Nielsen: Millions of Analog-TV Homes Unready
By Mark Fleischmann May 30, 2008 — Nearly 10 million American homes are "completely unready" for the DTV transition, according to a Nielsen Media Research survey quoted by The New York Times. They are part of a larger group of 25 million with at least one TV that will stop functioning when analog broadcasting ceases in February 2008.

Nielsen describes 9.4 percent of households as completely unready and another 12.6 percent as partly unready. An earlier survey by Centris predicts that 9.2 million households will lose at least some channels. But the Nielsen survey, more oriented to advertisers, goes into greater depth about viewers and their habits.

Hispanic and African-American households will be disproportionately affected. Spanish-language stations will lose 27 percent of their primetime audience, versus 17 percent for primetime viewing in general.

Older households are better prepared than younger ones—in fact, 65-plus year olds are among the best prepared. Should the Convert Your Mom campaign be retargeted to Convert Your Kid?

The shutdown of extra sets in kitchens and bedrooms will cut into the audiences for early morning and late night shows.

One ray of hope: The number of partly unprepared households dropped from 23.6 percent to 22 percent between January and April. This has occurred just as the first DTV-transition public service ads have gone on the air. As the deadline draws nearer, and the campaign intensifies, more households will presumably make the switch to DTV, buying new sets or installing federally subsidized set-top converters.