As predicted, more than a third of the nation's nearly 1,800 TV stations will be all-digital after midnight tonight. Regulators released the list of 641 stations that will shut off their analog signal tonight, or have already.
Congress recently extended the deadline to turn off analog broadcasts until June. But many stations want to switch anyway to save money by turning off one of the two signals they now are broadcasting. The FCC had said it was concerned some markets might be without analog broadcasts from any of the top four TV networks.
That will be true in about 20 markets. But stations there have agreed to broadcast an analog channel that carries news and emergency information.
Expect other stations to make the switch before June. Without planning for it, Congress has created a rolling, disjointed, and even more confusing transition.
Dennis E. Clark of IN @ Feb 20, 2009 11:38:40 AM