Friday, June 5, 2009

One Week Away

UPDATE 5:15 PM: We have word about 2 stations in Dayton, and their switch plans.

Rich Emery sends word that WDTN-DT/TV 2/Dayton is planning to shut their analog down at Noon, while WHIO-TV/DT 7/Dayton shuts theirs off just before midnight that night.

We also have word about an FCC policy being enacted after the big switch, which Rich also sent us.

The Broadcast Law Blog reports that stations using the -TV suffix at the end of their callsign (example: WXYZ-TV) have two options: They can either retain the -TV suffix at the end of their call letters (if they use it), or change to -DT.

Likewise, stations that are already using the -DT suffix can change to -TV.

But in the case of a switch, the stations have to file a callsign change request with the FCC, and won't be charged to do so.

Original item is below.

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That's right, folks.

The digital transition is one week away...are you ready?

Here's a couple notes as we come within one week from all of Cincinnati and Dayton's full power stations going digital only:

Reminder To Rescan: We were in the FOX19 WXIX-TV/DT (RF 29) chat tonight, and the question about rescanning came up.

In short, yes you will need to rescan. WKRC-TV/DT 12 will go from digital channel 31 to channel 12. And if you're in the Dayton market: WBDT-TV/DT 26 will go from RF 18 to RF 26 post-transition.

NEW: WOTH to go DTV-Only: This is latebreaking today as well.

WOTH-LD 25/Cincinnati is planning to go all digital, reports the Enquirer in its own DTV item:
Low power Channels 25 and 38 by law can continue broadcasting in analog. But owner Elliott Block says he's shutting off analog "a couple days after" the June 12 deadline, because nobody would be watching analong here. So viewers won't see anything on analog airwaves by the end of that weekend. He has been broadcasting Ch 25/38 programs, and Retro TV and home shopping, on digital Ch 25 for six months.
So, by Monday, June 15, even the low power station in town will shut down its analog transmitter. You'll need to scan for them, too: WOTH-LD's RF channel is 47 here. But...unless you have a really good antenna, don't count on getting their signal. And especially, don't count on it for the first ten days post-June 12, as we've reported over the last 24 hours.

WCPO-TV to Air DTV Special: WCPO will air a half-hour long special report tonight at 9:00.

The report, being called "DTV: The Big Switch", will detail the transition, with topics ranging from troubleshooting to finding the right antenna.

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