Broadcasters expect to be prepared to power down analog transmitters a year from now, according to a survey from Harris conducted by New York research firm, In-Stat.
The overall response from the 100 stations polled was that they would be ready to meet the Feb. 17, 2009 deadline set by the federal government to end the DTV transition. Harris, via In-Stat, also found that HD upgrades, multicasting and multiplatform distribution would be on the upswing in the coming year or two.
- 66 percent of stations planned on doing more HD content.
- 55 percent intend to add multicast channels.
- 50 percent expect to stream live broadcast programming over the Web, and make money from it.
- 28 percent plan to transmit content to handheld devices, PDAs and laptops.
In-Stat also has a DTV consumer awareness survey, (along with half of the Eastern Seaboard), which indicates a general lack of awareness of the transition on the part of the public. The Consumer Union came up with a similar finding, but the National Association of Broadcasters noted that awareness had at least doubled from the previous year.
