Hawaii DTV Transition Deadline's For The Birds

Broadcast television stations in Hawaii are in serious discussions to make the digital TV transition on Jan. 15 -- more than a month before the rest of the country -- partly to avoid disturbance to the nesting habitat of the dark-rumped petrel near existing analog broadcast towers. The effort has involved discussions with the Federal Communications Commission and Capitol Hill lawmakers, including Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). Sen Inouye has expressed concern that the DTV transition is being mismanaged by the FCC and the Bush administration, a failure that could result in millions of phone calls from frustrated consumers without TV service next February. Time Warner Cable, the dominant pay-TV provider in Hawaii, hasn't heard from the Hawaii stations about their potential Jan. 15 transition date. Cable operators need to prepare to receive digital signals at their central facilities or headends.