Remember the 1982 tune “TV Party”? Black Flag saw the humor in television addiction, but on February 18th, 2009, some people could be singing the song’s last few stanzas without a hint of sarcasm. Less than a year is left before the switch from analog to digital signals takes place, and ten percent of American households remain unprepared.
Granted, a number of people may be waiting on government coupons for converters, and still more are probably just delaying the purchase of a new television until the deadline draws nearer.
Also, think hard: in the past dozen years, have you seen any permanent residences in which there wasn’t at least one working TV? I haven’t, which leads me to believe almost anyone who’s unaware of the switch will take action within a week of his or her set going dark.
Still, Nielsen pegs 13 million households, or the ten percent mentioned earlier, as unprepared. And Wayne Friedman notes, “Nielsen says you can add in another 6 million homes, for a total of 16.1% of U.S. TV households, because those homes have at least one TV set that would no longer work after the conversion.”
So, in case you’re among the folks who will lose their television, or you want to sing along with those who do, here are the (abbreviated) lyrics and video for “TV Party.”
