It’s all about the signal

Go digital, or go home, I say.

There are now 20 million households that rely solely on over-the-air TV for their idiot-box fix, according to AC Nielsen, the folks responsible for canceling most of the shows I like to watch. A year ago, 13 million households, or 10 percent, were unprepared to switch to an all-digital signal; in October, that was down to 9.8 million, or 8.4 percent, and today, a week before the originally scheduled switchover date, it’s down to 6.5 million, or 5.8 percent.  See a pattern?

Just to put it in perspective, unemployment nationally is 11.6 million, or 7.6 percent, according to the latest U.S. Labor Department statistics.

So, we can safely say that most of those households may have bigger things to worry about than their TVs between now and the new mandatory switchover date of June 12. And contrary to the argument made in Congress that the elderly will be hardest hit by the conversion, Nielsen’s own figures show the over-55 age group is all about watching digital reruns of “Law & Order” right now.

The whole idea behind the switch is to move technology forward. Remember the astronomical sums paid by wireless service providers for space in the 700MHz band less than a year ago? They — and public safety agencies — won’t be able to use that bandwidth until the analog broadcasters get off it.

The auction raised over $19.6 billion for the federal government, which has distributed $1.34 billion already in the form of $40 coupons, some of which have expired, or went to people with digital-ready TVs who didn’t need them, or who thought they were the only way to get a converter box — just ankle into a Best Buy and look around — and the Obama economic stimulus package reportedly contains another $350 million for more coupons.

Does anyone really think it’s possible to get every American prepared for anything, no matter how many coupons you hand out or how many times you run an annoying PSA? Ever watch the Jaywalking segment on “The Tonight Show”?

On the other hand, broadcast companies have a lot riding on the switch. In addition to the billions tied up in unusable spectrum, because they are required to continue broadcasting in analog until the switch is made, media companies will continue paying for both.

But, if all the stations would opt to switch to digital as soon as possible, the rest of us could figure out how to get the signal back in our living rooms pretty quick. Or rediscover life away from a screen for a while, which might not be a bad thing.

on Facebook on LinkedIn