Even though Congress passed a bill Wednesday delaying the mandatory digital TV transition to June 12 so millions of viewers will have more time to get prepared, some broadcasters may switch before June anyway.
Sinclair Broadcast Group's local Fox affiliate, Fox 17, told viewers that it planned to switch to digital on Feb. 17, despite the congressional blessing to delay. The general manager for the local station and an attorney at the company's corporate office in Maryland could not be reached Thursday for additional comment.
Whit Adamson, president of the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, said he expects some broadcasters in the state to go digital at least some time before the new June 12 target date.
More than 30,000 households in the Nashville area, or 3.5 percent, are completely unready for the digital TV transition and stand to lose signals when broadcasters make the switch in the coming weeks or months, according to a survey issued Thursday by media research firm The Nielsen Co.
Nashville's CBS affiliate, WTVF—Channel 5, will wait until June 12, said Debbie Turner, president and general manager. The NBC affiliate will wait to make a decision, according to Elden Hale, general manager and vice president of WSMV-Channel 4. Nashville Public Television wants to make the switch Feb. 17 but will wait on Federal Communications Commission approval, a spokesman said.
The local general manager of the ABC affiliate, WKRN-Channel 2, could not be reached.
Adamson said broadcasters and others spent more than a year on a public information campaign to let people know the digital transition was going to occur Feb. 17.
"We had it all ready to go and now (Congress) made a mess out of it,'' said Adamson, who prefers that the entire state or at least entire media markets go digital at the same time.
"If you advertise the end of the world, you're not going to get everyone to believe it," he added.
The National Association of Broadcasters estimated that it has devoted more than $1 billion of media time to the educational effort. Local cable or satellite TV subscribers don't have anything to worry about in this conversion.
But those who rely on over-the-air signals need a converter box or TV that's digital-ready. Most new TVs are ready for the digital switch. A television set is ready if it has a digital tuner or is labeled "ATSC."
Lack of coupons has hurtA problem for many viewers, though, has been that the federal government ran out of promised coupons to help them defray the cost of buying digital converter boxes needed for older TVs.
The Department of Commerce ran out of the digital converter coupons in mid-December. Each household can request two coupons valued at $40 each. The converter boxes cost $40 to $70.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who helped get the delay bill passed as chairman of the House subcommittee on communications, said he hopes broadcasters don't switch until 99 percent of their households have access.
"It's in their best interest,'' he said. "They run the risk of a massive dislocation. Their ratings, upon which they charge advertising, are based on the number of people who watch them."
Telecom analyst firm Stifel Nicolaus & Co. said this week that at least 479 broadcast stations have already gone all-digital or told the FCC they plan to turn off their analog signals by Feb. 17.
But there are questions as to whether some stations will be able to do so, given FCC interference protections and channel reassignments, the analysts said.
Smyrna car dealer files for bankruptcy
Creating a Tax Strategy for 2009
Washington Report: Lobbyist Groups Active
Peterbilt in Madison to stay shut until 2010
