Monday was a bad day for Vivian C. Brown of Wilmington, N.C.. The 79 year-old missed her programs as Wilmington became the first city in the U.S. to make the switch from analog to digital TV.
Depending on who you talk to, the Wilmington switchover was either a resounding success, or a valuable learning experience. Regardless, the rest of the country will make the switch next February, and, based on the results in the test market, it looks like there may be a lot of work to do in the meantime.
The switchover worked — that much is undeniable. Analog television sets in Wilmington will no longer display a picture unless they’re connected to an analog-to-digital converter box.
Of more concern is the fact that over 1,000 Wilmington residents called the FCC help line over a two day period. While the FCC is quick to point out that 1,000 help calls represents less than 1% of the total Wilmington market, that number becomes problematic when applied to the entire nation.
According to a 2005 GAO study, over 21 million households rely exclusively on over-the-air television broadcasts. If just 1% of those households need assistance during the transition in February, that’s over 200,000 phone calls to the FCC help line — all of which would likely come one the first day.
Forget TV. Suddenly I’m wondering if the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure is prepared for this transition.
It’s not that Vivian Brown and other seniors weren’t aware of the transition. Brown used her government issued certificate to buy a converter box in a timely manner. But buying an analog-to-digital converter box and actually hooking it up to your TV are two different things. Especially when you’re 79 years old…and Wheel of Fortune is coming on in 5 minutes.
Brown told the LA Times:
“I’m a nervous wreck, just trying to get it going. … The way they told it on the TV all the time was you just hook it up to your antenna, it’s not that simple.”
Fortunately for Brown, the FCC had a plan. They called the fire department to help her get her TV hooked up.
And now, suddenly, I’m also worried about an outbreak of fires next February. “Sorry your house burned down, but there were some old people who needed to watch Jeopardy.”
Of course, this is no laughing matter. Elderly and lower income citizens depend on free broadcast TV as a vital source of news and information. As if to highlight this fact, the Wilmington transition was nearly delayed by an oncoming hurricane. Imagine how bad Katrina might have been if it had hit the day after the digital TV transition and thousands of people had been without a key source of emergency information.
To make matters worse, some rural areas will lose access to broadcast television entirely once the conversion is complete. I guess the FCC’s been too preoccupied with indecency issues to focus on things like public access.
There’s no telling what might happen when the switchover takes place nationwide. Of all of the possible scenarios I suspect that a “peaceful and orderly transition” is probably the least likely.
In the meantime, if you know an elderly person who is in danger of missing their programs because of this change, please take a moment to help them hook up their converter box. Your local fire department will thank you.
This public service announcement has been brought to you by Medialoper.
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It would certainly be the most calls to the FCC in a single day that would actually be about a real issue, as opposed to some right-wing group getting its lockstep followers to fake public outrage over two girls kissing.
Kirk,
Early indications from market research suggest seniors are not the leading “not-ready” group. That distinction goes to the 18-24 male viewers.
Interesting Dave. Any indication why they’re not ready? Is it because that demographic group isn’t engaged with TV as much it used to be?
Perhaps the seniors can warn the 18-24 year-old males that the switch is coming, and in exchange, the 18-24 year-old males can help the seniors connect their converter boxes.
Kirk,
The anecdotal evidence abounds. We are all aware of what is on the mind of 18-24 males. Perhaps the best bet is to target the more pragmatic, practice nature of 18-24 females. They are certain to capture the attention of those young guys which is not to say your suggestion is anything less than brilliant. I’ll pass it on the the NAB/TvB.
I live in Wilmington , NC, and your comments show that you didn’t do your research. The local TV stations and FCC flooded the local market with information for months. You couldn’t attend a street fair, walk in a mall, or read the newspaper without being inundated with news of the digital switch. One literally would have very hard pressed indeed not to be aware. As for the fire department, they also checked on smoke detectors when making house calls.
In our area only those still with blinking VCR lights had difficulty with the switch.
Thanks for the first hand report Bill. I have no doubt that the FCC put an all-out PR blitz on the Wilmington market. Awareness wasn’t the issue in this case.
Despite the FCC’s best efforts the test still generated what many would consider to be an unacceptably high level of support inquiries.
It’s nice to know that the fire department also checked the smoke detectors. Unfortunately that sort of customer service isn’t likely in larger markets. The Los Angeles Fire Chief has already indicated that his department won’t have the resources to provide similar support.
Just wait until President McCain wonders what in the Sam Hill happened to the TV reception in his 8th house.
Then, we’ll see some action!