The Nielsen Co. said Thursday that 29,390 households in the Sacramento region were not equipped to receive digital TV signals as of Sunday, a month after the nationwide analog-to-digital changeover.
That was an improvement from Nielsen’s estimate of 64,000 area homes on June 12, when U.S. TV stations stopped analog broadcasts and went all-digital.
However, on a percentage basis, the Sacramento area still ranks 12th-worst on the national list of metro areas unable to receive DTV. Nielsen said 2.1 percent of the area market is not DTV-ready.
Among California communities, San Diego (2.62 percent, third-worst) and Los Angeles (2.11 percent, 11th-worst) were faring worse than the Sacramento area.
Nielsen said the Albuquerque/Santa Fe market in New Mexico was at the bottom of the DTV reception list on a percentage basis – 26,738 households, 3.88 percent of the market. Nationally, Nielsen said about 1.48 million households, or 1.3 percent, were “completely unready” for DTV as of last Sunday.
– Mark Glover