Nielsen: More than 9 million households still not ready for digital TV

More than 9 million U.S. households are not ready for February's transition to all-digital television broadcasting, The Nielsen Company said Wednesday.

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Those homes would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today, the company said.

Another 12.6 million households have at least one television set that will no longer work when the digital transition occurs, meaning that nearly one in five U.S. households are either partially or completely unready for the transition.

However, the programming ratings company also found that nearly a quarter of all "unready" analog television sets are being used with DVD players, VCRs or video game systems as opposed to regular TV viewing.

Under government-mandated action, all television stations are required to switch to digital programming by Feb. 17, 2009, which will leave viewers unable to receive a television signal unless they purchase digital television sets, connect to cable, satellite, and alternate delivery systems or purchase a converter box.

In a research paper released Wednesday, Nielsen reported that households headed by less-educated, lower-income and blue-collar workers are least prepared for the transition, with older, white households better prepared than their younger, African-American, Asian or Hispanic counterparts, Nielsen said.