Wilmington getting the message

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A survey of television households in DTV laboratory case Wilmington NC reveals that almost 90% are aware that the DTV transition is imminent. But there is still a disconnect when they’re asked if they know exactly how imminent. Only 18% correctly identified 9/8/08 as Wilmington’s DTV-Day, while 26% were still hung up on 2/17/09. Jonathan Collegio, NAB VP of DTV, attributes that in part to the relatively recent announcement of the early date for Wilmington. But the market’s proximity to Myrtle Beach SC and Greenville-New Bern NC means that 66% of Wilmington viewers watch broadcast stations from those outside markets. That in turn means that they are receiving conflicting information on when they need to be ready for a DTV-only broadcast environment. “Controlling this factor appears to be one of the biggest challenges of the Wilmington experiment,” said Collegio. NAB is working with stations and retailers to iron out the problem.