NAB Statement on Nielsen Report of Consumer Readiness for Digital TV

February 5, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC — National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Vice President for Digital Television Transition Jonathan Collegio issued the following statement regarding the February 2009 report by Nielsen Research on consumer readiness for the upcoming transition to digital television.

"Nielsen's measure of 'complete' unreadiness is inflated, because it does not account for people who have not installed their converter boxes yet or those who have coupons but have not yet redeemed them. Currently more than 10 million coupons are active but not yet redeemed, and NAB research shows that nearly 40 percent of converter box owners have yet to hook up their boxes. These viewers may be technically unready in the strictest sense, but they are not completely unready. To get a truly accurate snapshot of consumer readiness, the specific actions taken by these households should be acknowledged."