All but One Full-Power Station to Be All-Digital by Feb. 17
All but one full-power U.S. TV station are poised to be broadcasting in digital by the Feb. 17 analog cutoff, an FCC status report on the transition said. Among all stations, 1,797 have told the FCC in Form 387 filings (CD July 9 p13) or “unofficially reported” that they'll be ready for the DTV transition, said a Media Bureau report dated Aug. 18 but released late Wednesday.
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“The data show that the Commission’s processes,” many adopted in a Dec. 31 order, “have provided stations with the tools necessary to ensure a successful digital transition,” the report said. The agency has processed 649 applications for post-transition facilities, it said. It said 1,002 broadcasters, 56 percent of the total number of “active stations,” have built DTV facilities. Another 41 percent haven’t finished construction but “report making appropriate progress” and expect to be operating at full power by Feb. 17, the document said.
Three percent of stations, or 56, won’t be transmitting a digital signal to all viewers by Feb. 17, but will start “final digital operations” shortly after, the FCC said. “The flexibility is available for stations needing additional time due to ‘unique technical challenges’ such as top mount/side mount” antennas that must be moved, “weather-related issues, or coordination with other stations,” it said.
Such “challenges” will occur in northern states, where bad weather may mean antennas must be moved, Association for Maximum Service TV President David Donovan said in an interview. Yet “you're looking at essentially 100 percent compliance in build-out,” he said. An NAB spokeswoman declined to comment. An FCC spokeswoman declined to characterize the report, which she said is part of agency oversight of the digital transition. A commission official termed the results positive, even though broadcasters must do more work to finish DTV construction.