6 million may lose digital TV reception

[Roger Kirk]

The February 09 deadline applies primarily to people using antennae.  
Cable and satellite users have little or nothing to worry about.  And, 
based on the tone of the ad, I'll bet that Jordan's sales pitch will be 
unlikely to start with a converter.  Since a large number of television 
viewers use cable, the Feb 2009 deadline affects a lesser segment of the 
population. 

The ad did not qualify the statement by saying "if you don't have cable 
or satellite" and "use an antenna or rabbit ears".  Thus, IMO they are 
sowing the seeds of fear, uncertainty and doubt to a significant number 
of people "who have nothing to fear but advertising itself"



Sid Schweiger wrote:
>>> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>