2.1 million households let the DTV transition pass them by

And to think we've been worrying about all those poor people who weren't ready for the DTV transition, only to find out that they don't even watch TV. We mean, what other explanation could you have for the fact that it's been solid week after the big analog shutoff and 2.1 million households still can't watch TV. Of course not all of these people just let the DTV transition pass them by, some of them are affected by the reception problems, and others probably don't even understand the question. Either way we'll find out soon enough as most broadcasters should be full power by July 1st and no doubt Nielsen will have the results of another poll out by then.

[Jeff Kibuule Posted Jun 25th 2009 10:41PM]

How does Nielson even find these people they are basically luddites?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 12:23AM]

They have a team of ninjas working for them. Really.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2009 11:44PM]

If you don't know about the Digital Transition by now, you are NOT paying attention to anything going on in America.

[EQC Posted Jun 26th 2009 2:04AM]

"Most most broadcasters should be full power by July 1st"

How does one find out which aren't full power yet? Is there any chance my reception could improve soon?

In my area, they really seemed to have borked the transition in terms of reception.

Via analog, with a rooftop antenna, I got very clear reception of all the network stations: CBS (2), NBC (4), CW (5), ABC (7), Fox (11), plus the stations that may not be nationwide: CBS-owned KCAL (9), and MYTV (13). I also got some UHF reception of various PBS channels, etc. And of course plenty of spanish channels.

Before the transition, I got only a few digital channels:
CBS -- broadcast on frequency 60
ABC -- broadcast on frequency 53
KCAL -- broadcast on frequency 43 came in about 50% of the time
and some UHF spanish/korean/PBS stations.

Prior to the transition, all the analog stations went on and on about "make sure you can pick us up digitally now so you can be sure you are ready"...that was especially annoying for the stations that I couldn't get digitally, but thought I would be getting after the transition.

Anyway, post-transition, I get channels 7-13 nicely in digital because they are now on their VHF broadcast stations.

The strange thing is, I have lost CBS entirely. Why would the digital signal get weaker after transition? It's especially odd since CBS is now broadcast on channel 43 -- where KCAL was broadcast pre-transition. And the reception is notably worse (it never comes in in a watchable way).

I also still can't get NBC or CW in digital.

And the reception of the UHF PBS stations has gotten much worse...they were watchable in digital pre-transition, but aren't watchable anymore.

The really odd part to me is that in my area (LA/Orange County) all the broadcasters run their antennas off Mt. Wilson...so there shouldn't be any differences in reception other than the different propagation of UHF vs VHF.

Why could I get ABC just fine on it's old UHF station pre-transition station, but I can't get any of the UHF stations (CBS, NBC, CW) post transition? Why would CBS's old UHF broadcast frequency come in better than their post-transition UHF frequency? Same with the PBS stations?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 9:28AM]

It sounds like a poor UHF antenna, or a badly-aimed one.

Also, most stations that switched frequencies are the ones not at full power yet.

[Meekermoloko Posted Jun 26th 2009 2:18AM]

There was a lady in a Radio Shack around me trying to buy one of those converters about ten days ago (after the transition). She didn't know what happened to her TV signal for some reason.

Then when the Radio Shack employee was explaining it to her (with a straight, but frustrated face) ... she kept asking "Well, why do I still have channel 9 then? Channel 9 still works, but the others don't."

Channel 9 here in LA is KCAL, so I guess KCAL did something screwy, but the lady was screwy too.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 7:03AM]

According to Wikipedia, KCAL is rebroadcast on a number of translators. Translators are exempt from the digital mandate - they can go digital if they want, but they're under no obligation to. If KCAL uses the "9" branding, then presumably that would explain the woman's confusion, she may well be receiving it via a translator station and calling it "channel 9" even though she doesn't actually tune into NTSC channel 9 to receive it.

[Joe Las Vegas Posted Jun 26th 2009 2:19AM]

Whoever wasn't ready should get out of their caves and join the real world.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 10:38AM]

Did microsoft ever fix media center?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 11:01AM]

yes. it was fixed the on June 13thish...

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 1:09PM]

I guess they aren't missing their 5 channels lol

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 26th 2009 1:20PM]

Why do we care about the 2.1 million households without TV? If they don't care, why should we?

[daaper Posted Jun 26th 2009 2:16PM]

no tv left behind!

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 27th 2009 12:32AM]

And they didn't choose to ignore this?

Our DirecTv is off until football season and we don't have cable or OTA so in theory is my household left behind? What the hell would we want with OTA tv or a converter box for our HDTVs? They're for movies/dvds and football. No sense paying $80 a month for cable when netflix gets us the shows we want for $18 a month.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 28th 2009 1:03PM]

I don't watch tv anymore. i'd be in that list if it wasn't for directv