The DTV transition will definitely happen in seven days. There won’t be another delay.
That’s the word from Rick Chessen, senior advisor to acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps. Chessen was speaking to members of the North American Broadcasters Association, which is meeting in Washington, DC this week.
“It’s hard to believe we have seven days to go,” said Chessen. The delay from February was helpful, he said and resources from the federal stimulus package “put us in a much better position,” noting that the number of households without converter boxes have been cut in half since February.
As with any transition, there will still be bumps along the way, he noted, noting that some viewers will still have reception issues after the switch due to “propagation characteristics or tower moves.” Some viewers will get more channels and others won’t.
Switching to priorities for Copps, Chessen said certainly getting through the DTV transition heads he list followed by national broadband deployment.
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