Some Chicagoans Still Clueless About DTV

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 26, 2009 5:40PM

Despite months and months of TV commercials, repeated ad nauseum, warning about the imminent switch to all-digital television broadcasting, it appears that there are still some folks who don't quite get it. As reported in today's Trib, last week the FCC tested the new broadcasting system in 125 markets to gauge audience readiness. The test resulted in over 55,000 calls to a help line, and of those calls about 1,300 came from the Chicago metro area -- more than any other market. 4,849 calls came from Illinois.

The switch to all-digital will finally happen on June 12, postponed from the earlier deadline of February 17. A country-by-country survey indicates that Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Andorra, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany have already switched. If Andorra can do it, so can we.

Our take? If you're still unaware of the switch and your set goes dark on June 12, you probably don't watch enough TV to have a cow about it anyway. Just request your $40 coupon and chill in front of Hulu for a spell.