Saturday, May 02, 2009

Update: 3.5 Million TV Households STILL Completely Unready for DTV

By Frank Macek

The latest numbers from the end of April continue to show people unprepared for the switch to digital television on June 12th.

With seven weeks to go, 3.5 million or 3.1% of U.S. households remain completely unready. That means that when analog stations sign off, they will be without any over the air reception.

The good news is this number has decreased by 100,000 households according to Nielsen.

  • Hispanic households improved four-tenths of a percentage point.
  • African American households were unchanged.
  • Households with younger adults saw a two-tenths of percentage point improvement.

Of the 56 local metered markets surveyed, Albuquerque-Sante Fe is the most unprepared market with 8.77% completely unready.

The only totally DTV ready market continues to be Providence-New Bedford, with Hartford & New Haven next best.

The Cleveland/Akron/Canton Market is the 9th WORST prepared market with 4.62% of households unprepared. That is up from 10th WORST just two weeks ago.

Source: Nielsen