New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group found that 34% of U.S. households have at least one HDTV set, about double the percentage of households that had such TVs two years ago.

See the entire story from Multichannel News.

It has been reported recently that delivery of Flat Panel television sets to retailers has declined during the third quarter of 2008. This includes plasma and LED displays. While it’s not surprising that, given the current economic conditions there is a tapering off of demand for these products, what is of concern is that most of the data collected came from before the late September melt-down. Has the blush worn off?

See the full story here.

We will reach a significant milestone on Monday, November 10, 2008. On that day we will be 99 days away from the end of traditional analog television.

As a reminder on Monday, and every day until the analog shutdown, you’ll see a graphic on your screen at times during the day showing this countdown as we progress towards February 17, 2009.

The purpose, of course, is to raise awareness about the transition to digital television. There are still many households in the area that are unprepared for the switch for whatever reason: be it a lack of a converter or digital TV set, an untested converter, inadequate antenna system, or simply being unaware of the coming change. WIVB, WNLO, and all the local stations, are trying hard to get the information out there.

You should know that all local television stations in the Buffalo market will cooperate in a "soft" analog shutdown test in December and again in January. While not actually turning off our transmitters, the analog channel of each station will broadcast a graphic message saying in effect, "If you can read this message, you need to take steps to be able to use your television after February 17, 2009." The digital signal will not be affected and if you see normal programming, you need not worry.

The tests will run on December 15, 2008 at 6:28 PM and on January 15, 2009 at 7:58 PM. All the local stations are participating along with local cable companies and satellite providers.

There will be a phone bank set up to field questions from concerned viewers.
The telephone number to call will be broadcast during the test.

It is critical to contact your provider, and us, if you see the test message and are a cable, FIOS or satellite subscriber. If you do indeed see the message and are a subscriber to any of these services and DO NOT use an antenna on your set it indicates there is a problem with delivery of the proper signal at your provider's end.