Many More Large Cities Set Analog Cutoff Simulations

The FCC likely will keep its DTV call center open later to answer questions from viewers in New York and other markets planning simulations, said Ion Media Executive Vice President John Lawson. The agency was to do so Tuesday night during San Francisco’s brief cutoff (CD Oct 21 p2), said KGO General Manager Valari Staab, an organizer of the Bay Area dry run. For a second day, commission spokespeople didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.

Full-power stations in Los Angeles, Washington, Hartford and elsewhere plan tests for December, Lawson said. Ion has pushed stations in cities where it broadcasts to run the tests (CD July 21 p9). It said NBC Universal and the Association of Public TV Stations will work with the company to “spearhead planned and publicized analog shut-off tests in multiple major markets.” The New York test will occur between 5:59 and 6:01 p.m. Tuesday.

Lawson expects most full-power broadcasters in Los Angeles and Washington to simulate analog shutdowns for one minute early in the evening of Dec. 2, he said. Hartford stations will do so the next day with two 30-minute tests, he said in an interview. “The idea is to simulate the real cutoff and our Hartford colleagues felt like 60 seconds would provide a certain amount of information to consumers but 30 minutes would be a more realistic test. People also need time to check different televisions within their household.” Tests will be shaped by events in San Francisco, the largest simulation so far, Lawson said.

“We expect a very high level of participation from broadcasters as well as cable and satellite” in all markets doing tests, Lawson said. Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network were prepared for the San Francisco simulation, company spokeswomen said. DirecTV gets digital signals from all stations it carries in the market, so there would have been no effect on its subscribers, said a spokeswoman. Dish also offers digital signals, said a spokeswoman for the satellite- TV company. Comcast is “working closely” with Bay Area broadcasters, said a spokeswoman for the cable operator. “We are actively involved with the test and our engineers have been working with the local station engineers. We have been doing extensive efforts nationwide and in the local market.”

As of last week, broadcasters in 81 of about 210 U.S. Nielsen markets had run soft cutoffs, said an NAB spokesman. By year-end, stations in a majority of markets likely will have done so, he added. But all broadcasters in every market aren’t likely to run a soft cutoff the same day, a tactic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and others have suggested, said the NAB spokesman. A nationwide soft cutoff would give some cable subscribers “false positives” -- meaning they'd get a warning message saying they need to upgrade equipment to get DTV -- because some cable operators run broadcasters’ analog signals, he said. “It’s a good idea but it’s difficult to execute” nationwide, he added. “This is a market-by-market granular issue that only local stations can figure out.”

Broadcasters themselves can simulate analog shutdowns simultaneously, said Association for Maximum Service TV President David Donovan. “From a technical standpoint, most of these soft tests, they're not turning off the transmitters, so it’s not really a technical issue. That is certainly within the realm of possibility and discussion,” he said. “Anything is possible,” said Lawson. However, no decision has been made, according to him and to Donovan.