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Stations in the area will make the digital transition on September 8, 2008

Most TV watchers know that the digital transition is coming on February 17, 2009. That is the date set by the FCC when all TV broadcasts over-the-air (OTA) in the U.S. must be made with digital signals rather than the currently used analog signals.

The FCC announced that the first market in the U.S. to make the transition from analog to digital signals (PDF) will be Wilmington, North Carolina. According to FCC this specific five-county market was chosen because it was one of the limited number of potential test markets where all the commercial stations had already completed the construction of their DTV channels.

The date agreed to by the FCC and the stations in the market for the change from analog to digital broadcasts is September 8, 2008. However, there are a couple stations in the market that will continue after the September 8 transition date to broadcast analog programming including the local PBS station, which will broadcast both analog and digital and one local low power station will continue to broadcast analog only.

The FCC says that this first trial is very important to be conducted ahead of the national digital transition so that issues and problems can be found and remedied before the entire nation makes the transition. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement, “On March 3, 2008, my colleague, Commissioner Michael Copps, suggested that the Commission engage in real-world experience readying broadcasters and consumers in advance of the upcoming digital transition, including test markets that would switch to all-digital service before February 17, 2009.”

“ I commend the Wilmington broadcasters for their pioneer spirit to go first to help the entire country prepare for the final transition to digital on February 17, 2009. This experience will help us to spot issues that we need to address elsewhere in the country before next February.”

The stations in the market all volunteered to be in the test rollout and will switch to digital broadcasts on September, 8 2008 at 12:00 pm. The FCC says it is working with local retailers to assure the availability of convertor boxes for those who will need them on older TVs not equipped with an internal digital converter.

DailyTech reported in January 2008, that the FCC made a rule change to allow for stations to make the digital transition earlier if needed to meet the transition deadline. Wal-Mart has had cheap digital convertors in stock for a long time now in most areas.


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I cant wait
By AlphaVirus on 5/12/2008 12:20:48 PM , Rating: 2
This whole transition is such a great move.

I hate going to people's houses and they still have bunny ears and we have to readjust the antenna every time the screen gets fuzzy.

Of course everyone should prepare for the outcry of people who do not prepare and their tv will only show the few low powered stations; if anything shows at all.




RE: I cant wait
By SlingXShot on 5/12/2008 12:46:33 PM , Rating: 3
I'm sure those people with antennas don't care about watching tv. When they start losing channels, it will be the lowest priority for them to buy a digital tuner. Either they will just stop watching tv or eventually few to several months buy the digital tuner or get Cable TV,Sattelite,etc. The point is people who watch max 5 channels that get broadcasted analog, don't care enuf..


RE: I cant wait
By akugami on 5/12/2008 12:57:39 PM , Rating: 2
I disagree, there are many who watch a few network shows they might like (although most are crap) and more importantly they watch the news. They don't watch much but they do use the TV for news and weather.

Paying $25 for a digital converter box will not be a huge price to pay. That's after the $40 government coupon card. Each household is eligible for two. I installed one of them in just such a person's house and the reception was much clearer than his old analogue channels. Philadelphia is the area, South Philly to be more precise.


RE: I cant wait
By FITCamaro on 5/12/08, Rating: -1
RE: I cant wait
By tastyratz on 5/12/2008 2:40:30 PM , Rating: 2
The converter box is not offered to squash the American woes of poor people missing the new episode of csi.

The broadcast tv is a requirement to receive news and important worldly event information if we were in crisis.
just like the radio it would be a connection to the outside world.
If the local power grid or communications were knocked out people could huddle around their tv on a generator to learn about shelter or progress on the war.

I think its fair to say we should provide converter box subsidization however I think it should require low income qualification.
People are going to just get a box because they can and its mostly paid for... That's going to come from my taxes.


RE: I cant wait
By superkdogg on 5/12/2008 2:52:39 PM , Rating: 4
Umm, your conservatism got the best of you here.

If watching TV isn't a right, then the FCC wouldn't regulate it and the government wouldn't have the authority mandate a switch in broadcasting technology. The FCC didn't mandate that PS3 output 1080p-that's the difference.

The most important duty of any democratic government is to provide the citizens with a reliable means of gaining the information they need to make informed choices on policy and representation-hence TV is a right in this day and age and policy and precedent support this statement. This philosophy was laid out by the founding fathers and you'll find a newspaper of record everywhere as guided by law, since that was the technology they had in that time.

Take your "blah, blah, get a job stop watching TV blah, blah" someplace else. Your ignorant statement would take away the right to watch the news from millions of elderly and disabled people. That's very patriot of you to pick on the weak so openly. If their radios suddenly didn't work because of a change in broadcast technology should we force them to stand outside to see if the tornado is going to hit their house?


RE: I cant wait
By Wolfpup on 5/12/2008 3:55:50 PM , Rating: 2
Not to mention, just because someone doesn't have cable doesn't mean they don't enjoy TV, and it doesn't mean they aren't discerning in what they watch. Not everyone has that much money to throw around every month.


RE: I cant wait
By callmeroy on 5/12/2008 4:06:01 PM , Rating: 2
Watching TV is not more a right as driving your car.

While the argument that tv is a vital communication / news platform of the modern age is rather valid - its still not a right.

If you think the FCC regulating it is what makes it a right, I have to question do you know what the FCC is --- I mean beyond what the letters stand for? :)

In short the FCC exists out of need in our modern times (and yes there are some people who'll even dispute that point).

While I admit your story on why the FCC is involved and why the government needs to subsidize it, etc. is more heart felt from a patriotic perspective, teh real reason is much less exciting and more stone cold.

In short extremely short that is and very watered down layman terms -- its to free up frequencies and broadcast space in our modern society of exponentially increasing amount of wireless gadgets and doodats....phones, pdas, mobile computers, navigation systems, heck even cars have computers in them that link up and transmit data across networks these days.....the broadcast spectrum is a busy place.


RE: I cant wait
By superkdogg on 5/12/2008 4:29:37 PM , Rating: 2
That was a good explanation of the reason for the changes in the transmission/reception equipment, but I'm not sure that it really comments on whether or not TV or driving are rights or are priveledges.

I give you that it's hard to prove that having a TV and/or a station to watch is a right. But when the context of TV's role in information and safety is combined with the fact that nobody is giving away TV's, but rather subsidizing the cost of keeping a TV able to function, there's merit to the idea.

The 'stone cold' reason that you mention is that 9/11 proved that just when communication is most important is when the system failed. It proved definitively that the broadcast spectrum needed more room for emergency personnel.

I'll probably stay out of this thread from now on, but one more thought is that imagine the lawsuits against the government for systematically removing the infrastructure that allowed the hundreds of millions of analog TV's to work, and for dictating that nobody else could use that portion of the spectrum. There's no doubt the subsidy was cost-effective and a reasonable olive branch to offer all those people that it would infuriate. People still have to get out and buy a tuner, even at reduced cost, which is still a burden forced on them by the government's need to reclaim stuff that was previously free.


RE: I cant wait
By Spuke on 5/12/2008 5:46:31 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
People still have to get out and buy a tuner, even at reduced cost, which is still a burden forced on them by the government's need to reclaim stuff that was previously free.
They'll get over it. And even after the lawsuits (if any) are done they'll STILL have to buy a digital cable box.


RE: I cant wait
By Sulphademus on 5/13/2008 11:58:39 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
The 'stone cold' reason that you mention is that 9/11 proved that just when communication is most important is when the system failed. It proved definitively that the broadcast spectrum needed more room for emergency personnel.


While there may be that need, the groundwork and technology for the transition was being developed long before 2001.


RE: I cant wait
By biohazard420420 on 5/13/2008 12:59:43 AM , Rating: 2
Just for the record the US is not a democratic form of government. We are a Constitutional Republic a democratic form of government is mob rule which we are not. Please no political replies just correcting a small error.


RE: I cant wait
By superkdogg on 5/13/2008 8:44:51 AM , Rating: 2
Democratic is an adjective and I used it correctly in that our citizenship has the right to vote. I didn't capitalize it because I was describing the voting privilege, not naming the type of government which you correctly identified.


RE: I cant wait
By theapparition on 5/13/2008 8:26:21 AM , Rating: 2
Nice try.

First off, it's not a right, simply because it's not listed anywhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The FCC regulates the use of frequencies of the EM spectrum, not on the content of that spectrum.

I like how you also bring out the founding fathers reference too. Yes, laws are required to be published in newspapers, but even the founding fathers recognized that you had to pay to buy the paper. If you don't pay to get the paper and take time to read it, than it's not the governments fault for you being mis-informed.

Like the Florida balloting mess, it all comes down to this. You have the RIGHT to vote, but you also have the RESPONSIBILITY to make sure you know how to vote.

Television, however, is not a right. If you don't have reception, there is not a congressional inquiry and government people showing up to put a satellite dish in your yard to ensure that your "rights" are not violated. You have to buy that yourself. Do you see the difference?


RE: I cant wait
By superkdogg on 5/13/2008 8:47:52 AM , Rating: 2
Wait, wait. Did you just say that all rights are included in either the constitution or the Bill of Rights?

Did you then say that the FCC doesn't regulate content?

OK, just checking.


RE: I cant wait
By theapparition on 5/13/2008 1:08:23 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Wait, wait. Did you just say that all rights are included in either the constitution or the Bill of Rights?

Yes

quote:
Did you then say that the FCC doesn't regulate content?

What I meant was that they can't tell a station to run news or report on anything "public". If every station suddenly wants to run "All Brittany Spears all the time", they don't have any power to stop that.


RE: I cant wait
By DigitalFreak on 5/13/2008 9:23:16 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
The FCC regulates the use of frequencies of the EM spectrum, not on the content of that spectrum.


So how is it that the FCC can fine stations for indecency?


RE: I cant wait
By joegee on 5/12/2008 6:59:13 PM , Rating: 1
Watching TV is not a right, but the catch-22 is that every single US citizen, whether they're 9 days old, 99 years old, a job holder, or unemployed, owns the frequencies the broadcasters license. For that reason, each of these individuals is entitled to receive unencrypted signals broadcast on those frequencies.

To facilitate that reception the converter box program was launched. The monies that pay for the converter box program come, in part, from the licensing fees paid by those broadcasters for the right to exploit a national resource (terrestrial broadcast frequencies.)

As other posters point out, it is also in our national interest, as well as in the interest of public safety to assure that those who are capable of receiving an instant, universal method of communications may do so, regardless of whether or not they watch Jerry Springer every afternoon. :)

-Joe