[South Florida DX Association] Digital Switch Creating Broadcast Coverage Gaps - Test data suggests many users will fall out of range.

[Bill Marx]

Digital Switch Creating Broadcast Coverage Gaps - Test data suggests many 
users will fall out of range.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Digital-Switch-Creating-Broadcast-Coverage-Gaps-97967

The FCC made Wilmington, North Carolina their Guinea pig ahead of February's 
digital TV transition, with area broadcasters cutting analog transmissions 
on September 9. According to the Associated Press, the FCC received 1,828 
complaints (see their report), over half of those from people who say they 
can no longer view the channels they used to. Given that analog signal 
covers a broader area than digital, there's chunks of rural America that are 
going to be left in a lurch. Kevin Martin, you'll be happy to hear, says 
he's all over it:

It's not certain what - if anything - the FCC or broadcasters can do for 
these viewers, short of recommending that they buy a bigger antenna. Martin 
told members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee 
Tuesday that a possible solution would be for broadcasters to erect special 
"repeater" antennas to expand their reach. "Our goal is to ensure that all 
viewers in the Wilmington area and the country have access to the same 
television signals that they did prior to the transition," he said.
About 13.4 million television households in the U.S. receive their 
programming over the air only, roughly twelve percent of all homes with TVs. 
Applying the Wilmington complaint rate nationally would result in 1.1 
million calls to the FCC in the first five days after the cutover. FCC chief 
Kevin Martin says the cut over could reduce broadcast footprint for about 15 
percent of television markets in the U.S, though the agency boss isn't 
particularly gifted at math or geography.

Consumer group Teletruth thinks the Wilmgington market is far too small to 
provide real world statistics on how many customers will be impacted. Their 
latest report highlights how many over-the-air viewers in Hunterdon County, 
New Jersey (technically part of the NYC viewing market) are losing NY and 
Philly broadcasts after installing DTV converter boxes. Asks the group: "How 
did the FCC and NTIA spend over $1 billion dollars and counting on the DTV 
campaign without actually testing the converter box and antenna 
configurations, especially in rural fringe areas?"