Next DTV Test Market: Jacksonville?
Rep. Cliff Stearns Tells FCC Chairman Kevin Martin City Would Be Willing to Follow Wilmington, N.C.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/10/2008 7:50:00 AM
Could Jacksonville, Fla., be the next digital-TV-transition test market?
At a hearing on the DTV transition in the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee Monday, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said he thought the city would be willing to be the second city to pull the plug on analog early.
Wilmington, N.C., TV stations agreed to pull the plug on their analog signals Sept. 8 to help the Federal Communications Commission gather information on the nationwide switch Feb. 17, 2009.
When asked by Stearns whether the FCC would consider Jacksonville, Martin said he would be happy to. Stearns said he would contact the market. Martin also said several Florida cities were identified as markets that would be ready to pull the plug early, although none had so far volunteered.
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Adding an add''l market as an early test can''t hurt, but a more effective plan would be to expand the concept from Orlando of briefly shutting down the analog over-the-air signal for planned, brief intervals across all stations and all markets. Nearly all stations are already transmitting a digital signal, so frequent, early "testing" (by replicating what will happen in Feb 2009) will help incent consumers to act prior to Feb 2009 to prepare for the transition.
Jay - 6/12/2008 8:10:00 AM EDT -
That''s s good point. The markets should be tests where there greatest number of non-cable/non-dish households.
Eric Post - 6/11/2008 11:45:00 AM EDT -
This is getting silly. I see little need for these "tests". Taxpayers are paying a fortune for "education" when some people are just not going to find out until Feb 17. I think by now everything has been reasonably done to notify people. If anything, there would be a greater need in markets that have the biggest over the air watchers. I doubt the markets that have been "tested" qualify.
matt headley - 6/11/2008 9:50:00 AM EDT
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