The largest simulation of the DTV switch prompted a spike in requests to the NTIA for $40 coupons to buy digital converter boxes and the heaviest day of calls to the FCC, but little viewer confusion, said government and industry officials. Thursday’s simulated analog shutoff (CD May 22 p9) took place at several hundred stations in about 130 markets at about the same time in each time zone and will be the last test of this kind, they said. It didn’t produce a large increase in calls to TV stations that took part, broadcast officials said.

Questions on Thursday’s FCC-organized broadcaster analog signal cutoff simulation (CD May 21 p8) will be answered by a total of about 725 operators at 888-CALL-FCC, said a commission spokesman. About 50 FCC employees will field calls from viewers, and the rest of the operators will come from a contractor, he said. The vendor, Teletech, still is training employees to handle calls so that about 4,000 of its workers and FCC employees can take calls June 12, said another agency official. Some at the regulator hope that viewers who haven’t yet made the DTV transition will be alerted to it by Thursday’s so-called soft analog cutoffs and apply now for NTIA digital converter box coupons instead of waiting until after June 12, the person said.

U.S. pay-TV competition increased in recent years, said all but one who opined on the subject in the FCC’s assessment of broadcasting, cable, satellite and telco video (CD April 9 p6), our review of filings found. Most agreed that competition continues to increase with the availability of online video and the rollout of telco TV. A provider of digital rights management and conditional access software was the one party to claim there’s little competition.

At least some broadcasters in 57 percent of the U.S. TV markets will simulate analog cutoffs Thursday (CD May 14 p9) as part of what the FCC called a “wake-up call for DTV readiness,” our analysis of commission data found. All or some stations in about 120 of the 210 markets will simulate the digital transition at least once Thursday. Not all broadcasters will take part in all the markets, and some stations will run information about DTV such as screen crawls instead of doing soft cutoffs. Markets where all full-power stations still transmitting analog signals will run soft tests include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle, commission data show. Markets where no stations plan to take part are mostly smaller ones. They include Anchorage, Alaska; Augusta, Ga.; Gainesville, Fla.; Oklahoma City; and Rapid City, S.D. Some stations’ plans weren’t clear midday Tuesday, the commission said. Every broadcast network and “many” stations will take part, the NAB said Thursday.

A proposed digital TV service to operate at more than 200 truck stops is becoming closer to reality, as FCC members may consider afresh approving a batch of waivers to allow for the service, agency and industry officials said Tuesday. Action on the waivers had been stalled in past months after they were circulated by Kevin Martin on his last workday as chairman (CD Jan 27 p4). In recent weeks commissioners are thought to have been eyeing the waivers and may eventually decide to approve them, said agency and industry officials. The service would deliver via low-power microwave TV transmitters local programming, weather reports and news at the rest stops.

The FCC should further deregulate media ownership in light of competition that traditional outlets face from newer technologies, former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday in one of his first public appearances since leaving the agency Jan. 20. He told a Quello Center symposium that the 2007 commission order (CD Dec 19 p1/07) approved by a 3-2 vote letting a company in some cases own a radio or TV station in the same city as a daily newspaper was a good start. Another panelist said media industry concentration isn’t very high, while an antitrust lawyer said newspapers shouldn’t get antitrust exemptions so they can compete with online news.

Starting a database on common digital caption problems and how to fix them was supported by industry and consumer group attendees at the first meeting Monday of the FCC’s DTV technical working group (CD May 4 p10). People with hearing problems and those who advocate for them spoke about many captioning issues that cropped up with broadcasters’ digital switch. Broadcast, cable and consumer electronics executives said they're aware of some problems. Fixing those that are isolated or brought to their attention a long time after the fact is hard, they said.

A total of 78 full-power stations ceasing regular analog broadcasts June 12 are willing to run limited programming about DTV in that format for up to a month more, our analysis of FCC data released last week found. Those stations “indicated interest in participating” in the agency’s analog “nightlight” program for emergency information and DTV educational messages, said a commission spreadsheet. They're in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and 37 other markets. Major cities with no volunteers yet include Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Nashville and Salt Lake City. An Office of Engineering and Technology analysis identified those that are “pre-approved as eligible to participate,” said an FCC public notice. A total of 471 broadcasters in 191 markets set to switch to digital on the 12th are in that category, our analysis found. “We urge all of the stations that are eligible to participate,” the agency notice said. Those that wish to do so and were not already identified by the FCC must tell the commission of their plans by May 26, it said.

A draft FCC order recently recirculated would let AM stations use FM translators to broadcast more completely to the entire market they're licensed to serve, said agency and industry officials. That would in turn boost the value of AM stations, said dealmakers. The new draft would limit the use of cross-band translators, sought for years by many broadcasters, to existing translators and wouldn’t allow for new ones or for them to be used to expand coverage areas, they said. In his waning days as chairman, Kevin Martin pulled from circulation a similar order without those limits, they said.

FCC members are considering more changes to a draft notice of inquiry on the methodology of Arbitron’s portable radio audience devices (CD April 28 p3), said agency officials. The latest proposals come from Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, after earlier ones were made by Commissioner Robert McDowell, they said. Some changes are contained in a revised notice now on circulation, said one commission official. The revisions highlight some concerns about the company’s Portable People Meters, the person said. Arbitron has said the PPMs are better than older ways of measuring audiences and it continues to improve the devices.