Estimated DTV Coverage Woes Worsen
By Mark Fleischmann April 15, 2008 — Remember the research firm that predicted 5.9 million antenna-dependent U.S. households would lose at least some channels after the DTV transition? You know, the survey that convinced the Federal Communications Commission to do further field testing to gauge the extent of the potential problem? Well, that same firm has now upped its estimate, predicting that 9.2 million households will have reception problems. But what's a few million more angry viewers between friends?

The latest research by Los Angeles-based Centris pegs the number of U.S. antenna-dependent households at 17 million, of which 54 percent are in "challenging reception areas." Centris defines challenging reception as four or fewer broadcast channels from a small to medium omnidirectional rooftop or indoor antenna. Ten percent of these households will receive only one channel and another 24 percent will receive none at all.

Bottom line: Many households planning to use a set-top box to keep an old analog TV going will also need to upgrade to a more sensitive antenna.

Here are what Centris calls "the top ten most at-risk TV markets":

1. New York
   
2. Boston (Manchester)
   
3. Philadelphia
   
4. Los Angeles
   
5. Washington, DC (Hagerstown)
   
6. Seattle-Tacoma
   
7. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
   
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul
   
9. Atlanta
   
10. Cleveland-Akron (Canton)