Michael's Insight

Study indicates cable industry growing and creating more jobs

Study: Cable represents 1.8M jobs – and growing [CED Magazine]

The Bortz Media and Sports Group conducted a new study on the economic impact of the cable industry and they’re sharing some very interesting results. The report, recently released by the NCTA, shows that the cable industry in the United States (including operators, programmers and suppliers) represents economic output of well over $250 billion and supports, both directly and indirectly, roughly 1.8 million jobs.

Despite the economic recession of the past few years, the cable industry is one of the very few to continue to have had steady job creation and growth.

Across the country, cable operators directly employ 233,700 people with a combined personal income of $17.3 billion. These figures are bolstered by the 136,000 individuals that work indirectly for cable providers, such as contractors or consultants. These employees bring in additional personal income of $11.1 billion.

In Kentucky, where we serve over 60% of all cable customers, 20,000 jobs are directly and indirectly attributed to cable operators and their suppliers.  Indiana has 27,000 cable-realted jobs and Ohio has 63,000.

Over the past eight years, the industry has created 638,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Further, the cable industry has made huge investments in infrastructure and local community development.  Over the past 15 years or so, over $170 billion has been invested by cable operators in developing broadband and cable infrastructure. The study concluded by stating that “through these investment and innovation initiatives, the industry has exerted a substantial impact on the United States economy.”

 

Research firm asks about digital television transition one year later

A year after the digital transition [EngadgetHD]

It's been around a year since the transition to digital over-the-air television broadcast, and research firm Retrevo decided to figure out what Americans think about the transition a year out. As it turns out, there's still a question in many minds whether the digital transition was worth it. 

Retrevo asked 200 television viewers whether the transition was a good thing. A bare majority of 51% indicated that is was. Twenty-three percent said that it wasn't a good thing and 26 percent still didn't know a year out from the transition.

Of the respondents, 52 percent were unaffected by the transition - they didn't have to change anything about their televisions to continue watching uninterrupted. Forty-one percent had to buy a digital converter box and another 19 percent bought a new television capable of receiving digital over-the-air broadcasts. According to Retrevo 13 percent subscribed to cable or satellite before the transition, 11 percent bought a new antenna and 12 percent ended up with at least one television that went dark as a result of the digital television transition.

Last day for DTV coupons is Friday

DTV converter coupon deadline is July 31, anyone still need one? [EngadgetHD]

What is probably the final chapter in the nation's digital television conversion, the federal government wants you to know that this Friday at midnight is the last opportunity to take advantage of their digital converter box coupon program. The program, which ran out of funds to provide coupons at one point earlier this year, has continued to hand out $40 coupons for DTV boxes to over-the-air television households for the six-week period following the June 12 digital transition.

By Nielsen's estimates, around 1,000,000 homes didn't prepare for the digital transition until after June 12, based on the number of households that got prepared between June 12 and July 12. But, while digital converters will still be available after July 31 for over-the-air viewing of analog televisions, the federal government won't subsidize the cost. If you're one of the very few homes that didn't get prepared or in the more likely case that you have an older, analog television that you would like to get hooked up to cable, give Insight a call.

Kudos to Commissioner Michael Copps, who, during the transition, was the acting chairman of the FCC and to the FCC staff for the rapid recovery from what seemed to be a total failure-in-waiting.  When Congress set the date for February, little was done to provide assistance to consumers who were unprepared for the transition.  To add to the mess, the coupon program ran out of money.  The delay until June allowed the FCC to set up effective call centers and for Congress to allocated more funds for the program.

Case closed.

Some TV stations experience a loss of viewers in the wake of DTV

TV stations struggling with viewer loss on DTV [Communications, Engineering & Design Magazine]

Even though the digital television transition came and went last month with few issues, a few broadcast stations and the federal government are still dealing with some of the ramifications of the transition. Around two dozen TV stations around the country are reporting a loss of viewership since the transition due to the fact that their new digital signal cannot be received by some over-the-air viewers' antennas in some locations.

As it turns out, the stations switched their digital broadcasts from the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band to the Very High Frequency (VHF) band on the DTV deadline of June 12th. Many smaller indoor antennas, even those sold as "digital" antennas in the period leading up to the digital transition, cannot receive the stations' digital broadcasts on the VHF band.

In an effort to remedy the situation, the FCC has sent engineers to do signal testing in some of the affected markets, and the Commission is allowing some stations to boost their signal power to allow more over-the-air viewers to watch the new digital signals. According to the FCC, as of this week, around 20 percent of callers into their DTV hotline are calling in regard to this issue.

Over 2 million homes didn't make the DTV switch

Nielsen: 2.1 Million Homes Still Unready After DTV Transition [Multichannel News]

Nielsen released a follow-up survey on preparedness for the digital television transition, and it appears that just over 2 million American homes still haven't made the preparations for DTV as of a week after the transition. So it appears that there actually are some homes in America where television simply is not viewed.

As of the June 12th DTV deadline, 2.5 million households were unprepared for the transition. That represents homes without at least one television connected to cable, without at least one television with a digital tuner or at least one television connected to a digital converter box. In the week after the transition, around 400,000 homes became prepared for DTV, but 2.1 million homes were still watching static on over the air broadcasts. That represents nearly 2 percent of all U.S. homes with televisions.

Nielsen will likely have new numbers at the beginning of next month that will show more of these homes finally making the change over to DTV. Until then, if you're wondering where your channels went earlier this month, please give us a call, we would be glad to help you get your channels back.

Get a new television for DTV? Recycle the old set.

Older TVs can be recycled [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Did you replace a television as a result of last week's digital transition? If you have an old TV set to dispose of, you may want to consider recycling it. In Louisville, the Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management CyberCycle program recycles old televisions and other electronics at no charge. Many other cities have similar programs designed to keep potentially toxic materials in televisions out of landfills. Plus, the plastic, steel and copper in used electronics can be recycled and used in new products.

In Louisville, residents can take their used televisions and other electronics to the CyberCycle collection location at 636 Meriwether Avenue, Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on Saturdays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you're in another city, the Kentucky Division of Waste Management offers a comprehensive list of electronics recyclers in that state. And the Consumer Electronics Association has a great resource for locating other electronics recyclers at MyGreenElectronics.com.

Nation experiences a smooth transition to DTV

The day after the DTV transition [CNET News]

I woke up this morning to find that my niece in California was among those who lost her television on Friday night.  Prominently posted on her Facebook page, she announce that she was "among the 20 million Americans" without television.  I promptly posted onto her wall the following message.

From your loving uncle, the Cable Guy -- If 20 million American homes really were left without television, the protests on our streets would make the demonstrations in Iran look like a frat party. The number is actually around 2 million.

So, here are the facts.  Fielding over 300,000 phone calls to their DTV hotline and 3.1 million page views at www.dtv.gov on Friday, the FCC set new records for call center volume during Friday's transition of 971 broadcast stations to digital signals. Though there are still isolated DTV issues around the country, it appears that the transition was largely successful without any widespread television disruption.

The FCC fielded consumer calls with an operator staff of 4,000 that worked around the clock to ensure that the average wait time for DTV assistance was around 4.6 minutes. Around 30 percent of calls to the DTV hotline involved issues with digital converter boxes, with most of those calls resolved by requesting users to rescan for new digital channels that came online on Friday. Another 20 percent of calls involved reception issues. Digital television signals behave differently than their analog counterparts, and many viewers in rural areas are dealing with the so-callled DTV cliff effect that in some cases reduces the number of digital television channels that can be received.

The FCC, cable operators, broadcasters and television viewers are still working through a number of isolated issues that have resulted from the nation's switch to digital television, but the reports continue to be largely positive on the nation's preparedness for the transition. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) continues to monitor transition issues, and individual cable operators are working to help consumers like my niece who were unprepared on Friday get connected to broadcast channels.

Digital television broadcasts arrive for good today

TODAY IS D-DAY
American Broadcasting Goes Digital Today

At Long Last, the DTV Transition Is Upon Us [GigaOM]

Looks like the poor fellow here is one of 2.5% of America who didn't prepare for today's end of analog television.  I'll bet he also waits until the last minute to write his term papers. 

Today marks an historic day in the history of American television that has been years in the making. Television stations across the nation will switch to digital broadcasting at noon. For over-the-air television viewers, (those who watch television with an antenna connected to their TV set) this transition has required them to purchase an analog-to-digital converter box for their televisions or purchase a television with a built-in digital tuner. Viewers with all their televisions connected to cable will watch the digital transition pass without having to make any changes.

The newly freed spectrum is going to be put to good use.  Various companies who paid billions to license some of the bandwidth for wireless applications will begin their new businesses next week while public safety organizations will be able to begin using other parts of the spectrum for advanced communications services that proved sorely lacking on 9-11. 

While the digital transition was debated for nearly  decade by Washington policy makers, originally planned for 2006, postponed to February 17, 2009, and finally delayed until today.  Earlier this year, many television stations in smaller markets switched to digital broadcasts. Today will mark the transition of the remaining stations affecting the vast majority of television viewers in larger markets. 

And while millions have been spent by cable companies, broadcasters and the federal government to inform Americans that watch over-the-air broadcasts about the preparations needed to make the transition successfully, around 2.5 percent of households still aren't prepared. While that number has been cut in half since the previous February deadline, many American television viewers still will need additional assistance in the coming days after regular programming ceases on analog.  Our call centers are prepared for a rush of calls to help those in our service areas, especially our existing customers who forgot about that TV downstairs in the rec room that was not hooked up to cable. 

Today may have been a long time in coming, but the bright future that digital broadcasts will bring to television is finally here.

DTV: 22 years in the making

Markey: Push For Digital Standard Was Game-Changer [Multichannel News]

How long have we been working toward a digital conversion of all television broadcasts? According to Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), he's been pushing the idea since 1987. And he's absolutely right.  I personally have testified around a half dozen times about the transition over the last decade urging the Congress to move ahead with the transition.  This country's policy makers have been working for over twenty years to achieve today's digital transition deadline.

In this Multichannel News article, Representative Markey reminded us that he held the first hearing on HDTV in 1987, as then-chairman of the House Telecommunication Subcommittee, and has played a leadership role, along with Congressman Fred Upton, (R-MI), in the effort to bring today about ever since.

Markey says that "I never imagined that it would take almost 22 years to reach this moment [the DTV transition]." In 1990, Markey's efforts convinced the FCC to begin pursuing a digital standard for television broadcasts, a critical step in the process.

It wasn't until after 9-11 that the political determination to force this transition solidified.  Shocked by the troubled communications between the different emergency services in New York and Washington, members of Congress committed to using some of the freed-up analog spectrum for emergency agency communications.

It's been a long time coming but the end is finally upon us. 

Make sure you're DTV ready so you don't miss out on the Stanley Cup

DTV: The Puck Could Stop Here For Red Wings-Penguins [Multichannel News]

In other DTV preparedness news, Representative John Dingell of Michigan is warning his constituents, many of whom are fans of the Detroit Red Wings, that they need to prepare today for the digital transition. Otherwise they might not get to watch the deciding Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In an email to his constituents, Representative Dingell said:

"Tomorrow night, the Red Wings will try to make history playing for another Stanley Cup. It will be a tremendous game, but some fans will not be able to watch the game because just a few hours before the first face off, their TVs will become obsolete without a converter box. Over the next 36 hours, many local affiliates that have not switched from an analog signal to a digital signal must do so, rendering televisions that are not digital or are without a digital converter box useless."

While the original February 17th transition deadline was scheduled to avoid major television events like the Stanley Cup, today's revised deadline falls right in the middle of the NHL Championship as well as the NBA Finals. If you're a sports fan, there's a lot of incentive to make sure you're prepared for DTV so you don't miss out on some great games.

Some still unprepared for tomorrow's digital transition deadline

2.8 Million Homes Still Unready for DTV Transition on June 12 [Nielsen Wire]

Ready or not, here we go.  The digital television transition will be happening tomorrow. And while the vast majority of households are ready for America's complete conversion to digital broadcasts, there are a substantial number of holdouts that will likely be seeing static on the television screens in the coming days. Just before the transition deadline, Nielsen has released its final survey on the number of unprepared households, estimating that 2.8 million homes are completely not prepared for DTV. That's 2.45 percent of the total television viewing homes across the U.S.

The good news is that that number has declined from the 4.4 percent that were still unprepared prior to the planned February 17th transition deadline earlier this year. The bad news is that over 3 times that many homes -- over 8% of the country -- are partially not ready because, althought they have prepared for the transition on at least one TV, they still have at least one TV that does not yet have a solution. 

The Obama administration requested that Congress enact an extension to the February 17th DTV deadline, which Congress extended till tomorrow. This time there will not be an extension for the holdouts. Come tomorrow, the remaining television stations that are broadcasting in analog will turn mothball their analog equipment. Already, around 42 percent of broadcast stations have converted to digital-only broadcasting, though mostly in smaller TV markets.

Experts also expect a number of households in "fringe" areas to lose over-the-air reception even though they were prepared for the transition, highlighting the one disadvantage of digital broadcasting.  In those outlying areas, analog signals slowly deteriorate as signal strength reduced as you got further away from the TV station's transmitter resulting.  Fringe viewers were able to watch TV but they had to accept snowy pictures.  With digital signals, it's all or nothing.  You get a great picture until you don't have enough signal.  Then you get none.  In reality, signals vary due to climate conditions and some people may find their TV's working sometimes and not working at other times.  That fact will cause a long "tail" of impact for some period of time until all this settles down over the next few weeks. 

In Insight's footprint the numbers of DTV unprepared home look to be hovering around the national average. According to the Nielsen numbers, in the Louisville market, around 2.57 percent of homes are unprepared. That's just over 17,000 households. In Columbus, the number is 2.09 percent or just over 19,000 homes.

If you're one of the few remaining television viewers that has not made preparations for the digital transition, there are a few steps that you can take. While you won't have time to receive a government coupon for digital converter boxes for your televisions, you can still purchase one from most consumer electronics retailers. Purchasing a television with a digital tuner is also an option. Finally, if you're interested in receiving additional channels beyond what is available on over-the-air broadcasts, connecting your televisions to cable is a great option for preparing your televisions for the transition. If you aren't an Insight customer and you would like us to be your DTV solution, give us a call. And if you're already a customer, but don't have all your TVs connected to cable, give us a call and we'll be glad to see that all your televisions are connected and DTV ready.

Louisville area TV viewers prepare for DTV

Digital TV deadline looms [Louisville Courier-Journal]

We're just 4 days away and counting from the digital television transition. Today the Courier-Journal published an article about how television viewers in the Louisville area are preparing for DTV. According to the Nielsen Company's surveys of Louisville area viewers, around 97.6 percent are already prepared for the digital transition, either because they have cable service, a digital converter box for their TVs or televisions with a digital tuner. It was less clear if those homes that were deemed to be "prepared" by Nielsen were, indeed, prepared on all of their TV's.  I'm afraid the answer to that will not be answered until this weekend, at the earliest.

The article indicates that there are a few households that definitely still aren't prepared. The writer of this article interviewed two Louisville area television viewers that were making their final DTV preparations this week, both heading out to the store in the final days before the deadline to purchase a new television with a digital tuner. While that's one way of preparing for the digital transition - and a great excuse to get a brand new television, it's not the only way that you can prepare for digital television broadcasts.

Television viewers with all the TVs in their home connected to cable are already prepared for the digital transition, with the added benefit of not having to purchase a new TV or digital converter boxes for each TV in their home. Plus, they have access to some great programming options that just aren't available on over-the-air broadcasts. If you've waited until the last week before the DTV switch over, give us a call. We'd be glad to be your DTV solution.

Cable industry helping nation's TV viewers prepare for DTV

Cable: We're DTV-Switch Ready [Multichannel News]

Four days and counting!  By the end of this week, the remaining television stations that are still broadcasting an analog signal will transition to digital. At last week's FCC session on DTV preparedness, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's (NCTA) President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow detailed the cable industry's rapid response strategy for the final week leading up to Friday's digital transition deadline.

McSlarrow announced the reopening of the NCTA's DTV war room for a full-time response center for cable engineers to respond to any issues resulting from the transition. In addition, the NCTA plans to host a series of conference calls among various cable executives, broadcast executives and engineers "before, during and after June 12." Around 42 percent of broadcast stations have already transitioned to digital, and the NCTA stepped up to make sure the transition of those stations went smoothly during the nation's May 21 soft analog switch.

In total, the cable industry has spent over $250 million on DTV education public service campaign and a DTV call center to aid viewers in evaluating all the options available to them to prepare for the digital transition. That call center will be working overtime this week to aid the estimated 3 million households that remain unprepared for the transition.

So, if you were one of those students who wrote your term paper the night before it was due, you're probably in need of a quick digital transition solution on one or more of the TV's in your home.  Help is on the way if you simply give Insight a call. We would be happy to be your DTV solution.

FCC leading the way in final push to DTV deadline

FCC Marshalls DTV Transition Forces With Drumbeats, Bootheels [Multichannel News]

We're nine days away and counting from the June 12th digital television transition, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to use the final hours before the transition to mobilize volunteers across the country to get every television viewing household ready for digital broadcasts. Yesterday, the FCC announced that AmeriCorps volunteers along with firefighters in cooperation with the International Association of Fire Chiefs will be available to provide in-home assistance on DTV issues to the approximately three million households that still haven't prepared for the transition.

Here's what FCC Chairman Michael Copps had to say about the agency's DTV mobilization plans:

“There is no doubt we’ve made significant progress in reducing the number of consumers unprepared for the transition, but our work is far from over. For many people, free, over-the-air television is their primary source of news, information and emergency alerts – not to mention entertainment. We will continue to do all that we can to find and assist these consumers in the final days before June 12.”

In addition to the DTV volunteers, the FCC is initiating a communications plan that involves daily messaging on the transition each day between now and the 12th. Those communications will serve as a final effort to get the word out to television viewers that they need to take steps to prepare for the transition, if they haven't already done so.

Under Chairman Copps, the FCC certainly is taking a leadership role in the final push to get every American ready for digital television.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you're well aware my standard DTV statement by now. As long as all the televisions in your home are connected to cable, then you're ready for the digital transition. If not, give us a call so that we can help you finish your preparations for digital television broadcasts.  But hurry up!  Time is running out quickly.

DTV call center volume increases during testing

Early Cut-Off Returns: FCC Receives 27,000-plus Calls [Multichannel News]

Yesterday, I wrote about broadcast television stations' plans to perform simulated tests of the digital television transition in preparation for the June 12th DTV deadline. Those tests showed viewers a number to call if they needed assistance in preparing for the digital transition, the FCC's DTV call center number. Today, we're getting a better picture of the calls that were generated as a result of the DTV testing.

According to this article, at 3pm Eastern time yesterday, the FCC's call center had received just over 27,000 phone calls. That's nearly double the average daily call volume of 15,000, and doesn't count the calls received as a result of the DTV tests conducted during the evening news. Just over half the calls regarded the federal government's DTV converter box coupon program. While it doesn't take as long these days for the government to process these requests, they still take around nine days, so there's only so much time left the coupons can be shipped out prior to the transition.

As I said yesterday, if all of your televisions are connected to cable, then you're already prepared for DTV. If not, give us a call so that we can help you finish your preparations for digital television broadcasts.

Broadcast stations conducting DTV testing today

Stations Gearing Up For Soft Analog Shut-Off Test: NAB [Multichannel News]

Broadcast television stations that are still broadcasting in analog will be conducting digital transition tests today, simulating what will happen on June 12th when all stations will cease broadcasting in analog forever. Though over 40 percent of all stations, mostly in smaller markets, have already pulled the plug on analog broadcasts, the rest, which serve a very high percentage of American households, are working to prepare their over-the-air viewers that still are not prepared for next month's digital transition.

According to this article, most stations will conduct a simulated digital switch three times today. During the test, viewers shown a video that explains the transition. Those still receiving the broadcast on analog will receive a special message that tells them they're not prepared for the transition, and they need to take steps to prepare before June 12 to continue receiving over-the-air broadcasts.

Of course, cable television viewers are already prepared for the digital transition. If you're still waiting to get your television equipped for the digital transition, give us a call. We'd be pleased to be your solution to the digital broadcast transition.  And remember -- even if you are a cable subscriber, every TV in your household must be hooked up to cable or have some other digital solution in order to keep working after June 12.

Only 3.3 million Amercian homes unprepared for DTV

Fewer than 3% of U.S. Homes Unready for Digital TV Transition [Nielsen Wire]

We're just a few short weeks away from the nation's transition from analog television broadcasts to digital. And even though over 40 percent of broadcast stations have already transitioned, there are still millions of Americans who aren't yet ready for the transition. As they have for several months now, The Nielsen Company has released May's count of households that are still unprepared for DTV. This month's count totals 3.3 million U.S. households.

While that is still a large number of Americans that are heading for a static filled screen after June 12th, it's a number that has slowly worked itself lower and lower over the past five months. On February 15th, just before the originally planned deadline, just over 5 million American homes remained unprepared. And at this point, the unprepared homes represent less than 3 percent of households nationally.

From a regional standpoint, within the Insight footprint, the two reported metro areas in Nielsen's count -- Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky -- report better than average DTV preparedness rates. In Louisville, 2.42 percent of homes still need to get ready for digital television. In Columbus, only 1.51 percent of households aren't prepared.

If you're one of the few DTV holdouts that hasn't resigned yourself to watching static after the digital transition, there's still time to give Insight a call. We're ready to be your DTV solution, helping get all your televisions connected to cable, preparing you for the digital transition. And remember, even if you're ready on your main TV, all the analog televisions in your home needs a solution if you want to keep using them after June 12th.

DTV cliff effect prompts legislation in the U.S. Senate

DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act Introduced In Senate [Broadcasting and Cable]

We're less than a month away from the deadline for the nation's transition from analog broadcasting to digital. And at least two U.S. Senator are now focused on aiding homes that will continue watching over the air television from encountering the "cliff effect" of digital broadcasts. Simply put, the cliff effect is what happens when a home is out of range of a digital television signal. With analog broadcasts, the picture gradually becomes fuzzier but still watchable the further the TV is from the transmission tower.  With digital broadcasts, the signal is all-or-nothing, and would likely be nothing for the home that received a slightly snowy version of the analog broadcast. Digital television signals are also more susceptible to degradation by surrounding landforms and buildings, meaning that a mountain might have more of a blocking effect on a digital signal than it has on the older analog transmission.

Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Maine Republicans, have introduced a piece of legislation entitled the DTV Cliff Effect Assistance Act, which would allocated $125 million for the construction of digital repeaters and translator towers to push digital broadcast signals further out to homes in more rural and isolated areas. The bill would also double as a broadband stimulus bill for wireless Internet providers because the senators stipulate that the towers be made available for that purpose as well.

The legislation would not impact next month's DTV deadline, regardless of whether it is passed within the next thirty days. Remember, if you're one of those who remain unprepared for the digital transition, give us a call. Insight already has worked with thousands of customers to make sure all of their televisions are ready for DTV. We'd be glad to do the same for you.  But don't wait until the last minute or you might find yourself at the end of the cue that formed with other holdouts.

Weeks away from DTV deadline, stations asked to perform soft tests

FCC Proposing Multiple National Soft DTV Tests May 21 [Multichannel News]

As we get closer to the federally mandated deadline of June 12th for the digital television transition, the FCC is requesting that television stations perform a DTV "soft test" on May 21st. While around 41 percent of broadcast stations have already flipped the switch to digital, the FCC is proposing that remaining analog stations give viewers who still aren't prepared for the digital transition an additional reminder. These soft tests would occur during the evening news period, and simulate what happens when the station pulls the plug on analog. If a viewer is ready for DTV, then the broadcast is uninterrupted. If they're not yet prepared, the receive additional instructions about how to prepare.

We're just over a month away from saying goodbye to analog television broadcasts forever. While only a small percentage of households nationally are still unprepared for DTV, that small percentage represents millions of people who will wake up on the morning of June 13th to static if they don't take steps in the next few weeks to get ready for digital television.

And though regular readers have read it a hundred times already, here's my standard DTV statement - If all your televisions are connected to cable, then you're already prepared for digital television. Relax, there's nothing you need to do. On the other hand, if you still have one or more television sets that are going to need some help to make the transition, we'd be glad to be your DTV solution. Just give us a call.

Insight's digital migration in Louisville

Analog viewers lose Faith Channel [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Over the weekend, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported on two channel changes - one that has already happened and one forthcoming - that involve the migration of analog channels to digital. The Faith Channel was changed to a digital signal after working with us to accomplish the conversion.  In the words of Reed Yadon, the Faith Channel's general manager:

"With the competition being what it is for viewers, (we felt) we needed to have the best technical presentation that we could," Yadon said.  "At some point, analog is going away anyhow."

By moving the channel to digital, 30 percent of our subscribers who subscribe only to analog service need an option to receive the Faith Channel.  For those subscribers, Insight is offering, for one year, a specially programmed set-top digital converter that will allow analog subscribers to continue to view the Faith Channel. Analog customers with a digital television can receive the Faith Channel by performing a channel reset on their TV.

In addition to the Faith Channel, Insight will be converting Univision, the Spanish-language channel, to digital on Wednesday of this week with the same opportunities available for analog customers who wish to continue to receive the network.

These changes are not related to the current broadcasting digital transition. That's the ongoing transition of broadcast television stations to digital, which is ongoing until June 12th of this year. The digital migration that Insight is performing will allow us to free up bandwidth that is currently being used by analog channels. By reclaiming that bandwidth, we can offer our subscribers enhanced programming options like more standard and high definition video channels and faster cable broadband speeds. The bandwidth that one analog channel takes up can be replaced by up to a dozen standard digital signals.

These types of changes will continue to be made on cable systems throughout the country as the cable industry proceeds with its own digital transition, unrelated to the broadcast transition that is now scheduled for completion on June 12. 

Nielsen estimates 3.6 million homes remain unprepared for digital television

3.6 Million Homes Still 'Completely Unready' For DTV Transition: Nielsen [Multichannel News]

While several television stations across the nation made the switch to digital broadcasts last night, Nielsen reports that 200,000 more households have readied themselves for the digital transition in the past two weeks. By Nielsen's estimates 3.6 million American homes still are not prepared for the transition. Since the beginning of March, nearly 1 million households have prepared for digital television.

We're about two months away from the June 12th deadline for all remaining analog broadcasting television stations to convert to digital. If the remaining DTV holdouts continue to prepare at the current rate of 100,000 homes per week, we're looking at around 2.8 million households that might remain unprepared on June 12th unless there's a last minute rush of the DTV procrastinators to prepare for digital television.

Yikes.

Congress investigating potential shortage of DTV converter boxes

Congressmen Want To Take Stock Of Converter Boxes [Multichannel News]

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives providing oversight to the federal government's DTV converter box coupon program are concerned that the demand for converter boxes prior to the June 12th DTV deadline may outstrip the supply available from manufacturers. To that end, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Communications, Technology and Internet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher have sent a letter to manufacturers and retailers of the converter boxes seeking information about how many boxes they currently have available, the maximum number of boxes that could be made available to customers and other questions.  The chairmen are attempting to determine whether there will be enough boxes for customers who wait to the last minute to prepare for the digital transition.

Gary Shapiro, who testified on behalf of the Consumer Electronics Association in an earlier oversight hearing on DTV, estimated that 4.2 million converter boxes would be needed before June 12th. Chairman Boucher believes that the number of boxes needed could be as high as 5.5 million, basing his estimate on the number of active DTV coupons. The letter seeks to determine whether manufacturers and retailers are prepared to meet that additional estimated need for converter boxes.

Rather than relying on the government to determine whether or not there are enough coupons or converter boxes, consumers can prepare for the digital transition simply by giving their local cable provider a call. All televisions connected to cable are ready for the transition, regardless of the availability of DTV coupons or converter boxes.

Complaint filed at FCC over deceptive AT&T advertising

Bright House Files FCC Complaint Over U-verse DTV Claims [Multichannel News]

Bright House Networks, the nation's sixth largest cable operator, has filed a complaint with the FCC regarding deceptive marketing techniques employed by AT&T in Michigan. Bright House alleges that AT&T is misleading customers in that state by claiming that Bright House customers won't receive broadcast television channels after the digital transition, further claiming that the cable company will have to "rewire" customers homes at a cost of $300 to $400. Finally, AT&T's marketing claims those cable customers can get a real deal and their broadcast channels at no extra cost by signing up for AT&T's U-Verse video product.

For its part, AT&T doesn't deny that these despicable and flat out wrong claims were made to Bright House customers. AT&T blames the activity on "rogue" employees.

For the record, television viewers connected to cable are more than prepared for the digital television transition. When all broadcast stations convert to digital broadcasts on June 12th of this year, cable customers will continue to receive their channels - no "rewiring" necessary.

They might want to blame their employees for this shameful practice but it's really a lack of management  that allows these things to go on long enough for someone to feel compelled to file a formal complaint.  Sure, an occasional mistake can be made, but if AT&T really were interested in clearing up the confusion, they should invest significantly in advertising to clear up the misinformation.  Anything short of that is a passive endorsement of their behavior.

Cable creating the Broadband Nation

Here at the 2009 Cable Show in Washington DC, the cable industry has over 20,000 square feet of exhibit space dedicated to giving convention-goers and policy makers a hands-on opportunity to experience the  products and services that cable companies are bringing to consumers today and in the future. Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke cut the ribbon on Broadband Nation. After the ribbon cutting, Secretary Locke made some brief comments.

"It's impossible for an elementary school or a middle school or a high school to offer a teacher in every single subject mater that a student may be interested in," Locke said in his remarks after the tour. "But through the power of technology -- the Internet, and of course the incredible speeds offered by cable -- those students can be taking courses ... in a subject matter that's not offered in the school. There's really no reason why they can't be sitting in on lectures at M.I.T. or Harvard or Stanford."

Broadband Nation offers a glimpse of Main Street America and the life-changing technologies that cable has brought into our lives. At Dr. Al Better's office, telemedicine technologies are on display, and over at Broadband Horizon Middle School convention visitors can see a demonstration of distance learning technologies -- all powered by cable's broadband pipe. There's even a vehicle equipped with the latest 4G mobile broadband. Cable products on display in Broadband Nation include DOCSIS 3.0 broadband, tru2way interactive television, voice over IP solutions, WiMAX mobile broadband, and more.  And the U2 concert in high def 3-D is awesome. 

Thirty-five companies contributed to the technologies that power Broadband Nation's homes and businesses. If you're at the Cable Show, I encourage you to spend some time in Broadband Nation to see the neat products on display. I'm sure after you play one of the 3D video games at Broadband Theater or interact with the tru2way televisions in the Lofts on Fast Lane you will be looking forward to the day in the very near future when these products are widely available to customers of America's cable companies.

By the way, the Cable Show Blog has some video of Broadband Nation available here and here.

DTV coupon program now taking new requests

DTV Coupons Are Here Again [NYT Gadgetwise Blog]

All is right with the world again.  The federal agency responsible for the DTV converter box coupon program has cleared the backlog of millions of households that had requested a coupon after the program ran out of funds in January. The waiting list for DTV coupons was one of the main reasons Congress voted to delay the planned February 17th digital television transition deadline until June 12th. With the passage of the economic stimulus package, Congress and the Obama administration provided an additional $650 million in funding for the coupon program.

Now that the waiting list is cleared, the program is ready to process new coupon requests. There are two changes to the program that are designed to make it more user-friendly for those seeking a coupon. The first change amends the rule that prohibited those holding expired coupons (they have a 90-day expiration period) from requesting replacement coupons. Now, if you've requested a DTV coupon but procrastinated buying your converter box, the government will replace your expired coupon. Second, the coupons will be mailed using first-class postage rather than being sent bulk rate. That means everyone that requests a coupon should receive it within nine days of the request.

Even though some of the red tape is eliminated from the coupon program it's still not the easiest way to prepare for the digital transition. Households with televisions connected to cable are already prepared for the transition, at least on those TV's that are connected. If you need help preparing for the digital transition and want Insight to be your solution, just give us a call.