Are People Tuned in to Digital Changes?

By Jim Stafford

RISMEDIA, Feb. 4, 2008–(MCT)–A consumer group and the National Association of Broadcasters released surveys Wednesday that drew conflicting conclusions over the awareness of the upcoming digital transition that will wash over the nation in February 2009.

Consumer Reports National Research Center released results of a survey that claimed 36 percent of the nation’s population is entirely unaware of the government-mandated transition that will take effect Feb. 17, 2009.

On that date, older analog televisions will no longer be able to receive TV signals without the help of a translator box or connection to cable or satellite programming source.

However, the National Association of Broadcasters reported that its own survey conducted in January found that 79 percent of U.S. consumers are aware of the digital transition. And among households that receive television programming exclusively from over-the-air sources, 83 percent of respondents reported they are aware of the transition.

Overall, consumer awareness has more than doubled since January 2007, the broadcasters group said.

But confusion reigns over what the transition means to consumers, Consumer Reports countered. Almost 75 percent of those who responded to the consumer reports survey had “serious misconceptions” of its impact.

“Confusion about the digital television transition will cost consumers a lot of money for equipment they may not want or need,” said Joel Kelsey, policy analyst for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

“Based on these survey results, it is now clear that the government and every media company that profits from people watching television must do whatever it takes to make sure consumers will keep getting broadcast TV without paying a dime more than necessary.”

In fact, educational plans are in the works. Oklahoma broadcasters will launch an awareness campaign next month that will try to educate state consumers on the issue, said Vance Harrison, president and chief executive of the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters.

“We’ll have a speaker’s bureau, announcements running on the TV stations and I think the other news media will pick it up,” Harrison said. “It will be well publicized plenty in advance.”

The federal government has allocated $5 million in public education funding to the National Telecommunications and Information Association and the Federal Communications Commission has requested $1.5 million for the same purpose.

This is in contrast to the $400 million the United Kingdom plans to spend on its public education campaign, Consumer Reports said.

Nationally, about 80 percent of consumers receive their television programming though a cable or satellite connection and won’t have any challenges receiving the digital broadcasts, Harrison said. The remaining 20 percent will need to take action.

“They will have a couple of things they need to do,” he said.

“One is get a converter box, for which the government is providing $40 coupons that they can take to electronic retailers and get a box. The price will be in the $50 to $70 range for the converter boxes and the coupons will cover $40 of that.”

The converter boxes will go on sale next month.

Other alternatives would be to buy a digital-ready television or hook their old one up to a cable or satellite connection.

Still government and industry have some big obstacles to overcome in the year remaining before the transition.

Almost a quarter — 24 percent — of consumers who are aware of the transition wrongly believe they will have to discard their analog television sets, the Consumer Reports survey reported. And 58 percent believe that every television will need a digital converter box.

The misconceptions may drive some consumers to buy unnecessary equipment or new televisions before the transition, the consumers group said.