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13 Million U.S. households not yet ready for
Digital Television conversion, Nielsen says
...Older,
White households more Digital-Ready than
younger, Black and Hispanic households
More than 13 million households with
television sets that can only receive analog
broadcasts are currently unprepared for the
transition to all digital broadcasting that
is scheduled for February 18, 2009,
according to the Nielsen Company.
Another 6
million households have at least one
television set that would no longer work
after that date.
At Nielsen's Annual Client Meeting on
Audience Measurement in Las Vegas, the
company provided new details on the
readiness of U.S. households for the
impending shut-off of analog broadcasting,
including breakdowns by age, race,
ethnicity, and geography.
These details provide greater understanding
of who is most likely to be affected by the
government mandated action, which will leave
viewers without a television signal unless
they purchase digital television sets,
subscribe to cable or satellite, or purchase
a converter box.
"The change to all-digital broadcasting is
the most significant change in the history
of television, because unlike other advances
such as color, older television sets will no
longer be able to receive television signals
without a converter," explained Eric Rossi,
Senior Manager, Product Leadership and
leader of Nielsen's digital transition
preparedness team.
"Over the past 18 months we have been
reviewing every aspect of the digital
transition to measure the impact and help
clients understand where things stand as we
all prepare for the challenges."
Nielsen found that adults over 55 are better
prepared than younger households; and Whites
and Asians are more ready than Blacks (see
Table 1 below). More Hispanic households
still rely on analog, over-the-air broadcast
television than non-Hispanics.
These estimates are based on the same
national and local television ratings
samples that are used to generate Nielsen
television ratings. These samples are
representative of the total U.S. population
and individual local markets.
Among the key findings reported:
-- 10.1% of all households would have no
access to television signals if the
transition occurred today.
-- 16.8% of all households have at least
one analog television set that would not
work after the switch.
-- New York is the most ready local
television market, with just 3.5% "unready"
television sets. (see Table 2 below)
-- Portland, OR is the least prepared
local market, with 22.4% of all households
using only analog sets and over-the-air
television.
TABLE 1
Percentage of Households
Completely or Partially
Unready for Digital
Conversion
Completely Unready (%) One or
More Unready Sets (%)
White
8.8 15.2
Black
12.4 19.5
Asian
11.7 18.8
Hispanic
17.3 26.2
Under age 35
12.3 17.3
Age 35-54
9.6 16.7
Age 55+
9.4 16.4
TABLE 2
Ranking of Local Markets Based on
Percentage of TV Sets Currently Unprepared
for Digital Conversion
MARKET
% of Over the Air Only
1 New York, NY
3.5
2 Hartford & New Haven,
CT 5.8
3 Boston, Ma (Manchester,
NH) 6.0
4 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce,
FL 6.1
5 Philadelphia, PA
6.6
6 Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota),
FL 6.7
7 Atlanta,
GA 7.2
8 Ft. Myers-Naples,
FL 7.4
9 Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News,
VA 8.3
10 New Orleans,
LA 8.4
11 Birmingham (Anniston And Tuscaloosa),
AL 8.7
11 Pittsburgh,
PA 8.7
13 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose,
CA 8.8
14 Charlotte, NC
9.0
15 Washington, DC (Hagerstown,
MD) 9.1
16 Knoxville,
TN 10.1
17 Buffalo,
NY 10.3
17 Seattle-Tacoma,
WA 10.3
19 Detroit,
MI 10.5
19 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC-Asheville,
NC-Anderson,
SC 10.5
21 Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne,
FL 10.7
22 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale,
FL 10.8
23 Las Vegas,
NV 10.9
24 Austin,
TX
11.4
25 Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem,
NC 11.7
26 San Diego, CA
12.2
27 Jacksonville,
FL 12.6
27 Providence, RI-New Bedford,
MA 12.6
27 Richmond-Petersburg,
VA 12.6
30 Columbus,
OH 12.8
30 Denver,
CO
12.8
32 Chicago,
IL 13.4
32 Kansas City,
MO 13.4
32 Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville),
NC 13.4
35 San Antonio, TX
13.9
36 Oklahoma City,
OK 14.1
37 Baltimore,
MC 14.3
38 Cleveland-Akron (Canton),
OH 14.9
39 Louisville, KY
15.1
40 Memphis,
TN 15.2
41 Phoenix (Prescott),
AZ 15.3
42 Nashville,
TN 15.4
43 Los Angeles,
CA 15.6
44 Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto,
CA 16.6
45 Dayton,
OH
17.4
46 Tulsa,
OK
17.7
47 Indianapolis,
IN 18.1
48 Cincinnati, OH
18.5
49 Dallas-Ft. Worth,
TX 18.6
50 St. Louis,
MO 18.9
51 Milwaukee,
WI 19.1
52 Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM
19.3
53 Houston,
TX 20.4
54 Salt Lake City,
UT 21.1
55 Minneapolis-St. Paul,
MN 22.1
56 Portland,
OR 22.4
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