FCC's DTV Transition Signal Loss List Updated

WASHINGTON: The FCC’s updated signal-loss list indicates that around 355 TV stations will lose at least 2 percent of their viewing audience when analog broadcasting ends this Friday. The revised list includes 55 new stations and deletes 19 from the one issued in December consisting of 319 TV stations. The data is based on maps comparing coverage of analog versus digital broadcast signals. The December analysis reflected the transmitter facility information in the FCC’s database as of Oct. 2, 2008. The revised version is from data available as of April 30, 2009.

Stations on the list are required to notify viewers of the potential signal loss at least once a day before Friday. Multiple stations in New York and Cleveland, Ohio, are on the list. Houston, Panama City, Fla.; San Antonio, Texas; Shreveport, La., and St. Louis all have two stations each that will experience a 2 percent or greater loss of audience. The remaining markets listed each have one each.

The signal loss in some cases may be temporary, as several stations are planning to switch facilities on Saturday. The commission’s Media Bureau urged those stations to notify the commission to be removed from the signal-loss report by contacting Barbara Kreisman, chief of the Video Division, at Barbara.Kreisman@fcc.gov. ­-- Deborah D. McAdams