Five minute analog TV break prompts 55,000 calls
By John Lister
With the extended deadline for the switch-off of U.S. analog TV signals just a couple of weeks away, TV stations have run a coordinated test to check readiness among viewers. The results have revealed some of the likely problems and misconceptions which officials will need to deal with during the transition.
Last Thursday broadcasters in 125 markets ran a ’soft test’ in which they replaced analog broadcast programming for five minutes with a warning that the June 12 deadline was rapidly approaching. An accompanying helpline number received 55,000 calls on the day, and has averaged 15,000 calls a day since.
As well as helping those who called in, the aim of the exercise was to find the problems which were most common. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest problem was bureaucratic rather than technical, with 51 percent of calls relating to the $40 government coupon scheme designed to help ease the costs of getting digital converters. Problems with that scheme, which may have been worsened by the economic downturn deterring people from simply buying a new digital-ready TV, were one of the main reasons for the delay to the original February switch-off date.
The second most common problem was viewers who were worried about no longer being able to pick up channels. That’s partly an unavoidable dilemma as digital signals won’t be at full strength in all areas until the analog signal is switched off. But it’s also down to some viewers needing to re-tune channels. That issue may reappear after the analog switch-off when some digital channels move frequency.
The other main problem was installing and setting-up converter boxes, with some viewers thinking it was simply a case of plugging them in. Problems here involved not using the box’s autoscan feature to retune channels, not setting the TV channel to that which the box outputs its signal on, and even not remembering to batteries in the converter box remote control.
Related:
Entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 11:39 am
under
Read more entries by John Lister.
Stumble It!
