Despite the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticizing the federal government, and especially the FCC, for lack of preparation for the digital transition coming in just over a year, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says more than 50% of American households have at least one digital TV (DTV).

The GAO report criticized the FCC for lacking any sort of benchmarks to measure their progress in preparing Americans for the day when their analog TVs will no longer be able to receive Over The Air (OTA) TV broadcasts without a converter box of some kind. Cable and satellite customers are already prepared, with cable companies being required to support analog TVs past the February 17, 2009 cutover and satellite services already using digital streams that require special receivers.

The real concern among many in Washington isn't so much the general public as a particular segment of the population who are mostly spectators in the digital video revolution. By and large older Americans haven't seen a need to buy digital TVs just for the technology, and unless they're educated about either purchasing a new DTV or getting a voucher for a converter there's likely to be repurcussions on Capitol Hill as legislators get complaints from angry constituents.

Source: PC Magazine