Nielsen on standby for digital TV switchover

US-- Nielsen is gearing up for the nationwide switch to all-digital broadcasting next month, with field teams on standby to install meters in its TV ratings homes as owners ditch their old sets in favour of new digital-ready kit.

Patricia McDonough, the company's senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy, said she was planning for “a busy post-holiday season”.

In a Q&A on the firm's blog, she said: “We plan to have our field staff strategically located near our unprepared sample homes to be able to quickly respond to changes to equipment and service.”

Nielsen said in December that 6.8% of US households are still not ready for 17 February, the date when TV stations turn off their analogue transmissions and switch to digital broadcasting.

Older TV sets that aren't compatible and rely on over-the-air signals need to have converter boxes installed or blank screens will ensue. Subscribers to cable or satellite television will not be affected by the transition.

“In the best-case scenario, every household that is currently unprepared will take steps necessary and there will be no interruption,” said McDonough. “In reality, that is unlikely.”

Those left without a signal come the switchover will probably be removed from the panel, McDonough said, unless they commit to become a working TV home again.

“Nielsen has always had rules for how long we can keep a sample home if they no longer have television. We are reviewing those rules and are discussing with clients how they should be applied during the transition to digital TV,” she said.

However, there is a chance the digital switch may be delayed as President-elect Barack Obama has called on Congress to postpone the transition on the grounds that the Commerce Department has run out of money to fund a scheme by which people could claim a $40 coupon to put towards the cost of a digital converter box.

A new law would be needed to be passed to push back the transition date. For more on this story, click here.

• In other news, Nielsen has already had trouble with one big transition this year – the relocation of the mainframe computing system it uses to process its national and local TV ratings.

US trade publication MediaPost reports that technical glitches resulting from the move caused several days of delays to the release of data from some of its major ratings services, including local overnight data, fast nationals and Live+7 data.

Author: Brian Tarran