Research and ratings firm Nielsen has unveiled new estimates indicating some 6.5 million U.S. households—or about 5.7 percent of U.S. homes—aren’t ready for the digital television transition, scheduled (for the moment!) to take place on February 17, 2009. These numbers are actually an improvement over similar estimates released in December (which indicated from 7.8 million U.S. homes weren’t ready for the transition) but still represent a stunningly high number for a technology transition that has been increasingly publicized for over two years.
Tag Archive: Albuquerque
Verizon Switches On V Cast Mobile TV
Mobile phone operator Verizon Wireless has flipped the switch on what it surely hopes will be a major new revenue channel as it rolls out high-speed wireless technologies: V Cast Mobile TV, the first commercial mobile television service in the United States. Developed by Qualcom’s MediaFlo gorup, the service is available only in a limited number of markets in 20 states and only works with the $199 Samsung SCH-U620 handset, but it’s a very good bet Verizon will extend availability and add support for additional devices going forward (think LG). In the meantime, V Cast Mobile TV offers access to up to eight channels of television for an additional $15 per month, or $13 per month for reduced services and fewer channels.
Yahoo Selects New Time Capsule Site
A couple weeks ago, Yahoo announced a time capsule project to capture a digital snapshot of live in 2006. The Internet Time Capsule would accept submissions from Yahoo users all over the world; the data would be compressed and stored for a big unveiling when Yahoo turns 25 years old in the year 2020. Yahoo would feature time capsule submissions on its home pages, and also planned to project selected submissions on the walls of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, from October 25 to 27.
USDTV To Team With LG On Digital TV
“USDTV, an over-the-air TV subscription service based in Salt Lake City, will begin including the LG components in set-top-boxes planned for shipments beginning the fourth quarter.”
“LG’s chip advances will make over-the-air digital TV reception easier for millions of viewers, and this is a critical milestone for our company and our broadcast partners,” said Steve Lindsley, chairman and chief executive of U.S. Digital Television Inc., in a statement. “The continued evolution of reception technology, coupled with tremendous improvements in compression and storage, will help broadcasters compete for pay-TV revenues well into the future.”
USDTV Announces Wireless TV Service
Subscribers must buy a $99 set-top box from regional electronic chain stores and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlets. They also have to pay a monthly fee of $19.95 — compared with than cable and satellite service bills that range from about $30 to over $100 per month.
The company has already launched the service in Salt Lake City, Utah, where it where it is based, with more than 25 channels and plans to debut in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Las Vegas, Nevada in the next 30 days. It plans to launch in 30 major markets by end-year.
Broadband To Dominate In Large U.S. Markets
From comScore’s press release:
comScore’s research revealed that San Diego has become the first metropolitan market in which a majority of Internet users connected to the Web through a broadband connection rather than a narrowband service. Further, the analysis found that among the largest 50 markets, San Diego, Boston and New York led the nation in the usage of broadband connections.



