6 million may lose digital TV reception

[Sid Schweiger]

>>I was sort of taken aback yesterday when I heard Elliot do a Jordan's ad
touting this concept.  He basically said that one year from today, you "could" be unable to receive shows on your current television - even if you just bought it.  He went on to
tout Jordan's Furniture's "solutions" - which include models all the way up to a $1,900 LCD TV.

While what he says is fundamentally true i.e. you "could" be unable..., to me, this marks a big change in their original advertising paradigm - "fact tags, plain
truth, easy sell & underprices" to using the age-old Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt to get customers in the door.<<

There's nothing non-factual or even "fear, uncertainty and doubt" about it, and lots of "plain truth."  Unless you have cable or satellite (which face their own deadlines for digital conversion in 2012), analog TV will cease transmissions one year from this past Sunday.  That is set in stone (it was an act of Congress, not of the FCC), and the only thing that will pry it loose from that stone is another act of Congress.  (Many industry experts believe that not all DTV stations will be on the air as of the conversion date, but the Congressional act specifically prohibited waivers of the deadline.)

If you just bought a set, and if the retailer you bought it from was obeying the letter of the law, you have already been warned about this.  The FCC requires that consumers be warned of the 2/17/2009 conversion deadline at the point of purchase.



Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
WAAF/WEEI/WEEI-FM/WKAF
WMKK/WRKO/WVEI/WVEI-FM
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040
P: 617-779-5369
F: 617-779-5379
E: sid@wrko.com