Thousands of Nashville TV viewers could lose out on watching the top-rated show American Idol on Feb. 18.
WZTV-Fox 17 in Nashville has informed viewers and the Federal Communications Commission that it plans to shut off analog signals shortly before midnight Feb. 17 to make broadcasting entirely digital.
Congress recently delayed the mandatory digital switch that applies to full-power broadcast stations from Feb. 17 to June 12 because of concerns that not enough viewers are ready, but stations have the option of switching before then, with FCC approval. That means some broadcasters may cut off their analog signals long before others, leaving in the lurch thousands who aren't ready for the digital transition.
Nashville's CBS affiliate, WTVF-Channel 5, and Nashville Public Television both plan to wait until June 12. WSMV-Channel 4 and WKRN-Channel 2 also plan to delay their switch to digital, according to Whit Adamson, president of the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters.
Most satellite and cable customers have nothing to worry about. But millions of people still rely on over-the-air broadcast signals through TV antennas. Those people need a digital TV or a converter box to watch TV once broadcasters turn off analog signals.
An estimated 30,000 households in the Nashville media market, or about 3.5 percent, are totally unprepared for the digital switch because they rely on over-the-air broadcasts but don't have a digital TV or converter box anywhere in their homes, according to media research firm The Nielsen Co.
The federal government ran out of promised coupons in December to help viewers buy digital converter boxes, and millions are now on a government waiting list.
Lost viewers may costStanley Scherr is one of those who haven't gotten prepared.
Scherr, a Nashville songwriter, describes himself as "old school," having recently gotten a computer but without connecting it to the Internet at home. He wonders whether Fox 17 "is going to lose thousands of viewers and that's the last thing an advertiser wants — fewer viewers."
Laramey Lawson, senior vice president and media director of advertising agency Gish, Sherwood & Friends, said that a loss of even 3.5 percent of the potential viewing audience could mean a loss of advertising revenues.
"It could reduce ratings and what we're able to pay,'' he said.
The WZTV station manager and the attorney for its parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, could not be reached Tuesday.
The company's sister stations in the Nashville area, WUXP-MYTV30 and WNAB-CW58, which air shows such as Judge Judy , Seinfeld and Two and a Half Men , also plan to go all-digital the night of Feb. 17.
The switch is part of the federal government's mandate to broadcasters to switch to all digital signals in order to free up airwaves for emergency communications and for sale to telecommunications companies.
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