Station Bosses Seem Confident About D(TV) Day

I’ve spoken to a gaggle of station execs today, and they really don’t seem to be sweating tomorrow’s historic shift to digital-only TV all that much. There will be a fair number of calls to the stations, and in many cases lots and lots of calls.

One station receptionist I spoke to while trying to reach the GM an hour ago expressed extreme gratitude that I was not an irate older woman responding to the station’s decision to shut off analog today. The receptionist told me one particularly furious viewer shouted “This is the United States of America!” at her, as in, who are you to turn off my TV channel?

But all in all, station bosses seem to think their markets are in good shape for the switch, and they’re eager to put the big day behind them. With any luck, they won’t be stuck in the station all weekend answering phones and helping troubleshoot.

“We’re in great shape and we’re ready to go,” said Gray TV boss Robert Prather, who has eight stations ready to turn off analog.