May 11, 2008

DTV2009: NAB Wants FCC To Answer Some Wilmington Questions

Though the National Association of Broadcaster's wasn't consulted by the FCC in the planning of the Wilmington analog shut-off, they do want the FCC to look for a few things post September 8 to see exactly how smoothly things will run on February 17, 2009 when the entire country will forever lose their analog TV signals. What are those things the FCC should be looking for? The NAB says answers to the following questions:

"What is the coordination plan between the federal, state and local governments to distribute information about the Sept. 8 experimental analog shutoff?"

"How will the government ensure retailer coordination so that enough coupon-certified converter boxes will be available given the increased demand of the early shutoff date?"

"In particular, what specific actions will the government take to ensure that retailers have "analog pass-through" converter boxes available, given the low-power television stations in the Wilmington market, including one major network affiliate?

"How will the government prioritize converter box coupon application requests originating from the WilmingtonDMA, given the current national backlog of coupon requests?

"What action will the government take to ensure that national messaging or messaging from bordering markets about the February 17, 2009 transition date does not result in confusion in the Wilmington DMA?

"How will the government ensure that satellite operators accelerate their coordination schedule?

"How will the government ensure that cable operators serving the Wilmington market are prepared to coordinate in early analog shut-off and have they made plans to ensure viewability to analog television subscribers?"