Digital Switchover Leaves Millions Without Television

We’ve heard for quite some time about the “Digital Switchover”. It happened this weekend. One headline read “Millions Left Without Television”. Another headline said that the switch prompted 700,000 calls to a federal hotline on Friday and Saturday alone. I suspect this a very good time for packages like Direct TV! Here’s why – despite the headlines, not everyone who used to get analog signals can get a digital picture with only a converter box. I have family who live at the bottom of a hill who got analog signals but who can’t receive digital signals even with a converter box! How many rural folks will this affect? Their choices are likely going to be to buy an expensive antenna.

Or if the antenna doesn’t work (or they fear it won’t work), these residents will have to become customers of local cable networks or select a satellite television provider like Direct TV Service. I saw a number of their trucks busily at work Saturday in the parts of the county where people live in areas not accessible it seems to the digital signal!

Initial reports are that 20% of the calls to the federal hotline were about RECEPTION issues. You see, for many it wasn’t about procrastination at all! And most of these calls were from big city areas. The largest volume of calls came from the Chicago area, followed by Dallas-Ft. Worth, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. This does not include the calls that went to individual stations themselves… thousands more! I suspect that providers like Direct TV System are getting an ear full themselves as people call and “vent” while ordering something the know WILL WORK!

Pay close attention over the next few weeks if you market satellite TV… you’ll have a very receptive audience in some parts of the country – maybe everywhere!