A new survey conducted by Best Buy about the looming transition to DTV, revealed that while 88 percent of Americans are conscious about the DTV transition, many question the necessity for such a transition. Those polled are also unsure of what they need to do after the transition takes place.

 

Best Buy operates a portfolio of brands with a commitment to growth and innovation and provides customers with experiences by responding to their unique needs and aspirations.

 

"At Best Buy we have been encouraging consumers to act sooner rather than later to get ready for the DTV transition," said Mike Mohan, senior vice president of consumer electronics for Best Buy. "In addition to detailed information on our Web site, bestbuy.com, we have trained home theater specialists in our stores and on our dedicated hotline to help answer questions and help people prepare now."

 

The purpose of the survey was to know the length of understanding of consumers on the proposed DTV transition. The survey also found that nearly 45 percent of Best Buy consumers are going to use the “wait and see” approach when it comes to digital television broadcasts. That would mean that they will see whether their reception will be stopped or they will have a last minute scramble to get DTV-ready.

 

The switch to DTV is a because the U.S. government felt that the analog spectrum used for TV has to be freed up to other services like emergencies, public and safety services and advanced wireless services. But this message is not conveyed to more than half (54 percent) of the consumers as they question the motive behind the transition, even when 60 percent know that February 17, 2009 is the DTV transition date.

 

Other interesting and notable statistics from the survey include that nearly a third (31 percent) of TV owners don't know what type of TV they have - analog or digital. Also, the majority of consumers who will prepare, plan to subscribe to cable or satellite (43 percent) and of the households who have done nothing to prepare for the transition, one in five (21 percent) believe they simply can not afford to, while those with an analog TV incorrectly believe the cost of the converter box is $56, after the $40 coupon.

 

About one in five (18 percent) of consumers with an analog TV believe nothing will happen after the DTV transition, and that their analog televisions will look similar to how they look now.

 

Consumers who are now using the over the air broadcast will have themselves three options to cope with when the DTV transition is complete. They have to get a Digital to Analog converter or subscribe to a cable, satellite or other paid television service or they can purchase a television with a digital tuner.

 

The findings presented are the result of 1000 telephone interviews conducted using an RDD methodology from April 18-21, 2008, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media Omnibus Services. The survey was conducted among a representative sample of adult men and women aged 18 years and older in the continental United States. Data were weighted for sample balancing by gender, age, education, race and census region. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.