Are Broadcasting Stations Ready?
Broadcast & Cable’s news on August 2008 said that a new FCC report disclosed that 97% of broadcasters are either on the air with their digital signal at full power or will be by Feb. 17, 2009. 56% (1002 stations) have fully constructed facilities ready for the transition, 41% of the stations (716) said they are not done with construction but expect to be ready at full power by February 17th. 502 of those said they were making good progress, other 234 cited special circumstances, including 10 that had to coordinate with Mexico, five that had Fish and Wildlife clearance issues. Regarding extensions, according to the Washington Post, the National Association of Broadcasters said that some of its member companies voluntarily agreed to extend until March 4, 2009 (2 weeks after the shut-off) the availability of local analog broadcast signals to cable, satellite, and telecom TV operators, among those, ABC, NBC, ION Media Networks, Univision, Telemundo, Gannett Broadcasting, and Hearst-Argyle
