San Francisco Stations to Practice Analog Cut, in Largest DTV Test
Almost all the full-power San Francisco broadcasters will briefly simulate a cutoff of analog TV signals Tuesday evening in the largest such test yet, said executives of stations in the market. Eighteen stations in the Bay Area will interrupt regular programming at 6:15 p.m. Pacific time, in the middle of the evening news for many, they said. The soft analog cutoff will last one to two minutes. Information on the digital TV transition will come before, after, and during the newscasts. Other large cities are considering similar cutoffs (CD Oct 17 p4). The tests are supported by FCC commissioners and members of a commission panel dealing with DTV.
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Tuesday’s soft cutoff will be the first of four in San Francisco and the largest anywhere by number of stations and market size, said KGO General Manager Valari Staab, who’s organizing it. About 10 stations in the Orlando area have done the tests, and Staab said broadcasters in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere may follow suit. The San Francisco cutoff will be a litmus test of sorts to gauge how many of the approximately 209,000 area houses relying on over-the-air TV are ready for digital, and leave “enough time to do something about it” by Feb. 17, Staab said. “We were really wrestling with when was too soon and when was too late” for the test, so viewers have “enough time to do something but not so much that they had too much and would shrug it off.”
The next tests will come once a month in December, January and February and will take place later in the evening and in the morning, Staab said. “We wanted to do the first one in the news so that people could take more time to explain it.” Stations will run an informational slate during the simulation, said Lee MacPherson, director of engineering for KTVU Oakland and KICU San Jose, both of which are taking part. He said sets receiving analog signals will get a warning message that reads, in part: “THIS TV IS NOT READY FOR THE DIGITAL TV TRANSITION on February 17, 2009. Please check every TV in your home, now.” Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network are working with broadcasters to make sure subscribers will get a message saying their sets are DTV- ready, said MacPherson. “We've kept all the small and large cable companies on conference calls and e-mail” lists “so that no one gets caught off guard by this test,” he added. Comcast, DirecTV and Dish representatives didn’t reply to messages seeking comment or had no further information right away.
The FCC agreed to staff its DTV call center 6 to 9 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday to take viewer inquiries, Staab said. 888-CALL-FCC can handle 10,000 simultaneous calls - the “worst-case scenario” if all Bay Area terrestrial-only houses estimated to be watching participating stations call, she said. “We're worried obviously that the Spanish-language speakers can get the information they need,” so the commission will have operators who speak Spanish, she said. FCC representatives didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.
The Bay Area’s social-services call center also will take DTV-related calls, MacPherson and Staab said. About 30 people who take calls to 211 got training on how to answer questions, they said. Since 211 can’t handle locally a surge of calls, viewers also will be directed to a toll-free number with recorded, “interactive” information, Staab said. Callers can ask a station engineer to contact them, she added.
FCC members continue to support soft tests, commission officials said. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein broached the idea in a September meeting with San Francisco broadcasters, he said in an interview. “I hope we're going to learn a lot from this. We tend to learn a lot each time this is done.” He expects broadcasters in other cities to run simulations, and wants a nationwide analog soft cutoff shortly before Feb. 17. “Broadcasters can build up to that by doing a regional one on the way to doing a national one,” Adelstein said.
Two members of the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee called the San Francisco test a good idea. Benton Foundation Chairman Charles Benton, on the committee’s DTV group, supports the simulations in markets not going all-digital early, he said. “These tests provide the next-best opportunity for consumers to know if they are, in fact, ready.” Running a test during the news ensures that the elderly, who tend to be more likely to watch than younger viewers, will get the message, he said. Consumer Action Executive Director Ken McEldowney said he believes the tests have merit. “But I think there should be some additional thought to picking a program and a time during the evening when there might be a larger number of people who need this message who might be watching. Who watches local news anymore?”