DTV Switch Date Rankles TV Stations

Congress agreed to move the DTV transition date to June 12 last week, but that may be the only certainty in an issue where the seams are most definitely showing. The goal is a seamless transition through the next four months, rather than the "bungled" one overseen by the previous administration. But hundreds of stations will likely go digital on Feb. 17 regardless, which may cause the Federal Communications Commission to step in. In implementing the rules, the FCC has said that while stations may still ask to pull the plug on Feb. 17, the Commission may deny the request if it feels it is not in the public interest—for example, if all the stations in a market with high analog-only penetration want to make the switch early. So, while the date move was billed as voluntary for stations, in practice it may not be.