The National Association of Broadcasters said Thursday that, according to a new poll, 77% of the viewers in Wilmington, N.C., could identify Sept. 8 as the date when the plug would be pulled on analog signals there.
That comes with two weeks to go.
NAB characterized that as "near-universal" awareness of the switch. About 14,000 households are over-the-air only in Wilmington so, excluding out-of-market viewers and applying that 77% figure, that would mean about 3,200 people in Wilmington who still hadn't gotten the message.
But NAB is not done. Stations were holding a DTV expo Thursday, NAB was planning more countdown TV spots as the day approaches, and it was sending its TV "Trekker" road show, a truck shaped like a TV set, around the market to make the point as well.
The survey, conducted by Smith-Geiger LLC for NAB, found that, generally, 97% of Wilmington residents had "seen or heard" that the broadcasting industry was going digital.
