WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There is major confusion
among consumers about the looming transition to digital television (DTV),
according to a new survey from Consumer Reports National Research Center.
Seventy four percent of respondents who said they were aware of the
upcoming transition had serious misconceptions of its impact.
The survey also found over one-third (36%) of Americans living in
households with TVs are entirely unaware of the government-mandated
transition to digital broadcasting slated for February 2009.
"Confusion about the digital television transition will cost consumers
a lot of money for equipment they may not want or need," said Joel Kelsey,
policy analyst for Consumers Union, the non profit publisher of Consumer
Reports. "Based on these survey results, it is now clear that the
government and every media company that profits from people watching
television must do whatever it takes to make sure consumers will keep
getting broadcast TV without paying a dime more than necessary."
The federal government has allocated $5 million in public education
funding to the National Telecommunications and Information Association
(NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has requested $1.5
million for the same purpose. This is in contrast to the $400 million the
United Kingdom plans to spend on its public education campaign.
Even among those who are aware of the switch to digital broadcasts,
there is widespread confusion about what it will require of consumers.
Among those consumers who are aware of the transition, over half (58%)
believe all TVs will need a digital converter box to function, 48 percent
believe that only digital televisions will work after 2009 and nearly one
quarter (24%) believe they will need to throw away all of their analog
television sets; none of which is true.
On February 17, 2009, television broadcasters will end "analog"
broadcasts and begin sending television signals in a "digital" format. The
DTV transition will affect millions of consumers who use analog television
sets to view free over-the-air programming. Analog televisions will either
need to be connected to a digital converter box, attached to cable or
satellite service or replaced with a digital TV by February 17, 2009.
Millions of Consumers to be Affected by the Transition
Based on the Consumer Reports survey, 99 percent of adults live in a
household with at least one television, and many have two or more.
According to the survey, 15 percent of Americans live in households that
rely exclusively on over-the-air programming. If these consumers do not
take some action before February 2009 - such as buying a converter box -
over three quarters (78%) will have no televisions capable of receiving
over-the-air broadcasting. That is 11 percent of Americans adults, or
approximately 23 million people, who would be unable to watch TV.
Among paid television subscribers using analog TVs to receive their
services:
-- 40 percent of paid television subscribers would have no working
televisions if they choose to cancel their subscription, or if there is a
service disruption;
-- 6 percent of paid television subscribers have at least one analog TV
on which they currently watch over-the-air programming;
-- 46 percent of paid television subscribers indicated they would be
concerned if they were not able to receive an over-the-air signal in an
emergency service outage.
Consumers Unaware of Transition, Don't Know What to Do
Consumer Reports found a staggering lack of awareness and confusion
among consumers about the DTV transition:
-- Of those who will have at least one TV affected, nearly two-thirds
(61%) incorrectly believe they are not affected, do not know that they are
affected or are completely unaware of the transition.
-- One-third (33%) of Americans in households that will have no
functioning television after February 17th 2009 were completely unaware the
transition is happening.
The confusion doesn't end there. Consumers may rush out to upgrade
equipment, even though they may not need to:
-- One-third (33%) of consumers completely unaffected by the transition
plan to buy a converter box and 31 percent plan to purchase a new digital
television set with a built in digital tuner.
-- Although purchasing a converter box is by far the most popular
action planned by those aware of the transition, a staggering 73 percent
are unaware of the government coupon program created to offset the cost of
purchasing one of these boxes.
For more information
For the complete survey see
http://www.hearusnow.org/fileadmin/sitecontent/2007_95_DTV_Poll_Final__2_.p
df .
To find unbiased information on what their available options are,
consumers should visit http://www.hearusnow.org/tvradio/12 and
http://www.consumerreports.org/dtv.
The government coupons worth $40 toward the purchase of each digital
converter box are available by calling 1-888-DTV-2009 or visiting
https://www.dtv2009.gov/Options.aspx . Each household can apply for up to
two coupons.
Consumer Reports DTV Awareness Poll Methodology
The Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted a telephone
survey of a nationally representative probability sample of telephone
households. 1,013 interviews were completed among adults aged 18+.
Interviewing took over December 13-16, 2007. The margin of error is +/-
3.1% points at a 95% confidence level.
The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it
may not be used for commercial or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports(R)
is published by Consumers Union, an expert, independent nonprofit
organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe
marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect
themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform and protect. To
maintain our independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside
advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the
interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of our
information products and services, individual contributions, and a few
noncommercial grants.
SOURCE Consumers Union
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Related links:
http://www.consumerreports.org
http://www.dtv2009.gov http://www.hearusnow.org
CONTACT:
Jennifer Fuson of Consumers Union,
+1-202-462-6262, jfuson@consumer.org
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