DTV left behind total halved

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And then some, since DTV day 6/12/09. The total number of homes lacking DTV service stood at 2.5M back then – it now stands at 1.2M. 98.9% of all US households are now able to receive DTV. The study is from The Nielsen Company.


Let’s take a look at the percentages. 2.2% of total US households were unready as of 6/14/09, Nielsen’s look two days after DTV-Day. It was down to 1.3% two weeks ago (7/12/09) and stands at 1.1% as of 7/26/09.
Among ethnic groups, major strides have been made bringing minority households into the DTV world, but there is still work to be done among all groups. Using the same three dates and starting with 6/14/09, Whites have gone 1.6%-1.0%-0.8%; African Americans 4.6%-2.6%-2.2%; Hispanics 3.6%-2.2%-1.6% and Asians 3.2%-1.9%-1.3%.

Despite, or perhaps because of the fact that the elderly were especially looked out for as transition plans went forward, they are among the least likely to be left behind. In households decribed as 55 years or older, the numbers are 1.1%-0.5%-0.4%. Households in the 35 years or less group are the single most unready demo, at 4.4%-3.2%-2.7%.

Are left behind households getting any TV over the internet? If so, it’s a minority – 60.7% do not have an internet connection.

These households are not well off financially, either. 54% have household annual income of $25K or less; and 29% are in the $25K-$50K range.

RBR/TVBR observation: It looks like the remainder of the left behind group is pretty hard core. We will be very surprised if further government investment is not needed to take DTV the last mile.