The Great Digital Conversion

According to Bloomberg News, the FCC reports that viewer ratings for stations that have already switched to digital only over-the-air broadcast signals have dropped nine per cent. Read the full story here.

Most stations are waiting for the June deadline, which Congress earlier this year pushed back from February.

I suspect that, whenever this goes down, some people are going to have problems. Delaying the switchover isn’t solving anything; it’s just delaying the problems.

Here’s an excerpt:

Television stations that switched to exclusively digital broadcasts in February suffered a decrease in viewers of more than 9 percent, the acting head of the Federal Communications Commission said today.

Those broadcasters acted ahead of a June 12 deadline for all major TV stations to cease sending analog signals. Congress delayed the date from Feb. 17 over concern some viewers won’t be ready. About 4.1 million households, or 3.6 percent of homes with TV, can’t get digital signals, according to Nielsen Co.