The FCC is asking many of the 927 full-power TV stations going al...

May 21, though some details remain to be worked out, said a commission spokesman. A goal is for stations to conduct three that day and evening lasting five minutes each, he added. “The idea is to do it three times during the day just so that you can make sure that you reach a wider range of viewers.” For those without DTV converter boxes or $40 NTIA coupons to buy them, “we wanted to make sure people have time to get a coupon,” the spokesman said. “This would be sort of a jolt for people who weren’t ready.” Some broadcasters may balk at simulating analog cutoffs for five minutes, and consider running shorter tests, industry officials said. The Association for Maximum Service Television and NAB are asking members for feedback about the timing and length of the soft cutoffs, officials at those groups said. “We want to be as helpful as we can to the commission,” said MSTV President David Donovan. The average length of broadcaster soft cutoffs is one to three minutes, said an NAB spokesman. Before what was to have been the Feb. 17 nationwide DTV transition, Media Bureau and other officials had asked and gotten broadcasters to run soft cutoffs (CD Dec 8 p2). The NAB has “always encouraged and supported the use of these tests because they're one of the best ways for consumers to determine whether or not they're ready for digital signals,” said the spokeswoman. “So we are generally supportive of the idea” broached recently by the FCC for more tests, she added, “especially given how close it is to the final deadline.”