U.S. DTV News & Discussion

[stampeder]

Wilmington, N.C., stations to proceed with early analog shut-off Sept. 8 in wake of Hurricane Hanna

By John Eggerton

The Wilmington, N.C., market's pilot analog shut-off program is a go for Monday, Sept. 8, now that Hurricane Hanna has blown through town with minimal damage.

According to Louis Sigalos, program manager for the program, the stakeholders met Sunday morning and are setting up for the big shut-off event Monday. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is schedule to preside over the symbolic cut-off, but Sigalos wouldn't say just how, maintaining that he wanted to preserve the drama.

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/art....jsp?id=508681

[stampeder]

Wilmington Transition Issues: Programming Converter Boxes

Viewers Were Aware Of Change, Not How To Adjust Equipment

By Linda Haugsted

The majority of trouble calls made by Wilmington, N.C. residents dealing with Sept. 8 digital TV transition test were prompted because local viewers had not properly programmed the converter boxes they bought, according to data collected by a group of university students monitoring the market.

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/art....jsp?id=511290

I think the act of "scanning" for channels is a paradigm shift for those who are used to simply powering-on their new TV, selecting a channel, and watching it.

[El Gran Chico]

Thanks Stampeder for posting this. There was also a piece on the NBC Nightly News last night, but it probably would have made you cringe - the reporter said viewers "need to re-program their rabbit ears".

The was also an article on cnn dot com yesterday or today saying how converter boxes were hard to come by yesterday at Wilmington area retailers.

[99gecko]

Another story:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/te...lmington_N.htm

How incredible is this ?!?!:

Eager to learn from Wilmington, the FCC has set up a consumer hotline. It also is paying local fire departments $15 per converter box to help residents who have difficulty installing digital gear.

How do we sign up for the Wilmington F.D.? I guess the Police Department cuts your lawn when it's slow, and the garbage collection workers will also hang out your laundry? Who is liable for damages when your house is on fire, but the F.D. is across town making sure little Ms Daisey can watch her "stories"?

You can't see it on the web, but this article was on the front page of the paper. There is a picture showing 2 tv's; one with a clear picture from a CECB box, and another one with an analog set completely unwatchable from ghosting. It does not mention whether the signals are from the same antenna however.

[Michael DeAbreu]

Reminds me of Sicko and Michael Moore's incredulity that France's health care system would actually pay for someone to help new mothers with their cleaning and laundry.

Thank God America has Universal Television Care!

[videobruce]

Reminds me of Sicko and Michael Moore's incredulity that France's health care system would actually pay for someone to help new mothers with their cleaning and laundry.

????

[videobruce]

Excerpts from the FCC's "unofficial announcement":

The 400,000 viewers in the Wilmington area represent an estimated 180,000 households, of which nearly 14,000 receive free over-the-air television programming with roof-top antennas or “rabbit-ears.” During the first day of the transition, approximately 800 (797) area residents or less
than one-half of one percent of area homes called the FCC helpline asking questions and seeking
help with the switch-over to digital television. On September 9, the second day of the transition, the
number of calls decreased by almost 50 percent from the first day to 424.
Based on calls to the FCC helpline through the first day, most consumers were aware of and
ready for the transition. The Commission’s helpline received just 23 calls from consumers who said
they were not aware of the switch to digital television and/or did not know the date of the transition.
Chairman Martin directed his team of engineers and outreach staff to identify and
understand the problems viewers were facing and work to resolve them to the extent possible.
These FCC teams are already working to assist residents in resolving their problems. A significant
number of consumers who called the helpline with converter box, reception or other technical issues
have already had their issues resolved.
Specifically, more than 160 calls were from viewers who had initial difficulty in setting up
their converter boxes properly. For example, consumers had difficulty understanding the
instructions for setting up the converter box and scanning for channels. Seventy-five of these
consumers were successfully guided through the installation process by call-takers and were able to
view channels after re-scanning their televisions.
Of the total number of calls to the helpline, 178 were by viewers who were experiencing
problems with their television reception or had other technical issues. We were able to resolve
reception and other technical issues for 22 of the 178 consumers by explaining where the
broadcasters’ new digital channels are located, helping them re-scan channels, and/or by assisting
them with re-positioning or adjusting their antennas. We are continuing to work with these viewers
to understand and resolve their issues.
A significant number of calls (232) were related to the viewer’s inability to locate the
Wilmington NBC affiliate. Prior to the digital switch, the Wilmington NBC affiliate signal was
available to viewers outside the television market as far south as Myrtle Beach, SC and as far north
as Raleigh, NC. The Wilmington NBC affiliate’s new coverage area does not include these out of
market communities. Some of these complaints were from these viewers who will continue to
receive their local NBC affiliates in Myrtle Beach and Raleigh.

[leglamp]

Uh-huh..Notice there's no estimate of viewers who had no clue what was happening, or who to call, and probably just gave up and sat around moping all day. Well at least it appears that the FCC is willing to step in and help as much as is practical. I somehow doubt that Industry Canada/CRTC is going to be so helpful or forthcoming 3 years from now.

[videobruce]

there's no estimate of viewers who had no clue what was happening, or who to call, and probably just gave up and sat around moping all day.

The same ones that can't figure out which way to place the batteries in the remote.

[stampeder]

To help defray the cost of the box, the federal government is offering up to two coupons -- each worth $40 -- to every household in the country. A converter box, which starts around $50, will only work with one television.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/381565_digital03.html

[Walter Dnes]

Probably nothing new for us, but may be helpful for any of your non-techy friends in who use OTA. The following times are from TitanTV listings...

12:30 PM Tuesday 2008/10/07

1:30 AM Wednesday 2008/10/08

12:30 PM Friday 2008/10/10

1:30 PM Sunday 2008/10/12

10:30 PM Thursday 2008/10/16

1:30 AM Friday 2008/10/17

10:00 AM Friday 2008/10/17

[videobruce]

U.S. Feds now giving 2 CECB Coupons per household

Nothing new. That is the way it has been. Two per household from the get go.

Good find Walt. All times conveinantly durning NON prime time!

[SanityRemoved]

I have to wonder how many people in the Wilmington area threw out working tv sets.

[videobruce]

They probably needed to be thrown out.

Walt, I saw the listing for that program and that appears to be the same that they have run in the past. At first I thought it was new, but it isn't.

[roger1818]

This isn't really news, but I thought people would be interested in knowing which physical channels will be used by Full Power stations in the US after the analog shutdown. I received my data from the DTV Final Channel Designations.

VHF-LO (total 38 or 2%)
Ch. 2 - 7 stations
Ch. 3 - 8 stations
Ch. 4 - 2 stations
Ch. 5 - 13 stations
Ch. 6 - 8 stations

VHF-HI (total 450 or 25%)
Ch. 7 - 68 stations
Ch. 8 - 63 stations
Ch. 9 - 61 stations
Ch. 10 - 68 stations
Ch. 11 - 57 stations
Ch. 12 - 57 stations
Ch. 13 - 76 stations

UHF (total 1323 or 73%)
Minimum stations on a channel = 24 (channel 14)
Maximum stations on a channel = 48 (channel 19)
Average stations on a channel = 36