It’s been years since over-the-air broadcasts switched to a digital signal, requiring everyone with an old school TV and an antenna to go out and get a set-top converter box so they can drool over Mark Harmon on NCIS. But lest you think that means everyone has jumped on the digital bandwagon, there are still pockets of TV viewers living in an analog world.

Earlier this week in St. Johns County, Florida, thousands of Comcast customers got in line for new cable boxes because they awoke to find their old analog set-top box no longer functioned.

Comcast reps tell the St. Augustine Record that they have been trying to alert customers for some time that the switch to digital was coming, but some of the lined-up subscribers say it was news to them.

“Maybe I got a letter before (the most recent mailer), but I don’t remember it,” one customer tells the paper. “I’m not blaming anybody. Maybe I wasn’t a Johnny on the spot.”

In Northeast Florida alone, Comcast estimates that 300,000 people now need to upgrade their set-top boxes because of the switch.

Which equated to waits of anywhere from 30 minutes to longer than two hours for those St. Johns County residents who showed up at the Winn-Dixie parking lot on Tuesday.

“It blows,” said one customer, who claims to have only learned about the switch two days before losing his service. “I guess you got to pay for everything.”

Comcast changeover draws long lines, short tempers [StAugustine.com]

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