareness campaign informing them of the analog shutdown.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Millions of Americans were still fiddling with new set-top converter boxes to keep older, analog TVs working Friday, or installing rooftop antennas to get better reception of the digital channels.

For Christina McMahon, an 89-year-old retired nurse in San Francisco, the process was initially confusing. She was able to obtain a $40 government coupon to help pay for a converter box, but then couldn’t figure out how to set it up properly. Ms. McMahon called the phone number for assistance on the box, but still had trouble. “I had to sit on the floor behind the TV to try to figure out what they were telling me,” she said. Eventually, a nonprofit group sent a technician to her home to help.