Moving forward with transition from analog to digital television

Although the transition from analog to digital television is over eight months away, the publicity surrounding the transition grows daily.  In my viewing area local television stations have aired news segments about the transition and added scrolling messages to alert television viewers to the change next year.

Let’s step back and remember that the decision to transition from analog to digital was twofold.  First, disasters such as Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina showed the need for first responders to all be able to communicate with each other.  Ambulances, fire departments, police departments, sheriffs’ departments and other agencies need interoperable capabilities in order to perform their duties effectively.

In times of crisis, communication is key. You don’t need duplication of efforts, nor do you want something or someone to be missed.  Switching from analog to digital will free up bandwidth for use by first responders.

The second benefit of the transition is that digital television provides a much better picture than analog.

So consumers will benefit through this change. The television stations are also able to broadcast up to six channels via their digital bandwidth versus only one on their analog channel. This brings new choices to consumers who rely solely on over-the-air signals.

Approximately 85 percent of American households have cable or satellite television service. Those televisions will not be affected by the transition from analog to digital, so no action will be necessary by the consumer.

In the other 15 percent of households that rely on antennas or even rabbit ears to receive their television signal, a digital converter box will be necessary. It is these households that are using analog televisions for viewing over-the-air television broadcasts that will be affected by the digital transition.

Estimates vary over the number of analog television sets and households affected. According to Nielsen Media Research, as of April 30, nearly 25 million television households had at least one television not ready for the digital transition. Specifically, Nielsen found that 9.4 percent of television households (roughly 10 million homes) were completely unready for the digital transition, and an additional 12.6 percent of households were partly unready.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has estimated that there are 69 million analog television sets that will be potentially impacted by the digital transition, consisting of 19.6 million households (17 percent of all households) relying exclusively on over-the-air analog television sets, and an additional 14.7 million cable and satellite households receiving some over-the-air programming on analog sets.  The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has estimated that 36.5 million analog televisions (comprising 13.5 million households) will require converter boxes; according to CEA, an additional 30 million analog sets are used for non-broadcast purposes such as playing video games or watching DVDs, and will therefore likely not require converter boxes.

However, while 85 percent of households have cable or satellite service, it is important to note that 29 percent of the U.S. population resides within counties with fewer than 150,000 people.  It is these rural households that make up 36 percent of the exclusive over-the-air television users. It is imperative that rural America not be left behind in the DTV transition, and it is the responsibility of Congress to ensure this does not happen.

With more than eight months to go, eight million households have requested 15 million coupons, and consumers have already redeemed more than 2 million of the coupons for converter boxes. Coupons can also be redeemed over the phone or on the Web. Manufacturers have created more than 80 models of coupon-eligible converter boxes, including more than 15 models capable of passing through the analog signals of low-power stations. The Consumer Electronics Association predicts demand for coupons will range from 9 million to 21 million. The $1.5 billion allocated to the program can fund up to 33.5 million coupons. I believe that this demonstrates our education efforts have already started working. However, much more can, and will, be done.

The FCC has announced that there will be a test pilot program of the transition in Wilmington, N.C., on Sept. 8. The commercial broadcasters serving the Wilmington television market have voluntarily agreed to turn off their analog signals at noon on that day. This real-world experience will give us in Congress a greater understanding of what we need to know going into the transition and how best to address problems that we find during this test in North Carolina.

The House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will be holding another in a series of hearings on the DTV Transition on June 10, titled “Status of the DTV Transition:  252 Days and Counting.” I am looking forward to a frank discussion on the transition and how to correct any issues that the American people are having in regard to the switch.

Shimkus is a member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.