The Virginian-Pilot
©
Only two local television stations - WHRO (Channel 15) and myTVZ (Channel 33) - have asked for federal approval to drop their analog signals on Feb. 17. The application deadline was 11:59 p.m. Monday.
Feb. 17 had been the federal deadline for all stations to switch to digital broadcasts. Congress recently voted to push it back to June 12 out of concern that many viewers were not prepared. President Barack Obama is expected to approve the delay. But TV stations may cut off their analog signals earlier than June 12, with the approval of the Federal Communications Commission.
MyTVZ, an affiliate of myNetworkTV, filed Monday with the FCC to stop their analog signals on Feb. 17. "We've gone through a great deal of machinations for this thing," said Bill Scaffide, the station's general manager. "We've geared up to be off the 17th, so why not be off the 17th?"
WHRO, the local public broadcasting company, filed with the FCC last week.
Bert Schmidt, WHRO's president and chief executive officer, said it would cost WHRO $87,000 to wait until June. He also cited surveys showing that more than 96 percent of local viewers are "at least partially ready" for the switch.
WTKR (Channel 3), WVEC (Channel 13), CW27 and WPXV (Channel 49) plan to maintain their analog signals until June 12.
Sam Barclay, the chief engineer at WTKR, said, “We wanted to make sure that we can continue to support our viewers and to make the least amount of hardship as possible.”
WSKY (Channel 4) won federal approval to go all-digital in November 2007.
Courtney Guertin, a spokeswoman for LIN TV Corp. in Providence, R.I., which owns WAVY (Channel 10) and Fox43, said in an email Monday evening that the stations would not apply for the Feb. 17 shutoff. But Guertin said LIN TV had not yet decided when they would go all-digital.
After Feb. 17, stations may not end analog service until March 14 and must provide the FCC with 30 days' notice.
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
If television transmitters
If television transmitters weren't so darn power hungry and huge, it would be a great opportunity for clandestine television broadcasting on the old unused analog space. Of course, most people probably pay for cable television anyways.
Good point
the consumer is going to be confused when the stations DONT shut down their analog signals
Good point. I've been seeing commercials all week for the 2/17 deadline. When it doesn't happen, people will just assume they're okay and don't need to do anything else.
doobrah, They have been
doobrah, They have been advertising this date for 2 years. I t seems to me that that would include 2 springs, 2 summers and 2 autumns to get up on the roof to fiddle with the antenna. Just my 2 cents. I've been ready for a year now, and made sure that my parents were, too.
The deadline should have been June from the beginning
Who want to be fiddling with a roof antenna in the middle of winter once analog is cut off? Not me. WHRO is being shortsighted. I may get them on my hi-def TV downstairs, but not on my analog upstairs. If they want me to watch, keep the signal on.
how is this going to confuse the viewer?
With all the advertising the local stations have had the past 6 months, the consumer is going to be confused when the stations DONT shut down their analog signals. This is the 3rd change to the deadline. The first not getting much publicity due to broadcasters themselves not having the ability to be ready. The 2nd push was to this February which has gotten a LOT of press. Now it's going to be pushed to June. Who wants to take bets that Obama tries to keep the analog cutoff from occurring during his tenure as president? After all, there will always be a percentage of the population that will NEVER be ready!