• by Joe Mandese , December 11, 2007

Awareness of the U.S. broadcasting industry's transition to digital spectrum in February 2009 is increasing among Americans, but the segment of the population least aware is the one likely to be most affected - households that receive their programming exclusively from over-the-air signals - finds a new study released Monday by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM).

The study, based on a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers in November, shows generally good progress is being made by the TV industry's consumer awareness campaign. Nearly half (48%) of U.S. households say they are aware of the impending digital TV transition, vs. 29% in a survey conducted in July 2005.

Groups most aware of the implications of the transition include broadband service subscribers (45%), digital cable subscribers (40%), and basic cable subscribers (39%). Only 31% of so-called over-the-air households were familiar with the transition. CTAM estimated that 17% of the survey respondents were from over-the-air households.

The survey also found that 47% of respondents did not know when the digital transition would actually occur, and that 26% believed it would take place sometime other than 2009.

Public awareness is critical to a smooth transition to the digital spectrum, because consumers who have analog TV sets and transmission systems would be required to use a special adapter to continue receiving TV signals after the conversion.