This Is Only a Test: Vegas Station Simulates Analog Shutoff

KVBC Las Vegas conducted a simulation of what will happen at the stroke of midnight on Feb. 17, 2009, when full-power stations across the U.S. cease broadcasting in analog. During each of the station's seven daily newscasts on May 2, the station stopped feeding its normal programming into its studio-to-transmitter link and instead ran a brief clip of simulated static. Overlaid on the fuzzy screen was a graphic instructing befuddled viewers to call 888-DTV-2009 or DTVanswers.com, the industry's official sources for information on the transition. The simulated blackouts, which included footage of an actual cable being pulled, began with Friday's 5 a.m. newscast. KVBC anchors explained to viewers that those who could still see them after they "pulled the plug" have nothing to worry about come February 2009 -- those who got only white snow, however, need to act now to make their sets DTV-ready.
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