FCC Suspends Countdown Clock
Requirement will be in comment period until March 4 and could wind up changing
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/3/2009 6:20:35 PM
The FCC has decided to waive the requirement that TV stations pulling the plug on analog June 12 begin a 100-day countdown clock starting March 4.
The FCC said that since it had sought comment on the 100-day countdown requirement in a comment period that does not end until March 4, and could wind up changing that requirement. It concluded it would be "confusing for viewers to see a 100-day countdown beginning on March 4, only to see a different clock in the event that "we revise the requirement soon thereafter."
The FCC called it a temporary waiver of the 100-day countdown requirement, but in essence it is a temporary waiver of a countdown to June 12 clock requirment, since after March 4, it will no longer be a 100-day countdown.
The waiver extends until the FCC makes a final decision on the clock.
The National Association of Broadcasters had asked the FCC to reconsider the 100-day clock, saying restarting it so soon would ""decrease its effectiveness in prompting viewer action."
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