News: Cleveland Behind On DTV Readiness

Special to the Director's Cut
By Mike O'Mara

If you are watching Channel 3 using a trusty old TV with a rabbit ears antenna, time is running out.

Friday June 12, we're switching to the new all digital TV format, along with all major TV stations across the country.

John Gensel, a DTV expert at hhgregg is pumped up. "Its finally here, it's the switch over we've all been waiting for and we're finally moving from analog into digital."

But Gensel warns that thousands of people in the Cleveland area are still unprepared for the end of analog when those old sets that have no converter box and no digital antenna suddenly go to hash instead of video.

On Cleveland's near west side, community activists say that several thousand people could be out of luck when DTV takes effect.

Irma Colon runs the DTV walk in center at Lin's Omni Square on Fulton Road.

"Honestly, I thought I would be done with my job in a month", Colon said, "but I think I'm going to be here longer than a month because the people around here are not ready."

Mark Wojciechowski walks up to the help desk and says to Irma, "I have antenna TV and I'm looking to update to something digital. I've heard about those government coupons."

Karen Shepard is next in line with her grandchildren, Tiffany and Sammy. "I ordered a converter box and they sent a coupon," said Shepard, "but the coupon was already expired. What do I do now?".

"Quatro, quatro, quatro," Irma says in Spanish to Maria Rivera, reminding her that there are only four days left to get a converter box. Cleveland is one of the least prepared cities in the country.

Said Colon, "there are so many who aren't ready, especially Spanish speaking people. Many don't speak English very well and they don't understand all the warnings. I am trying to help."

If you need help:

The Cleveland walk in center contact number is (216) 323-3981.

HOURS FOR ALL LOCATIONS:

Unless noted below, here are the hours for the following locations.

Now until June 19: Monday - Sunday, Noon - 8 p.m. June 20 - July 31: Friday 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

LOCATIONS:

• Lin's Omni Square 3167 Fulton Road Cleveland, OH 44109 (Bilingual)


• Five Points Community Center 813 E. 152nd Street Cleveland, OH 44140


• Fatima Family Center 6700 Lexington Ave Cleveland, OH 44103


• Harvard Community Services Center 18240 Harvard Avenue Cleveland, OH 44128


• Merrick House 1050 Starkweather Cleveland, OH 44113


• Cleveland Public Library Woodland Branch 5806 Woodland Avenue Cleveland, OH 44104


• City of Lakewood Division of Aging 16024 Madison Lakewood, OH 44107

News: 100 days until DTV arrives

Special to the Director's Cut Blog
By WKYC Reporter Mike O'Mara

NORTH OLMSTED -- "Time is ticking, time is ticking!" said Mohammed Wahdah, the DTV guru at the hhGregg store in North Olmsted.

Standing by a stack of digital converter boxes, Wadah has been trying to get the message out to consumers. "Look at the beautiful picture on this television," says Wadah. "In 100 days, if you want this kind of quality, you'll need a digital ready TV or one of these converter boxes."

By law, full-power television stations nationwide must begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format on February 17, 2009. Digital television (DTV) is an innovative type of broadcasting technology that will give you crystal-clear pictures and sound, and more programming choices than ever before.

While the benefits of DTV are remarkable, millions of households risk losing television reception unless they take a few easy steps to receive a digital signal. "A lot of people are going to wake up on February 17 and then you'll hear all the complaints," said Jack Louis.

The 85-year-old Mentor man has been using the trusty aluminum antenna on the top of his house for his television sets. In fact, almost 12 percent of all televisions in Northeast Ohio are still hooked up to an antenna or rabbit ears.

"You have to put up with it," said Jack about the impending digital change. "The government is forcing your hand on this digital thing." On Monday afternoon, Louis purchased a converter box, but doesn't plan to try to install it until February.

At the hhGregg store in North Olmsted, Chris Musial was looking at the converter boxes. "I have cable TV for most of the TV sets in our house," she said, "but we've got a couple with rabbit ears. "The one downstairs in my laundry room is the one I had back in college. It still works and I can turn it on when I sort the laundry."

She added, "I know I've got to use a converter box 100 days from now or else the old set won't have any reception on it." Most converter boxes cost about $60. However, the federal government is offering a coupon worth $40 to help pay for the box. The coupons are available online.

Installation is fairly simple. However, be prepared to spend some time making sure your converter box and television set are in sync to pick up the new digital channels. "It's really not that difficult," said Wahdah. "But 100 days from now, nothing happens without a digital converter box for people with the old tv sets."

Until March 31, 2009, consumers can apply for up to two $40 coupons per household by calling 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009), by applying online or by mailing an application to P.O. Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. Applicants will receive their coupons in the mail.

For more information go to: http://www.dtvanswers.com/

Behind the Scenes: A Promo You'll Never See Again

As you know, we like to have a little fun here at the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center and our flip cams we use to shoot "web extras" like our daily news promos.

So, my fellow director Matt Babb decided to go behind the scenes of Mike O'Mara who went behind the scenes of me shooting our nightly promo with Producer Dan Stadler.

Slap stick comedy you'll never see again - for good reason.