The United States is scheduled to shut off over-the-air analog television broadcasts on February 17, 2009, which means folks who rely on over-the-air television reception need to either acquire a new digital-capable TV, get a converter box for their existing analog TV so they can get new digital TV signals, switch to a service like satellite or cable…or get used to looking at a whole lot of snow.
Best Buy said today it has stopped selling analog televisions and pulled all remaining stock from its shelves, signaling the end of an era as consumers increasingly move toward digital products with flat-panel and high-definition screens.
Best Buy (BBY), one of the nation’s top electronics retailers, heralded the reign of digital TVs, saying it made the move “as the end of the analog broadcast era draws near.”
Best Buy instructed stores to stop selling the products on Oct. 1. It was bound to happen at some point, Best Buy is the first among which will become many retailers to stop selling analog TVs. If Best Buy was first to stop selling them, then my bet is Circuit City will be second and so on down the list, I would venture a guess that Walmart will be last, because… it’s Walmart.
More than 60 million U.S. households rely on an antennas or analog cable, and cable operators are required to guarantee their customers will receive broadcast channels until February 2012.
Those millions of households offer a lucrative market opportunity for electronics retailers and television manufacturers alike.
“We are committed to helping people understand the digital television transition, and exiting the analog video business is one way we can help avoid confusion,” Mike Vitelli, senior vice president of electronics for Best Buy, said in a statement.
So far, American consumers seem remarkably uninformed about the pending switchover to digital television, but the help them along, leading electronics retailer Best Buy has announced it has stopped selling analog televisions, pulling all remaining analog TVs from their retail shelves and offering only digital-capable TVs. The company will also offer converter boxes to let owners of existing analog TVs tune into digital signals, and, beginning in 2008, it will also begin offering digital TV convert boxes that are eligible for discounted purchase via the NTIA DTV Converter Box Coupon Program. The coupons offer a $40 discount toward the purchase of a DTV converter box, and are intended to help low-income and otherwise disadvantaged consumers transition to digital television.
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