NBC 5/KXAS-TV Brian Hocker discusses transition to digital TV

by Minnie Payne

FARMERS BRANCH — Brian Hocker, vice president for Programming, Research and Digital Media –NBC 5/KXAS-TV, presented a discussion June 13, 2008 at the June Membership Luncheon for Farmers Branch Chamber of Commerce on the conversion of digital TV which will take place February 17, 2009, mandated by Congress in 2005.

According to Hocker, NBC 5, along with other local TV stations, has served North Texas well by providing quality news and entertainment programming, including important live emergency weather information.

A group of about 50 chamber members and visitors listened intently as Hocker explained that the public better be ready or their TV set may be turned into a fishbowl.

“My experience in talking to such groups as this is that some people are well educated about the issue, some people know a little something about it, and some people know nothing about it,” Hocker said.

Digital technology has been in existence, he said, for a long time in that we experience it every day with our computers and cell phones.

“The world is converting to digital, and TV stations are about to turn off the analog signal,” he said. “Digital television is changing broadcasting because it provides dramatically clearer pictures and better sound quality.”

There are 2.5 million TV households in North Texas and what switching to digital TV will mean for those households is that it will be possible for stations to broadcast multiple channels of free programming all at once, instead of broadcasting one channel at a time, he said. He added that DTV technology can also be used to deliver future interactive video and data services that analog technology can’t provide.

“Estimates are that 22 percent of those 2.5 million North Texas TV homes receive only over-the-air signals,” Hocker said. “Nationally, that figure is 17 percent which means that locally, we have a higher percentage of homes that receive only over-the-air signals.”

Hocker said that NBC 5, along with other stations, is doing everything possible to ensure that every TV is ready for DTV. One in five households are not ready in that mostly older people, one in three Hispanics, and the economically disadvantaged comprise that group.

Basically, he said that what the public has to do to switch to DTV is to either purchase a digital TV set or subscribe to a paying cable, or if you are on satellite TV as well as a service such as FIOS you should be okay. If you use rabbit ears, you have to buy a converter box.

The average cost for a converter box, he said, is $60 – Wal-mart sells them for $49. To help consumers with the DTV transition, the Government established the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program, which will allow every U. S. household to receive up to two coupons, worth $40 each. The coupons are good for 90 days after they’re received. For information on the coupon program, visit this website, or call 1-888-388-2220 (voice) or 1-877-530-2634 (TTY).

“Digital TV is available now for free,” Hocker said. “NBC 5, along with other area stations, is broadcasting a variety of programming in digital.

“Viewers simply need a TV with a digital tuner or a digital converter box hooked up to an over-the-air antenna.”

He said that the new digital TV program is an additional cost to the stations over and above the regular operating expenses, and it’s a significant capital investment for the stations. However, they all agree it will be worth it in the long run because of the additional opportunities it gives to serve the North Texas communities.