Posted by madcityradio.com on February 23, 2009 at 12:22:30:
by Jeff Richgels | February 23, 2009 | 77 Square
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The Federal Communications Commission says calls to the FCC/DTV hotline continued to decline, Multichannel.com reported.
Calls last Thursday totaled 17.920, down sharply from the 25,320 on Wednesday, and 27,764 on Tuesday, when 421 TV stations pulled the plug on their analog signals.
The commission also released a breakdown of the calls to date (about 70,000) by percentage of calls per state. California led the way with 11.55 percent, followed by Texas (7.62 percent), and Florida (5.66 percent). Arkansas had the smallest percentage of calls at .04 percent, followed by New Hampshire at .08 percent and Wyoming at .10 percent.
Multichannel.com also reported details of the FCC's second order implementing the DTV date delay bill.
That included changing all the relevant Feb. 17 dates to June 12 - the new shutoff date for stations that already haven't ended analog broadcasting - but it also contained various modifications and additions to handle the second wave of analog shut-offs.
That includes the tentative conclusion - in a separate notice of proposed rulemaking on which there will be a brief comment period - that stations should not pull the plug earlier than April 16.
All Madison stations have pulled the plug on analog except for FOX 47, which intends to do so on June 12, and WHA-TV Channel 21, which said it planned to do so between March and June 12.