Almost 200,000 households in the Washington area rely solely on over-the-air television broadcast signals and will lose television service after the February transition to digital, according to Nielsen statistics.
The numbers represent 8.6 percent of television households in the Washington-Hagerstown television market and place the region on the Federal Communications Commission’s list of high-priority areas for educational outreach about the transition.
FCC officials announced Monday that the five agency commissioners and other staff will travel to each of the 82 priority markets before February to host public events about the initiative and to work with local broadcasters and radio stations to expand their number of public service announcements about it.
“This is not a reflection of a particular concern we have, but it is a general concern to make sure we’re doing all we can,” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said.
The groups most vulnerable in the transition are seniors, people with disabilities, minorities, non-English speakers and those with low incomes, officials said.
The switch from analog broadcast to digital is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2009, at which point viewers who rely on television-set antennas for their TV signals must buy digital-to-analog converters to continue receiving service.
A federal program allows all U.S. households to apply for up to two $40 coupons to help pay for the cost of a converter box, which usually run between $40 and $80 at electronics stores.
About 60 percent of the Washington-area households that need the boxes have applied for the coupons, according to estimates this month from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
