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Advertisers in the US are growing more concerned about the planned digital television (DTV conversion in the United States on 17 February 2009. The date is carefully timed - it’s after the Super Bowl, but before the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Unfortunately for broadcasters and advertisers, the conversion comes in the middle of a sweeps month. The Nielsen Ratings service, which calculates television viewership a broad-based sample of American households, has released some surprising figures. Senior citizens seem more prepared for DTV than previously believed. Households with two or more television sets are more likely to have at least one set that is not ready for DTV, despite an endless barrage of television announcements about the conversion plan. Hispanics and African-Americans and younger households are more likely to lose their television service:

Using its ratings panel, Nielsen found that 9.4 percent of households, or roughly 10 million homes, were “completely unready” for the switch as of April 30, meaning that all their television sets would go dark next year. An additional 12.6 percent of households were partly unready.

See this New York Times article for more information.

Related pages on billso.com:

• Digital television

Digital television or DTV is coming to the United States on 17 February 2009, when all television stations must shut down their analog broadcasts and convert to a digital signal.

The FCC has a web site about the transition at https://www.dtv2009.gov

Related posts on billso.com

• 31 May 2008: Advertisers worried about digital television conversion
• 16 May 2008: Want to test your digital television in Hawaii?
• 25 March 2008: Digital TV is coming
• 18 January 2008: Digital TV and business models
• 12 November 2007: I want a better television - but it’s not ready yet
• 5 July 2004: San Diego Padres promote HDTV

If you have a television in the state of Hawaii, and you want to see if your set is ready for digital television, tune into KGMB during its Monday 19 May 2008 newscasts at 5, 6 and 10 pm.

The station will do a 10-second switchover to its DTV signal, simulating what will happen on 17 February 2009 when the analog television channels go dark.

If you have more than one television set, test them all.

It doesn’t matter how you get your TV signal. The test will work with local cable, satellite and antenna systems.

If your TVs show the picture and audio, not static, during the KGMB test, you’re ready.

If not, you’ll need a new set top box from Time Warner Cable or a local electronics store.

See KGMB’s article, FAQ and the Honolulu Advertiser for more information.

Related posts and pages on billso.com

• Digital television
• 25 March 2008: Digital TV is coming
• 5 July 2004: San Diego Padres promote HDTV

Sports: The New York Times > Business > Ball Club Drives an HDTV Bandwagon: “But as good as the pictures and audio are, cable providers, broadcasters and television makers have struggled to convince consumers that the service is worth higher monthly cable fees and the high cost of the sets. Cox Communications and Sony are hoping to make their case to consumers by teaming up with the San Diego Padres to promote high-definition television to a specific audience. ”