by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It’s mid-June and it’s hot outside. But, somewhere in Jacksonville it’s going to start snowing tomorrow morning. Thousands of televisions in the area and millions across the country are going to suddenly go from programming to 1970s-like snow in an instant. The decades-long era of analog TV will come to a close and broadcasting will only be available in digital.
Then, the phones are going to start ringing.
“We’re certainly ready for digital,” Bill Ferry, vice president of government affairs for Comcast. “We have the transmission equipment in place and as long as you have a converter, you are fine. If not, you will have a blank screen.”
While Comcast and satellite TV customers and those who bought digital converter boxes won’t notice a thing, there are still plenty of TV viewers who will lose their entire signal on every channel. Locally, Ch. 30/47 Vice President and General Manager Jeff Whitson said about 2 percent of viewers aren’t ready. That’s down significantly from 11 percent a year ago. However, at 9 a.m. when viewers expect to find “The Montell Williams Show” on Ch. 30 and “The 700 Club” on Ch. 47, a percentage of the audience will get snow instead. Whitson said his station is prepared for the inevitable calls.
We’re expecting calls,” he said, adding both stations will alert viewers of the impending change just moments before the 9 a.m. conversion. “Some of the markets that went through the conversion earlier got calls, but it was not unmanageable.”
Whitson said technically the CBS and FOX affiliates are ready. The stations have been broadcasting in both analog and digital for several years — but it’s costly to do so.
“It’s a great expense to run both concurrently,” said Whitson, explaining the station’s electric bill will get chopped by more than half after the conversion. “We have been ready on the station side years.”
Whitson said he will have engineers and producers on hand to explain to viewers what happened and how they can get reception through a digital converter box or if they should subscribe to cable or satellite TV.
Whitson said Nielson ratings have determined there are about 670,000 TVs in the viewing area. If 2 percent are not digital ready, that means about 13,000 TVs will show nothing but snow starting Friday. That also means Comcast should see an influx in new customers.
“We have seen an increased interest in our products,” said Ferry. “We have staffed up our call center and ramped up our installations this week and into Monday. We have a 600-seat call center that’s open 24 hours a day. We have some very attractive offers for those who do not have cable.”
Ferry said Comcast has not established a call bank dedicated solely to the digital conversion issue. He said the company’s customer service representatives are all trained to handle everything from TV questions to inquiries about Internet and voicemail service.
Nationally, the conversion process is being addressed, even by TV and camera manufacturers. Panasonic, which sells High Definition consumer and digital entertainment products, has been running a special “What You Need To Know About the Digital Transition” section on its Living in High Definition Web site to assist the more than 3 million households that a recent survey indicates may remain unprepared for the nation’s digital TV transition.
“It’s been a long time coming, and the switch to all-digital TV broadcasting is finally here,” said Peter Fannon, Panasonic’s vice president, Technology Policy. “It’s been more than a decade since TV stations started putting their digital channels on air and since Panasonic sold the first consumer HDTV display in the U.S. But despite the continuous on-air reminders about the DTV transition, we realize there is a need to help any broadcast TV households that are still unprepared.”
The LivingInHD.com Web site aims to demystify High Definition for consumers by providing a resource with which they can have access to more than 70 how-to videos created by Harper and fellow consumers, as well as blogs, chat rooms, links to other resource sites, and other information.
Digital TV questions and answers
Why are broadcast TV stations switching to all-digital?
Congress mandated the conversion to all-digital television broadcasting, also known as the digital television (DTV) transition, because all-digital broadcasting will free up frequencies for public safety communications (such as police, fire, and emergency rescue). Also, digital is a more efficient transmission technology that allows broadcast stations to offer improved picture and sound quality, as well as offer more programming options for consumers through multiple broadcast streams (multicasting). In addition, some of the freed up frequencies will be used for advanced commercial wireless services for consumers.
How do I receive digital broadcasts if I don’t subscribe to cable or satellite?
If you receive only free over-the-air television programming, the type of TV you own, either a digital TV or an analog TV, is very important. Consumers who receive only free over-the-air television may view digital programming through a TV set with a built-in digital tuner (integrated DTV) or a digital-ready monitor with a separate digital tuner set-top box. (Both of these digital television types are referred to as a DTV). The only additional equipment required to view over-the-air digital programming with a DTV is a regular antenna, either on your roof or a smaller version on your TV such as “rabbit ears.”
How do I know whether I own a DTV?
As of March 1, 2007, all television receivers shipped in interstate commerce or imported into the United States must contain a digital tuner. In addition, effective May 25, 2007, the Commission required sellers of television receiving equipment that does not include a digital tuner to disclose at the point-of-sale that such devices include only an analog tuner, and therefore will require a digital-to-analog converter box to receive over-the-air broadcast television after the transition date.
As for how to determine whether your television equipment purchased prior to May 25, 2007 is a DTV, many DTVs and digital television equipment will have labels or markings on them, or statements in the informational materials that came with them, to indicate that they contain digital tuners. These labels or markings may contain the words “Integrated Digital Tuner” or “Digital Tuner Built-In.” “Receiver” may be substituted for “Tuner,” and “DTV,” “ATSC,” or “HDTV” (high definition television) may be substituted for “Digital.” If your television equipment contains any of these labels or markings, you should be able to view digital over-the-air programming without the need for a digital-to-analog converter box.
If your television set is labeled as a “Digital Monitor” or “HDTV Monitor,” or as “Digital Ready” or “HDTV Ready,” this does not mean it actually contains a digital tuner. Thus, you still will likely need a separate set-top box which contains a tuner in order to view programs in the new digital TV transmission standard (which includes HDTV formats) on such a set.
What about my analog TV? Will it still work?
After your full power stations transition to only digital, you will be able to receive and view over-the-air digital programming with an analog TV only by purchasing a digital-to-analog set-top converter box. All U.S. households are able to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the future purchase of eligible digital-to-analog converter boxes. Eligible converter boxes are for the conversion of over-the-air digital television signals, and therefore are not intended for analog TVs connected to a paid provider such as cable or satellite TV service.
If I already have an antenna, do I need a new one to view the digital signals?
A special antenna generally is not needed to receive digital signals. You may have antenna issues, however, if your current antenna does not receive UHF signals (channels 14 and above) well, because most DTV stations are on UHF channels. In such a case, you may need a new antenna or to add a UHF section to your existing antenna system. This equipment should be available at most bricks-and-mortar and Internet consumer electronics retailers.
— Source: Federal Communications Commission
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