DTV Transition a Success!

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is reporting that the switch to digital TV (DTV) in the U.S. was a success, with all 971 TV stations in 195 markets across the U.S. transitioning to all-digital broadcasts on Friday, June 12, 2009.

By mid-day on Friday, local broadcasters who had already switched over reported that customer support needs were falling in line with their expectations. For example, by 1 p.m. (EDT), stations that had switched over received an average of 130 phone calls, most of which were about rescanning or hooking up the converter box. Overall, most stations reported receiving "low to moderate call volumes". By the afternoon, the top market with the most calls was Houston, TX with 675. In Atlanta, stations only received about 50-60 phone calls once a station had switched.

By June 13, NAB says that the national DTV call centre received total of 317,450 phone calls from the estimated 15 million households that were impacted by the switch.

"America is the first large country in the world to complete the transition to all-digital broadcasting, and our early reports show that the transition has been a success," confirms Jonathan Collegio, Vice President for Digital Television at NAB. "Television broadcasters, from local stations to major networks, took the lead in educating and prompting viewers to take advantage of the numerous benefits of free digital television. The broadcaster campaign elevated public awareness from 38 per cent to over 98 per cent in two short years."

In addition to the awareness campaign from broadcaster, NAB, along with the FCC and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, have been running a US$1.2 billion education campaign about the transition for the past two years.

In all, NAB reports that more than 60 million DTV converter box coupons were requested by U.S. consumers who required the upgrade, and 30 million digital TV sets were sold last year, many of which were likely upgrades for those who were still living in the analog world.

"Millions of households across the country are now enjoying dramatically better pictures and sound in digital compared to what they were able to see and hear on their TV sets for the past several decades," adds Collegio. "Free high definition broadcasts are available in every market in the country with just an antenna and an HDTV set.

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