Nielsen Says Fewer Households Are Unprepared for DTV Transition
But Finds That 7.4% of Households Still 'Completely Unready' for Feb. 17 Deadline
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 11/25/2008 7:51:00 AM
Fewer U.S. households are unprepared for the looming all-digital TV transition as of November, but the pace at which homes are getting ready has slowed down slightly during the past month, Nielsen reported Tuesday.
Between October and November, the penetration of completely unready households dropped just three-tenths of a percentage point, from 7.7% to 7.4%, according to Nielsen.
Non-Hispanic households continue to be more ready than their Hispanic counterparts, the ratings company said. In fact, the readiness status of Hispanic households remained flat between October and November, with 12.4% “completely unready,” versus 6.7% for non-Hispanic homes in November, according to Nielsen.
The readiness of age-of-head-of-household (AHOH) 55-plus households and age-of-head-of-household 35 to 54 continues to improve, according to Nielsen. Those AHOH 55-plus homes went from 6.4% unreadiness to 5.9% unreadiness from October to November. AHOH 35-to-54 homes went from 7.3% unreadiness to 7.0%.
The readiness status for younger households remained flat between October and November, at 10.6% being completely unready.
Nielsen’s readiness data are based on sets and households in its National People Meter panel, which is projectable to U.S. television households, and its local metered panels, which are projectable to their respective television household populations.
