THE NTIA is now accepting requests for coupons toward the purchase of the digital-to-analog converter boxes that will be required to use analog TV sets after the transition to digital in February 2009. 22 million coupons will be distributed on a first-come first-serve basis. Over ten million coupons have been reserved for households that only receive over-the-air television. The government has setup a website and a 24-hour hotline to handle all coupon requests. Call 1-888-DTV-2009 today!
THE FCC has passed new rules allowing broadcasters to phase out analog signals prior to the February 17, 2009 deadline for the transition. Only broadcasters that need to end their analog signals early in order to achieve their digital transition will be allowed to do so. The change means that some over-the-air viewers will begin losing stations before the full transition occurs. In related news, the FCC is considering a test run of the transition in select markets to gauge its impact.
LATE NIGHT shows will return tonight, bringing back Letterman, Leno, Conan and Kimmel. Letterman’s production company has struck an independent deal with the WGA, allowing his program to return with his writing staff intact. Leno, Conan and Kimmel will proceed without writers and the WGA plans to picket all three. With one major WGA-supported late night show competing against several unwritten ones, the value of writers may soon be revealed.
THE NFL TRI-CAST of the Pats-Giants showdown garnered 34.5 million viewers, the most for an NFL game since 1995. CBS took in 15.7 million viewers while NBC reached 13.2 million. The NFL Network served only 4.5 million viewers.
E.W. SCRIPPS has officially stopped publication of the 126-year-old Cincinnati Post as well as The Kentucky Post. The two afternoon dailies had seen their combined readership fall from a peak of 275,000 in 1961 to just 27,000 before their demise. Only one employee from both papers was offered a new job within the company – at KYPost.com, a website that covers local news in Northern Kentucky.