Preparations in High Gear for Stations Going All-Digital This Week
"With 421 television stations still planning to terminate analog broadcasts on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission, broadcasters and others are
working overtime to prepare consumers for the digital transition – and to try to ensure that consumers who aren’t ready for the switch will continue to have access to vital television news and emergency information.

Of the nation’s nearly 1,800 full-power televisions stations, 220 will have terminated their analog signals before Tuesday and another 421 will terminate their analog signals on Tuesday before 11:59 pm, for a total of 641 stations, or about 36% of all full-power stations nationwide. The FCC has dispatched staffers to 72 markets across the nation where the impact is expected to be the greatest, while broadcasters who are shutting down analog signals intensify efforts to notify and educate the public."

FCC REPORTS SHOW ANALOG AND DIGITAL COVERAGE OF TV STATIONS
"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released two
reports that show changes in the coverage of the nation’s full-power television (TV) stations as they prepare to transition from analog to digital broadcasting on February 17, 2009. The FCC initiated this side-by-side comparison to proactively identify the changes associated with the switch to digital broadcasting by TV stations and share the information with viewers throughout the country."


Map Book of All Full-Power Digital Television Stations Authorized by the FCC

Map Book For Full-Power Digital Television Stations Having Significant Changes in Coverage

The Digital Television Transition: No Need to Trash Your TV
"Today, Wilmington, N.C., is the first city in the nation to switch to digital-only broadcasting. EPA encourages Wilmington residents and the rest of the country who own an analog TV set and who receive free broadcasts (via rabbit ears or a roof-top antenna) to extend the life of their TV by connecting it to a digital converter box. Energy Star-qualified digital converter boxes are available for purchase.

For consumers who choose to buy a new TV, EPA recommends purchasing Energy Star-qualified sets. EPA also encourages consumers to recycle their unwanted TVs, which recovers valuable materials from the circuit boards, metal wiring, leaded glass, and plastics.

Last year Americans disposed of more than 20 million TVs, which represents a lost opportunity to conserve natural resources such as copper and iron."

ENTERING THE HOME STRETCH:MEDIA BUREAU RELEASES REPORT ON THE STATUS OF TV BROADCASTERS AT THE FINAL SIX MONTHS OF THE DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSITION
"Media Bureau shows that over 96 percent of active full power television stations are either fully operational with digital service or are on track to have their full digital service operational by February 17, 2009. In summary stations have reported the following:

· 1,002 stations (56 percent of a current total of 1,798 active television stations) reported in their Form 387s that they have fully constructed their post-transition DTV facilities and are ready for the DTV transition. The only step remaining for these stations is to terminate analog operations before February 18, 2009.

· 41 percent of stations (736) have not completed construction yet but report making
appropriate progress and expect to be operating their full digital service before February 18."

Conversion from Analog to Digital-TV – Feb. 17, 2009
"On Feb. 17, 2009, all full-power TV stations will cease to broadcast analog programming. This transition to digital television will enable more efficient use of the nation’s airwaves, providing new advanced wireless services and increased public safety services. To mark this historic transition, the Census Bureau has assembled a sampling of statistics from its publications about television and the television industry."

Direct Broadcast Satellite Carriage Of Digital Television Broadcast Signals
"The actions taken in this Order represent another step in the Commission’s
ongoing efforts to complete the transition from analog to digital television. In this Order, we amend the rules to require satellite carriers to carry digital-only stations upon request in markets in which they are providing any local-into-local service pursuant to the statutory copyright license,1 and to require carriage of all high definition (“HD”) signals in a market in which any station’s signals are carried in HD. In recognition of the capacity and technological constraints faced by satellite carriers, the latter requirement will be phased in over a four-year period. These decisions are consistent with Section 338 of the Act’s instructions that the Commission implement comparable, rather than identical, carriage rules between cable and direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”), and is supported by the record in this proceeding. As discussed below, this decision also addresses a carriage complaint and Application for Review filed by Station WHDT-DT, Stuart, Florida. The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“FNPRM”) seeks comment on the application of the statutory requirement for nondiscriminatory treatment in carriage of standard definition."