Audio Video News

The Federal Communications Commission has fielded more than 900,000 calls since analog television broadcasting was shut down on Friday June 12.

Friday saw the peak, with 317,450 callers flooding the 888-CALL-FCC help line. Another 145,403 calls followed on Saturday and 62,949 on Sunday. The largest share, 28 percent of callers, wanted help setting up the set-top boxes that would keep their antenna-dependent analog TVs running, while 26 percent had trouble receiving a specific TV station, and 23 percent had broader reception issues. The 235,000 calls for information about the federal government's $40 subsidy for set-top box purchase were referred to the Commerce Dept. agency handling the coupon program.

What may be a little weird here is that fewer than a million antenna-dependent analog-TV households have called--but that leaves a lot of others unaccounted for. Depending on whose figures you look at, the number of DTV-unready households is 2.8 million (Nielsen), 2.2 million (Smith Geiger, excluding those who have bought boxes but not installed them), or 1.75 million (latest survey from the National Association of Broadcasters). That still leaves quite a few homes that have presumably given up TV-delivery service without a whimper. Maybe they'll get around to it in the next few weeks, during which the FCC expects to continue its outreach programs. Maybe they've become cable or satellite subscribers. Or maybe they're just reading books.

Roughly half of the nation's TV stations made the DTV transition on February 17, the originally scheduled date for the whole country. The June 12 deadline covered the other half, including most major-market stations, so Friday's analog shutdown was the one likely to cause the most trouble.

Worried about the supply of converter boxes or antennas? Supplies both are "adequate," says an FCC News Release (PDF). "While some stores may be out of or awaiting shipments, other stores in the same markets had boxes available. And both antennas and converter boxes were available from on-line retailers."

Finally, here's the inspirational quote of the week from acting FCC chair Michael Copps: "The FCC is in the midst--not the end--of the DTV transition. Our call center remains open, our teams are in the field, and our web site, www.dtv.gov, is updated to reflect the kinds of problems viewers are having. This was never going to be an easy transition, as I have said many times. It appears to have worked well for the majority of over-the-air viewers, but for those who are experiencing a less-satisfactory outcome, we are committed to staying on the job to help."