Wilmington, N.C., to Pull Analog Plug Early
FCC Chairman to name Wilmington, N.C., as DTV test market
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/7/2008 2:20:00 PM MT
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will announce Thursday that he has selected a guinea pig TV market to conduct a test of the digital switch, according to an industry source familiar with the plan: Wilmington, in his home state of North Carolina.
An FCC spokesperson would not comment, but the FCC put out an advisory on a DTV-related event for Thursday. Wilmington mayor William Saffo said he had been contacted by the local ABC affiliate and that the network affiliates in his market--which reach about 400,000 viewers, he says--are planning to pull the plug on analog TV on Monday, Sept. 8, 2008, five months before the Feb. 17, 2009, hard date.
Saffo said that local stations and the FCC had been working on the early analog exit, but that he had only learned two days ago that his market was going to be the test-bed for the transition. "We're going to be number one in the country," he said.
He said he had had discussions with the FCC Wednesday about it and would be at the press event Thursday in Washington. "We want to make sure that all the questions that our citizens are going to ask be addressed, that we get all the information out there so they understand about the coupons and converter boxes, about what will happen and when."
Saffo said the FCC had promised to come down and talk to the city council and county commissioners about the move. He also wants the FCC to talk with emergency management personnel since the test will come during hurricane season and Wilmington is a "hurricane-prone" area.
"I want to make sure that the FCC is going to be here. I'm sure I am going to be getting a lot of calls, although it wasn't my decision, " he said. "But since I am going to be part of the process, it is important that the FCC get people on the gound as quickly as possible."
Saffo said he will work with the FCC to try to make the conversion as smooth as possible, "and make history."
The idea of a DTV test market had been pushed by Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps, who suggested it would be good to get a market to make the switch early to get an advance read on what will happen Feb. 17, 2009, when the plug is pulled on full-power analog.
"This is very good news for the DTV transition," said Copps Wednesday. "Real-world experience is an extremely important step—although only one of many—that will help minimize consumer disruption next February. Broadway shows open on the road to work out the kinks before opening night. The DTV transition deserves no less."
In March, Martin told reporters he had reached out to broadcasters to see if any are willing to hold digital-TV-transition tests in their markets.
"I don't think we have the authority to require anyone to be a test market," he told reporters at the time. “But I think if we can find someone who would offer to engage in that test sometime next fall, that would be helpful."
A Nielsen spokesperson told B&C last week that the company had had conversations with several stations about conducting tests similar to the one staged by KVBC Las Vegas on May 2. The NBC affiliate simulated an analog shutoff by switching off its normal programming into its studio-to-transmitter link and running a brief clip of simulated static. (To see a clip of KVBC's Dana Wagner "pulling the plug," click here.)
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