The DTV Transition Is Over. Let's Party!

The U.S. digital TV transition is basically over. Finished. Done. What's left: taking advantage of it.

Wait, you say. The DTV transition happens on Feb. 17. And there are still transmitters to move and antennas to install, and more than 600 stations are not even on their final digital channel assignments. And look at all these countdown clocks.

Doesn't matter. The transition is done enough. And this is great news. Because digital TV is ready for the launch party when stations vigorously promote its features and urge their communities to figure it out and tune it in.

Let's back up. Functionally, there are three distinct phases to the DTV transition.

Phase 1: full power stations turn on digital channels. This is the key activity, and it's been going on for so long that some stations have nearly forgotten that they broadcast a digital signal.

Phase 2: those stations turn off their analog channels. That is what Feb. 17 is about.

Phase 3: LPTV stations and translators catch up, on their own schedules (bless ‘em; each one will have to tell its own story).

Phase 1 has progressed enough to be useful. The NAB lists 1631 stations in 211 markets who report that they are broadcasting in digital. Markets 1 through 70 alone have 851 digital channels up, an average of 12 per market, and all but two have at least seven digital stations. That's 76 percent of U.S. TV homes right there.

Markets 71 through 150 have 535 digital signals, an average of 6.7 per market, and they represent another 19 percent of U.S. TV homes. Bottom line: over 95 percent of TV homes are in markets with decent digital channel availability. That's enough to let the marketing begin.

OK, not all of them have full power or final patterns. So they should say so and reassure viewers that, on whatever date, they will be more viewable than they are now.

Phase 2 is the analog channel shutoff. Since this date is hard, binding, and legal, it has become the centerpiece of the DTV transition messaging, and the government-industry-grassroots coalition effort to promote it has been remarkable.

Messaging tonnage has been huge (thanks in part to the FCC DTV announcement mandate) and awareness of the date is exceptionally high.

But awareness of what? This is from the FCC's DTV.gov home page: "On February 17, 2009, all full-power broadcast stations in the Unites States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital."

Here is how the NTIA's coupon Web site describes the transition: "...all full-power television stations must stop using...analog and begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format." (The italics are mine.)

The press echoes this positioning. Typical is this, from the New York Times: "Broadcast television stations will switch to a digital signal from an analog signal on Feb. 17, 2009." Even Bob Barker, in a DTV transition spot, was given this script: "In February 2009, antenna TV changes to DTV - digital television. Everything will be broadcast digitally." And you'll find this promise on dozens of TV station websites: "...preparing you for the Feb. 17 switch to DTV."

What do typical TV viewers take away? Can you blame anyone who thinks that digital TV is not here now, and that it starts in February? So why bother trying to get converter coupons or buying a converter box or hooking it up before next year?

The Wilmington, N.C., analog channel shutoff last week has given us a hint of this confusion, as well as the predictable procrastination. In the five days following the shutoff, 54 percent of the 1828 calls to the local FCC DTV hotline were from Wilmington area residents who weren't aware of the shutoff, or hadn't acted, or hadn't resolved converter box or DTV reception problems.

How well are TV stations countering the possible perception that digital TV is not yet available, or that it's too early to deal with it? Poorly. Most stations are keeping their DTV a secret. A majority of TV station Web sites do not mention whether the station is broadcasting in digital. Some of the rest might mention HDTV, if they're producing news in HD.

There's a legacy here: stations are not used to marketing "delivery." They market programming. This time, though, delivery is the message.

Meanwhile, isn't digital TV still the biggest leap forward in broadcasting technology in more than 60 years? And isn't every digital TV that goes home today capable of receiving pristine, free, HD over-the-air? As well as multicast channels that haven't even been conceived yet?

If you see the DTV transition as your future, you've got time to act. Your mission: embrace DTV as a signature product, available and ready to be "sold" now, and commit to getting your community watching your digital channels on every available platform this year. Here are six steps to success:

Be a "marketer" of digital TV. Don't just pass out information; get viewers to change their behavior. Promote DTV features and benefits; brag about your digital signal; tell your community how to tune in digital and HD (on cable, satellite, and over-the-air); do "soft shutoff" tests; get them watching. Embrace this statement on air and on the Web: "Proudly broadcasting now in digital and HDTV!"

Work together by market. Hometown viewers (and advertisers) watch several stations; they need to see consistent messages about DTV from all of them. Get all local broadcasters in the game: commercial, religious, non-commercial, foreign language, even LPTVs. The Wilmington stations have proven how effective this "common effort for the common good" can be.

Simplify the timeline. Focus your DTV marketing message on a simple, easy to grasp calendar: 2008. Tell viewers to set up digital viewing this year. Save 2009 for "last chance" messages. And the corollary is dump the countdown clock. It's fine for us insiders (we have a lot to do by Feb 17, don't we?), but to consumers, it just points at that Feb. 17 date when...when...when what?

Do a linguistic housecleaning. Review your DTV messaging. Retire "transition" and thank it for a job well done. Minimize the references to "Feb. 17." Pack up the phrase "switch to digital" and ship it out, along with its siblings, "will begin broadcasting," "start broadcasting," etc. And, yes, this includes the "Big Switch." It's done. You've switched. Digital is here, now. (If you can't let go, then put them in the past tense.)

Start profiting from the digital transition. Isn't there an electronics retailer or appliance warehouse in town that would love to be your exclusive "digital TV transition" sponsor, with their brand wrapped around your DTV PSAs, soft shutoff tests, DTV web pages, and even the "speaker's bureau" PowerPoint you carry around?

Finally, ask all your viewers for patience. Most cable and satellite viewers have figured out by now that the transition won't affect them much so they cringe when they see another DTV spot. Produce a message that says we know you see this a lot, but this is an historic, one time event, and we want it to succeed for everyone (and by the way, have you installed a converter box on your over-the-air TV in the bedroom?).

Once you're focused on turning the digital countdown into a digital roundup, it's time to start the DTV launch party.

Greg DePrez is president of MediaTides, a media marketing firm focused on digital television extensions. He can be reached at gregdeprez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

-- 
<><   <><   <><   <><   <><   <><   <><
 
Regards,
Mark A. Aitken
Director, Advanced Technology
===================================
Sinclair Broadcast Group
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
===================================
Business TEL: (410) 568-1535
Business MOBILE: (443) 677-4425
Business FAX: (410) 568-1580
E-mail: maitken@xxxxxxxxxx
www.sbgi.net
===================================
"The best executive is the one who
has sense enough to pick good men
to do what he wants done, and
self-restraint to keep from meddling
with them while they do it."

~ ~ ~ ~ Theodore Roosevelt ~ ~ ~ ~
===================================
"Leadership is the art of getting
someone else to do something you
want done because he wants to do it."

~ ~ ~ ~ Dwight Eisenhower ~ ~ ~ ~
===================================
"Delegating work works, provided
the one delegating works, too."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Robert Half ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-- 
<><   <><   <><   <><   <><   <><   <><
 
Regards,
Mark A. Aitken
Director, Advanced Technology
===================================
Sinclair Broadcast Group
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
===================================
Business TEL: (410) 568-1535
Business MOBILE: (443) 677-4425
Business FAX: (410) 568-1580
E-mail: maitken@xxxxxxxxxx
www.sbgi.net
===================================
"The best executive is the one who
has sense enough to pick good men
to do what he wants done, and
self-restraint to keep from meddling
with them while they do it."

~ ~ ~ ~ Theodore Roosevelt ~ ~ ~ ~
===================================
"Leadership is the art of getting
someone else to do something you
want done because he wants to do it."

~ ~ ~ ~ Dwight Eisenhower ~ ~ ~ ~
===================================
"Delegating work works, provided
the one delegating works, too."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Robert Half ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~