Or translator, for that matter, when full-power analog television ceases to exist 2/17/09. A sizable percentage of these facilities will still be analog after the full-powers switch over. The NAB has a special committee to make sure these stations remain viewable to all consumers after the transition. The committee, headed by News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting’s John Kueneke, is tasked with "…educating TV stations and viewers on the DTV transition’s impact on LPTV stations and TV translators." NAB President/CEO David K. Rehr will also be pushing inclusion of analog pass through capability in their DTV converter box products. Committee members include Jim Conschafter of Media Genera; John Eck of NBC TV Network/Media Works; Andrew Fisher of Cox Television; Douglas Kranwinkle from Univision; and Jim Yager of Barrington Broadcasting Group.
TVBR/RBR observation: This will be music to the ears of the Community Broadcasters Association, which has been sounding the alarm about this oversight for some time now. Without it, viewers in areas served by a mix of both full-power digital signals and low power stations still putting out an analog signal would have to be switching from their down-converter to old-fashioned rabbit ears and back again, depending on which station they want to watch. This is one of those DTV loose ends that needs tying up sooner rather than later.
