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On September 8, 2008 at noon, Wilmington, North Carolina pulled the plug on analog TV and became the first market in the U.S. to go all digital.
A call center at Southeastern Community College received around 75 calls after the switch, mostly from Columbus County residents who could not watch WECT-TV. A call center in Bladen Country, meanwhile, got at least 25-30 calls.
By 5:30pm, WECT-TV had 82 calls. General manager Gary McNair says that the bulk of the calls were probably viewers who lived close to the station's analog transmitter, which is no longer working. He was surprised at the number of calls to the various call centers, but is confident that the kinks will work out over time.
McNair explains, " 'I'd venture to say that given the right equipment, you can pick up our signal anywhere in the market. Now, it's the education process for those who didn't get it.' "
WWAY-TV general manager Andy Combs says that his station received just a few calls, mainly from viewers with minor technical glitches.
WILM-TV only received about six calls. Station general manager Constance Knox points out that " 'awareness in the market was so high that we didn't expect a lot of calls.' " He also suggested that other markets work on a soft launch prior to the switchover date in February. He says, " 'consider shutting off a week or two early because there's just not enough help for people who wait to the last minute.' "
Melody Prevette, worker at the call center at Southeastern Community College, explains that problems could have been averted if more people knew they could test their converter boxes before the shutdown at noon.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin points out that, " 'the measure of success here in Wilmington is not what happens today or tomorrow here, but it's what we learn from it.' "
According to the National Association of Broadcasters, the four major network-affiliate stations that switched to digital received a total of 226 calls from viewers. Just one of those calls was from a viewer who was surprised by the switch. The other calls were from viewers who had set up their converter boxes incorrectly, needed help adjusting their antennas, or had other problems receiving a digital signal. In addition, some people were still waiting to receive their $40 coupons for converter boxes.
Combs says that the lesson for these calls is that stations " 'need to urge their viewers to upgrade early so they can have their converter box ready to go and determine whether signal reception will be an issue in their household. Many reception issues are generally easy to resolve, but in some cases, in some areas, folks may need a better antenna. It's best to figure all of that out ahead of time.' " He adds that overall, the consumer-education program in Wilmington " 'got the job done.' "
The FCC reports that it received a total of 797 calls to its hotline from Wilmington viewers on the first day of the cutoff. This number dropped to 424 the following day.
Here is a breakdown of those calls:
- consumers who were unaware of the transition (23)
- consumers who were aware but did not act (67)
- consumers who had problems with the converter box coupon program (87)
- consumers who had initial difficulty with their converter boxes (161)
- consumers who had reception and technical problems (178)
- consumers complaining about not receiving Wilmington signals (232)
- other problems (49)
Sources: Broadcasting & Cable, 09/08/2008, Wall Street Journal, 09/09/2008, Broadcasting & Cable, 09/09/2008, Broadcasting & Cable, 09/10/2008
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