Digital TV Off to a Smooth Start

For most US television viewers, the transition to all-digital broadcasting amounted to a minor hiccup at most. But the industry estimated that 12 million homes had not installed the necessary converter boxes, putting them at risk of losing TV altogether. Across the country, television stations set up help lines and community organizations held events to aid confused viewers. Most stations didn't receive the flood of calls they had expected, a sign that the transition was smoother than many had predicted. Most American households now pay for television through a cable or satellite company. They were mostly unaffected by the switch, which will allow state-of-the-art wireless services and emergency communications to exist on the newly available analog spectrum space. The Federal Communications Commission's DTV help line received 317,450 calls on Friday. About 20% of the calls dealt with reception issues.