Broadcasters in Several Cities Decide against DTV Tests
Wilmington, N.C., stood alone as a Sept. 8 DTV test market in the FCC’s announcement last Thursday (CED May 9 p5) because broadcasters in at least six other markets snubbed the commission’s request to participate, FCC and industry officials said Friday.
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TV stations in six to 10 other cities were asked to take part in the pilots, we're told. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Commissioner Michael Copps and other commission officials made the requests, industry officials said. The FCC selected 10 cities whose stations had finished building digital facilities and won’t switch channels after Feb. 17, said a person familiar with the process. Fort Myers, Fla., Santa Barbara, Calif. and Youngstown, Ohio, had been on the list but were removed from consideration, said the source. Yakima, Wash., and others remained, Robert Rini and other broadcast lawyers said. Agency staffers identified Wilmington and six other prospects -- Lexington, Ky., Gainesville, Fla., Columbus, Ohio, Madison, Wis., Shreveport, La., and Harrisonburg, Va. -- a commission spokesman said.
But broadcasters in those six cities snubbed the FCC request, industry lawyers said. Some stations were wary of making an early analog switch because they already had run public-service announcements telling viewers Feb. 17 is the date, said Rini, John Hane and other lawyers. There also was fear that CE retailers might not have enough DTV converter boxes in stock in time for the test, they said. And some stations hadn’t finished their digital build-outs after all, Rini and others said. “It creates a level of uncertainty for stations, and I think that level of uncertainty causes people to pause,” Rini said. Public Broadcasting Service affiliates in many cities ruled out participation out of worry about hurting fund-raising and other activities, he said.
Broadcasters elsewhere may do limited tests, such as one trial planned by 11 central Florida stations, said Hane, Rini and others. Those stations said they'll stop broadcasting in analog for three brief periods before Feb. 17 to promote the permanent cutoff. “You learn a lot from that, because you see who notices,” Hane said. “If you're a commercial station, you're just worried about loss of viewership,” although that’s likely to be temporary.
Copps took part in conference calls with general managers of properties in markets the FCC identified, and may continue to encourage participation, industry lawyers said. In Wilmington, stations “were encouraged by the sensitivity the commission expressed to the concerns that they would encounter and appreciative of the support that the commission and its staff are offering,” said industry lawyer Wade Hargrove. “Everybody is holding his or her breath and preparing to take a flying leap.”
As for the Wilmington test, NTIA data show RadioShack and Wal-Mart having the most stores, 10 each, redeeming coupons in the Wilmington DMA, which Nielsen says has just under 180,000 TV homes. The DMA includes households in the 284 “Zip3” area and parts of 14 other ZIP codes. Residents there had ordered 20,387 coupons through May 2, NTIA data show.
Six area RadioShack stores are company-owned and the rest franchise-operated, the data showed. Of other chains redeeming coupons in the Wilmington market, Best Buy, Circuit City and K-mart have two stores each and Sears five, NTIA data show. There are also five single-store independents actively redeeming coupons: Bob’s Electronics, Shallotte, N.C.; Direct Depot, Wilmington; Wallace Drug Co., Wallace, N.C.; Page Audio-Video Appliances, Warsaw, N.C.; Bobby Denning Furniture, Mount Olive, N.C.; and Sutton’s Radio & TV Service, Mount Olive, N.C.