D-Day 2009 Commences On Their Signal

The people we are talking about are the 14 million households, according to Nielsen Co., whose sole access to television comes from an analog, antenna'd TV. Market research firm Centris says 17 million. That's 15 percent of television viewers nationwide, tops.

The demographics of analog viewers might surprise you. They do tend to have less income and education than households with paid TV subscriptions. But they also tend to be younger-- 21.4 percent of people age 18 to 25 -- than paid subscribers, according to Centris.

We envision those bright-eyed nonprofit interns, with laptops and Netflix subscriptions. The people who, as a matter of pride, don't even want to watch TV.

But if they did, the government would be right on top of it.

The FCC's Web site provides a by-the-second countdown clock to The Transition, and a 29-page list of FAQs ("What are my options for watching over-the-air analog TV broadcasts from LPTV or translator stations after the digital transition?").

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has partnered with 17 federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as 280 other partners (AARP, NAACP) to get the word out about the coupons.

Coupons?

Didn't we mention them? So intent on preserving your continued ability to watch television is the government that they have implemented the TV Converter Box Coupon Program. It provides funds for 33.5 million coupons, worth $40 each, to be applied toward digital-to-analog converter boxes, which run $50 to $80 at retailers nationwide.

The government can afford to be generous. It made $19 billion earlier this year, after all, when it auctioned off the soon-to-be-unused analog airwaves to various telecommunications companies.

Corporations like AT&T and Verizon dug deep for the rights to mess around with airspace on the 700 megahertz wireless spectrum.

Translation: Uncle Sam took your perfectly good analog so mega-corps could get more mega, but in exchange you will get more television channels and, eventually, really cool stuff on your cellphone.

About 23.5 million coupons have been requested, says NTIA spokesman Todd Sedmak, including 294,000 in this metropolitan viewing area (the number is closer to 40,000 for the District alone). "But," he warns, "5 percent of D.C. households are totally unready." This number comes from Nielsen, and includes people who have requested or redeemed coupons but haven't physically hooked up their boxes.