The majority of US households that receive their television signals over the air are still unaware of the digital TV switchover even though an estimated 22 million over-the-air homes need to make some kind of digital decision by February 17, 2009, according to a new survey from the Association Of Public Television Stations (APTS).
The bulk of the survey participants, 61%, had no idea that the digital switchover was taking place, whilst 10% said they had limited awareness.
In addition, 25% said that they were somewhat aware or very aware, and 53% had no idea when analogue transmissions are scheduled to be turned off.
APTS says that in order for the US digital switchover to be successful, consumers must be well informed and primed to adapt successfully to the new technology, and this cannot occur unless there is a comprehensive consumer outreach effort.
Roughly 45% of respondents to the APTS survey said they will either ‘do nothing’ or ‘don’t know’ what option they will take to obtain digital signals.
19% will purchase a converter box, 17% are likely to sign up for cable TV service, and 9% will sign up for satellite TV. Another 9% indicated they would buy a digital television set so that they can continue to receive over-the-air broadcasts.
The survey results are based on an overall sample of 2,000 US households conducted in the third quarter of 2006. Approximately 19% of these households said they receive television programming solely over the air – not having a subscription to either cable TV or satellite TV services.
A recent report from In-Stat forecast that the global DTV set-top box market is poised to surpass $1 billion due to the analogue signal cutoff date of February 17, 2009 in the US, and the prospect of a large Chinese market (see DTT Set-Top Box Market To Surpass $1 Billion)
Meanwhile, a report from JupiterResearch said in the UK Freeview will be the big digital switchover winner in the next five years, with pay-TV companies struggling to win customers (see Freeview To Be Digital Switchover Winner).
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