Dick De Jong
February 17, 2009
HDTV Solutions

February 17, 2009. Today was supposed to be the day, the day that all the full-powered TV stations in the U.S. would stop broadcasting analog signals and switch to digital.

This day was heralded as a tectonic shift in how we watched TV. Well, that earthquake has turned out to be more of a tremor because Congress voted to extend the deadline to June 12, 2009.

Of course, since for over three years, the FCC has been prodding almost 1,800 of the nation's T.V. stations to be ready by February 17, you can imagine that many of the station owners are not too happy with the delay. Simply, it's costing them money to broadcast both analog and digital.

Therefore, the FCC reports that 421 television stations are still planning to terminate analog broadcasts on or before 11:59 p.m. February 17. In fact, an additional 220 stations have already switched completely to digital. Doing the math, that means 36% of the stations in the U.S. will have made the transition by February 18.

More stations wanted to make the move, but the FCC did not believe that it was in their community's interest and they were not granted permission.

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps stated, "Of the stations that told us they still planned to terminate on February 17, we identified 106 stations in 41 markets as being particularly problematic. Within the last few days, 43 of those stations reconsidered their decision and will stay on the air with analog service. That reduced the number of problematic markets from 41 to 20.

Copps continued, "With respect to those remaining markets, we have attempted to ensure that analog viewers continue to have access to local news and vital emergency information."

The solution is a service called "enhanced analog nightlight", which stipulates that "the top-four affiliates must keep at least one analog signal on the air to provide programming that includes, at a minimum, local news and emergency information."

One of the major reasons cited for extending the deadline involved the DTV converter box coupon program, which ran out of money last year causing a backlog of around four million requests for the $40 coupon.

If you are one of those households that are waiting for your coupon, the new economic stimulus bill that President Obama signed today includes funding for the program. The National Telecommunications Information Administration, which is overseeing the project stated today that they can fulfill the waiting list within two or three weeks.

If you haven't applied for a coupon, you still can. Go to this website dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009.

For more information on the DTV transition, please read our article, Countdown to the Switch to DTV.

Here is the link to the FCC's complete list of all full-power stations, with those making the transition on or before February 17 in bold red type.

Stay tuned.