Is the FCC too optimistic about the first mass DTV transition?

Rich Fiscus
23 Feb 2009 10:11

In a statement last Thursday, acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps seemed happy about how the first wave of the US DTV transition went. He said "Thanks to the movement of the deadline, we did not have anything like the extent of disruption we would have experienced had every station in the country gone completely digital. on Tuesday."
He called on everyone involved to make the remaining stations' transition even smoother, noting that "Most stations and most consumers still have the transition ahead of them." His remarks, were intended primarily for "cable and other companies, the many consumer organizations, and an absolutely inspired group of civil servants who all stepped up to the plate."
He failed to mention that the majority of consumer complaints related to areas where the FCC seems to have dropped the ball. The agency's call centers fielded more than 70,000 calls on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week. Most of them were about either the FCC-run voucher program or reception problems.

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Preparing for the US DTV Transition

By far the largest number of complaints before the first wave of mass analog shut offs were related to obtaining DTV converters. Most of these calls were from people who either hadn't received their government vouchers yet, or had received a voucher but not used it within 90 days, allowing it to expire.
On Wednesday, February 18 phone calls to the FCC shifted from boxes to broadcasts. Since many TV stations waited until midnight on the 17th to turn off analog broadcasts off, this was the first day many viewers were forced to use their converters.
In total close to half of all callers on Wednesday had reception problems. Nearly a third complained they couldn't receive any channels, didn't have a good enough antenna, or were getting a weak signal. Almost 17% said they were unable to get a specific station they wanted to watch.
There have been warnings from numerous experts that signal strength would be an issue for many viewers, but the FCC has stood by their optimistic estimates indicating most viewers would still be able to tune in the same stations they watched in analog form.