Nielsen: Viewing Rebounds After Early Post-Analog Decline

A temporary dip in television viewing after the transition to digital TV broadcasting has ended. Viewing levels have been returning in the ensuing weeks, according to Nielsen. Nielsen also says that most of the homes that got digital-ready in the months just prior to the switch did so by installing a converter box rather than signing up for a multichannel service, though that multichannel pick-up number was still over 20%, and translated to hundreds of thousands of new homes. Nielsen attributes the drop in part to households that had to re-scan for DTV channels or get a new antenna after the switch, noting that the stations most affected by the switch were those that moved from a UHF DTV channel to a VHF DTV channel.