[opendtv] FCC Gets 55,000 Calls from DTV Soft Test

From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 17:07:03 -0400
I guess the FCC has to put the best possible spin on this, but to me,
the numbers are not alarming.

First, they show that 97.1 percent of households (with TVs) are all set
for analog shutoff. Way over the 85 percent criterion used as basis for
going ahead with analog shutoff, in times past.

Next, they show that only 10 percent of the calls had anything to do
with reception.

Bert

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http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/81554

FCC Gets 55,000 Calls from DTV Soft Test
05.26.2009.

WASHINGTON: The nationwide DTV shut-down test conducted Thursday
prompted 55,000 assistance phone calls in a single day, the FCC said
today. The test was carried out last week by broadcasters in preparation
for the final cessation of over-the-air analog television on June 12.
The FCC said TV stations in 125 of the nation's 210 designated market
areas participated by briefly interrupting analog transmissions and
showing a billboard with 1-888-CALL-FCC.

The FCC said that prior to the test, its help lines had received about
15,000 calls per day since May 1. The most common issue among the 55,000
calls received at the commission since yesterday involved converter
boxes and reception. Of those who called, 51 percent asked for
information about the fed's $40 digital-to-analog converter coupons; 15
percent had reception concerns and 10 percent needed instructions on
installing the converter boxes.

The Chicago media market generated the highest volume of
calls--1,310--followed by the New York media market with 1,277 calls and
the Dallas-Ft. Worth with 764 calls.

"This soft test did exactly what it was supposed to do," said Acting FCC
Chairman Michael Copps. "It was a wake-up call for consumers who are
unprepared, alerting them to the fact that they need to take the
necessary steps before the June 12 DTV transition."

Nielsen's latest estimate of the unprepared stands at about 3.3 million
households, or 2.9 percent of U.S. households with TVs. The commission
has dropped the hammer down to get the message out that the transition
is indeed going to occur June 12. - Deborah D. McAdams
 
 
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[opendtv] FCC Gets 55,000 Calls from DTV Soft Test

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