We’ve run the commercials.
We’ve aired the news stories.
We’ve conducted tests to show people what systems are working and what are not.
We’ve gone to social clubs.
We’ve publicized the phone numbers, passed out the pamphlets and even started a one hundred day daily countdown.
Yet still, come February 20th, we also expect an inevitable wave of phone calls and emails all asking the same question:
WHY ISN’T MY TV WORKING?
For those of us inside the television business, the signal conversion from analog to digital taking place February 19th is the story that won’t go away, as the FCC adds requirement after requirement to make sure stations do everything possible to warn people that the platform that carries their programming is making the largest shift since color came to the tube in the 60’s.
Will it affect my bill?
No.
Do I have to do anything if I have cable?
No.
Is everyone full power already?
Not yet.
The truth is, only about 15 percent of viewers watch affiliated stations in our area over-the-air, meaning straight from the station to the home antennae.
The vast majority of people have a service like cable or satellite that will convert the signal for the viewer.
Those folks don’t have to do anything.
That other 15 percent, while not inconsequential, are still responsible for 90 percent of all the stories and commercials and warnings many of us see every day.
There really isn’t a whole lot more we can do.
But come February 20th, I expect a whole lot of people will be contacting us to ask why we didn’t do more.