THE SWITCH-OFF of analogue television broadcasts due to take place across the US today has done little to boost pay-TV subscriptions, and could result in weeks of confusion for the millions of households facing blank screens from tomorrow morning.

Figures released yesterday by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) estimated that 2.2 million households have yet to adapt their equipment for the digital TV transition, although 440,000 of these had taken some steps such as applying for government vouchers to subsidise the cost of converter boxes.

The figure was lower than one that was released on Wednesday by Nielsen, which estimated that 2.8 million households, or 2.5 per cent of the TV market, were unprepared to receive digital signals.

Craig Moffett, a cable analyst at Bernstein Research, said cable TV companies had seen “a trickle” of additional business in the first quarter of the year before US president Barack Obama called for a delay to the initial February switchover deadline because of backlogs in the voucher scheme. “From everything we’ve heard, that trickle has slowed to a halt,” Mr Moffett said. “But what I think people are missing is the ‘morning-after’ problem.”

The “finicky” nature of digital signals means that many households relying on “rabbit ears” aerials could have trouble receiving several channels, even with converter equipment, he said.

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there is a final rush to get converter boxes and this is the trigger to call the cable guys.”

Younger, African-American and Hispanic audiences are disproportionately unprepared, according to Nielsen's research. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited2009)