Wilmington, N.C., to be First—and Only—DTV Test Market
The city of Wilmington, N.C., will be the nation’s first digital TV test market, in cooperation with commercial broadcasters and cable systems, Mayor Bill Saffo confirmed late Wednesday. The test will be announced by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin at a Thursday press briefing, said Saffo, who'll be on hand to field questions. The test likely will be the only one in the U.S., said FCC and industry officials. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Wilmington’s three commercial stations will stop transmitting all signals in analog Sept. 8 and won’t resume the broadcasts, said Saffo. Cable operators in the area, including Time Warner Cable, have agreed to participate in the test, he said. Time Warner Cable will ensure system head-ends can receive digital-only broadcasts, said agency and industry officials. A company spokesman declined to comment. Saffo said he wasn’t sure whether satellite-TV providers will participate, but said all wireline pay-TV companies in the area are involved. Officials at the state broadcasters’ association didn’t return messages to comment.
The city has an extremely high portion of households buying TV compared with other markets, which will help minimize the test’s disruptiveness, said FCC and industry officials. About 93 percent of area residents buy TV, said Saffo. People who rely on over-the-air TV will have to buy converter boxes for older sets before the analog cutoff. FCC commissioners including Michael Copps had sought such a test, and Martin had said he was trying to get cities to participate but couldn’t force them to. Martin and Copps reached out to various cities to try to gin up participation, but no other market is likely to agree to take part, said an FCC official.
“I think it’s an excellent idea,” said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who has urged a market test before the analog switchoff. He said his only concern is that Wilmington “isn’t in a mountainous area and we will encounter special problems” with the transition in those areas, he said, based on experiences reported in the U.K.
The test has some risks, said broadcast and commission officials. Because Wilmington is a small city, ranked the 135th market by Nielsen, and has few over-the-air-only homes the trial may not find glitches that could arise in larger markets with more terrestrial TV viewers, they said. Saffo said the city will work to ensure that over-the-air viewers get converter boxes if they have older sets.
Martin plans a DTV-related announcement at 2 p.m. Thursday, the FCC said late Wednesday, without being more specific. Executives from participating broadcasters are expected to appear at the press conference, said FCC and industry officials. Wilmington’s participating commercial stations are ABC affiliate WWAY, WECT of NBC and WSFX-TV of Fox, said Saffo. The city’s PBS affiliate, WUNJ-TV, won’t participate, he added.