Low-Power Broadcasters Worried about DTV Transition

(5/24) When the digital transition occurs in February, viewers who get their signals from low-power stations and translators may find themselves in the dark. An executive with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) told the heads of a dozen state broadcast associations in a conference call two weeks ago that it is hard to find DTV-to-analog converter boxes that pass through an analog signal. Without such boxes, millions of viewers could have a hard time getting signals. Many low-power stations will likely continue to broadcast in analog after the Feb. 17, 2009, digital deadline, when full-power stations must pull the plug on analog. According to Amy Brown of the Community Broadcasters Association, a low-power TV lobby, the state associations asked to join the call were generally those with the highest numbers among the nation’s 6,000-plus translators. Those include Utah, with an estimated 10% of the nation’s total; and Idaho and Montana, mountainous states where the full-power TV signal needs a boost to reach tough terrain.
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