TV stations signal a slow pace to digital broadcasts [USAToday]

[SteveMiller]

TV stations signal a slow pace to digital broadcasts

By Mike Snider and Anthony DeBarros, USA TODAY

Two weeks before a government deadline, only 15% of the nation's commercial TV stations are transmitting a digital TV signal over the air.

A USA TODAY examination of Federal Communications Commission data and other reports shows that the transition to the next generation of TV broadcasts has fallen far behind schedule. The FCC set a May 1 deadline for stations to be broadcasting DTV signals over the air along with their current analog signals.

Reasons for delays vary, from a lack of finances to transmitters that were destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It's frustrating to us that it's not rolling out quicker," says John Harris, director of special projects and programming for WRAL in Raleigh, N.C. "We see the potential in it."

A snapshot of the digital transition:

Coverage across the USA is spotty, and even when digital TV is available, there's often not much choice in what to watch. Nearly three-fourths of U.S. households can get at least one DTV signal, but fewer than half can get four, according to Decisionmark, a consulting firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Your likelihood of getting a digital signal depends on where you live. In the nation's 10 largest broadcast markets, 41% of stations are transmitting DTV. But just 7% of the nation's smallest markets have commercial DTV signals, according to data from the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters.

Even if you are receiving a digital signal, it may not be in full high-definition, the long-promised and pristine viewing format. Two-thirds of the 189 stations that are transmitting at least some high-definition shows fill most of their time with footage artificially enhanced from analog broadcasts.

There are at least two sides to the DTV transition, says Decisionmark president Jack Perry. So far, more than 2 million digital TV sets and tuners have been sold, but only a fraction have the tuners to pick up broadcasters' signals. "When you consider the number of high-definition sets out there, then really it's extraordinary the amount of broadcasters who have a digital signal," Perry says.

But when you consider that more than 800 of the 1,400-plus TV stations asked the FCC for an extension, "then some might call it a dismal failure."