SEATTLE -
Ready or not the nationwide digital television conversion is here.
Q13 threw the switch at 9 a.m. Friday and there are still plenty of people in western Washington who are still not ready.
Wynn Bubnash is one of them. She says; "I know I've been procrastinating in getting ready for the switch. I just really wanted to make sure I could get the news. I don't watch a ton of TV but I wanted to be able to have access to the basic, the basic stations."
For cable customers, like Wynn, there are no worries where Friday's digital conversion is concerned.
Comcast Spokesperson Steve Kipp says; "If they have a cable box, they're good. If they don't have a cable box and they just have the cable hooked to the back of their TV, they're good as well. So long as they have cable, so long as that TV is hooked to cable they're fine and they'll continue to receive the broadcast channels after Friday."
At the downtown Seattle YWCA this evening 100 of the boxes that had been donated were distributed to YWCA residents like Ariel Watts who didn't qualify for a coupon and couldn't afford to buy one.
Watts says; "We're really thrilled that someone took interest in us and has provided us with an opportunity to have these boxes so we won't be cutoff from the world."
As this nationwide digital conversion passes, another within Comcast, is looming and here's what will happen.
Right now on channels 1 through 70 Comcast broadcasts it signal in analog and digital, but by the end of this year they will stop broadcasting the analog signal on channels 31 through 70. That means is you have a TV with basic cable, but no cable box, you're going to need a set top box, but there is good news there.
Comcast's Steve Kipp says; "We'll send them some set top boxes that they can install themselves at no extra charge that will allow them to see these channels in a digital format plus have access to 10, 000 titles of On Demand programming and other digital channels they don't already receive again at no additional charge."
If you Have questions, call 1-800-COMCAST. They have increased staff to help those who are still not ready for the change.
Also, the community outreach group Reclaim the Media has DTV helplines in many different languages. Call 206.988.3760 for English and Spanish, 800.582.4259 for help in Korean, 800 582.4218 for help in Chinese, or 800.582.4336 for help in Vietnamese. Reclaim the Media's website is located here.
The Federal Communications Commission put 4,000 operators on standby for calls from confused viewers, and set up demonstration centers in several cities. Volunteer groups and local government agencies were helping elderly people set up digital converter boxes that keep older TVs functioning. Any set hooked up to cable or a satellite dish is unaffected.
Around 15 percent of U.S. households don't have satellite or cable, and they tend to be poorer. Nielsen Co. said minority households were less likely to be prepared for Friday's analog shutdown, as were households consisting of people younger than 35.
A survey sponsored by broadcasters showed that Americans are well aware of the switch, thanks to two years of advertising about it. But many people simply procrastinated.
The shutdown of analog channels opens part of the airwaves for modern applications like wireless broadband and TV services for cell phones. The government reaped $19.6 billion last year by selling some of the freed-up frequencies, with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless the biggest buyers.
The shutdown was originally scheduled for Feb. 17, but the government's fund for $40 converter box coupons ran out of money in early January, prompting the incoming Obama administration to push for a delay. The converter box program got additional funding in the national stimulus package.
Research firm SmithGeiger LLC said Thursday that about 2.2 million households were still unprepared as of last week. Sponsored by the broadcasters' association, it surveyed 948 households that relied on antennas and found that 1 in 8 did not have a digital TV or digital converter box.
Nielsen Co., which measures TV ratings from a wide panel of households, put the number of unready homes at 2.8 million, or 2.5 percent of the total television market, as of Sunday. In February, the number was 5.8 million.
The Commerce Department reported a rush of latecomers to the coupon program: It received 319,990 coupon requests Thursday, nearly four times the daily average for the past month. In all, the government has mailed coupons for almost 60 million converter boxes. The limit is two coupons per household.
Q13 threw the switch at 9 a.m. Friday and there are still plenty of people in western Washington who are still not ready.
Wynn Bubnash is one of them. She says; "I know I've been procrastinating in getting ready for the switch. I just really wanted to make sure I could get the news. I don't watch a ton of TV but I wanted to be able to have access to the basic, the basic stations."
For cable customers, like Wynn, there are no worries where Friday's digital conversion is concerned.
Comcast Spokesperson Steve Kipp says; "If they have a cable box, they're good. If they don't have a cable box and they just have the cable hooked to the back of their TV, they're good as well. So long as they have cable, so long as that TV is hooked to cable they're fine and they'll continue to receive the broadcast channels after Friday."
At the downtown Seattle YWCA this evening 100 of the boxes that had been donated were distributed to YWCA residents like Ariel Watts who didn't qualify for a coupon and couldn't afford to buy one.
Watts says; "We're really thrilled that someone took interest in us and has provided us with an opportunity to have these boxes so we won't be cutoff from the world."
As this nationwide digital conversion passes, another within Comcast, is looming and here's what will happen.
Right now on channels 1 through 70 Comcast broadcasts it signal in analog and digital, but by the end of this year they will stop broadcasting the analog signal on channels 31 through 70. That means is you have a TV with basic cable, but no cable box, you're going to need a set top box, but there is good news there.
Comcast's Steve Kipp says; "We'll send them some set top boxes that they can install themselves at no extra charge that will allow them to see these channels in a digital format plus have access to 10, 000 titles of On Demand programming and other digital channels they don't already receive again at no additional charge."
If you Have questions, call 1-800-COMCAST. They have increased staff to help those who are still not ready for the change.
Also, the community outreach group Reclaim the Media has DTV helplines in many different languages. Call 206.988.3760 for English and Spanish, 800.582.4259 for help in Korean, 800 582.4218 for help in Chinese, or 800.582.4336 for help in Vietnamese. Reclaim the Media's website is located here.
The Federal Communications Commission put 4,000 operators on standby for calls from confused viewers, and set up demonstration centers in several cities. Volunteer groups and local government agencies were helping elderly people set up digital converter boxes that keep older TVs functioning. Any set hooked up to cable or a satellite dish is unaffected.
Around 15 percent of U.S. households don't have satellite or cable, and they tend to be poorer. Nielsen Co. said minority households were less likely to be prepared for Friday's analog shutdown, as were households consisting of people younger than 35.
A survey sponsored by broadcasters showed that Americans are well aware of the switch, thanks to two years of advertising about it. But many people simply procrastinated.
The shutdown of analog channels opens part of the airwaves for modern applications like wireless broadband and TV services for cell phones. The government reaped $19.6 billion last year by selling some of the freed-up frequencies, with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless the biggest buyers.
The shutdown was originally scheduled for Feb. 17, but the government's fund for $40 converter box coupons ran out of money in early January, prompting the incoming Obama administration to push for a delay. The converter box program got additional funding in the national stimulus package.
Research firm SmithGeiger LLC said Thursday that about 2.2 million households were still unprepared as of last week. Sponsored by the broadcasters' association, it surveyed 948 households that relied on antennas and found that 1 in 8 did not have a digital TV or digital converter box.
Nielsen Co., which measures TV ratings from a wide panel of households, put the number of unready homes at 2.8 million, or 2.5 percent of the total television market, as of Sunday. In February, the number was 5.8 million.
The Commerce Department reported a rush of latecomers to the coupon program: It received 319,990 coupon requests Thursday, nearly four times the daily average for the past month. In all, the government has mailed coupons for almost 60 million converter boxes. The limit is two coupons per household.
