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The early switch to digital for 421 TV stations in the U.S. on February 17 took place without any major problems. Between the switchover date and February 19, the call center had received about 70,000 calls.
There was no major fallout from shutting off analog signals for about one-quarter of the stations on the original transition date. These 421 TV stations joined 220 broadcasters that had already made the switch.
The FCC is preparing to release an order on the next step in administering the date-move bill, including whether to let stations start pulling the plug on March 14 (or another date) to help call centers and outreach programs prepare for the next wave. March 14 is the earliest date that stations that didn't switchover to digital on February 17 can begin pulling the plug, as long as they've informed viewers and the FCC.
FCC chairman Michael Copps says that they are not out of the woods yet because two-thirds of TV stations have not made the switch.
Copps had said that there could be confusion and dislocation with the switch, but delaying the transition date has helped prevent some of that. He explains, " 'thanks to the movement of the deadline, we did not have anything like the extent of disruption we would have experienced had every station in the country gone completely digital on Tuesday [February 17].' "
Copps likened the partial transition to a larger analog shutoff test. He says that delaying the switchover date " 'gave the FCC, broadcasters and our other partners in industry and the communities a chance to test, on a broader scale, the mechanisms we have in place to help consumers. And we could test those resources without overwhelming them.' "
Source: Cartt, 02/22/2009
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